PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2273, 23 September 1897, Page 47

PERSONAL NOTES.

• . • Lady Marjoribanks is justly prond of the specimens of the rare ana beautiful breed of dog known as the Tweedside retriever in ber kenne's. They are of a fine fawu colour.

• . • Kiog Humbert of Italy is a vegetarian He lives almost entirely on bread, vegetables, and fruits. He is forbidden to drink coffee, and his only beverage is a little wine and plenty of water.

. ■ Mr Marion Crawford ia a constant scource of wonder and pleasure to us. He seems to write novels almoßt as fast ac we can review them, and though the quality of his work varies, the average level, in interest and workmanship, is quite extraordinarily high. — Spectator.

• . • Prince Bismarck since his retirement has received from all parts of Germany applications for oak saplings from his domains, and these oaks have been planted in all quarters of the fatherland. The piince has now been obliged to publicly announce that he cannot accede to further requests, as bis stock of young oaks is exhausted.*

• . • A very ardent amateur photographer is tbe Date of Newcastle, who Ss fond of goirg photographic tenre with a caravan in ihe more remote parts of England. On .one, occasion, while taking a holiday in the New Forest, a party of excursionists mistook him for a professional, and asked him to take tbeir portraits. This the duke readily did, and great wiss the -surprise of the .excursionists when no charge was made for the result.

• . • The death is announced of General Sir | Richard Dennis Kelly (The O'KelljOin his j etebty-thiid year. He entered the army in i 1534. and was at the siege of Sebastopol, .j when he was wounded and taken prisoner in ] a sortie by the Russians.' He served In the ! Indian campaigns of 1857 9, including the j actions at Ciwnpore, when he was wounded ; the capture of Meeangungp, tbe siege and capture of Lucknow, and the relief of A zmghur. He defeated the rebels under"Bila Rio near Bootwu'. He was made a C.B. in 1858 and a K.C.B. in 1860.

•.•M. Rail', the Greek Prime* Minister, is but 45 years of zge, and looks 10 year* younger. He is the son of the late M. Kxlli, who was distinguished as professor of commercial law in the University of Athens. Rich, ambitious, with a will of iron, full of energy, and highly educated, M. Ralli has courced popularity with a success that few Greek statesmen have achieved. He has held.tffice twice before, under D*lyannisand Tricoupis. In both these Ministries he distinguished himself by his opposition to his chief?.

• . • Miss Beßsie Hatton, the daughter of Mr " Joe " Hatton, who promised so well as an"aci.resß, is now devoting herself to literature, and a new story from her pen may shortly be expected. At a family tbe Hattons - haye 1 an .artist ic. bent. Misß Helen Hatton is a painter, whose work is generally to be found at the Academy, where ber husband, Mr Margetson, is equally well-known. He often provides the illustrations for Mr Hatton's stories. Both the sisters are short and dark, as is their father, and they both have keen s> ympathy with'things theatrical.

• . • The Czar, in spite of hia insignificant physique, is no mean athlete, and is a firm believer in all healthy exercises. Erery morning, as soon as it is light, he runs a verst (about five furlongs) at a good speed, usually timing himself by a watch he carries in hiß hand. His average time for this distance is a shade under three minutes — iy no means a bad performance. He is a keen cyclist, and is .seldom happier than when on his bicjele with a rook rifle in his hand. He prides himself on being able to bring down three rooks out of seven waile riding at a good pace. - . • When General Sir Michael Anthony Shrapnel Biddulpb, G C 8., was made Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod he experienced what amounted to almost a paralysis of fright when he made his first apj>earance in the House of. Oo'mtnonp. Having safely reached the table in front of the Speaker, it suddenly struck him that it was a dreadful thing to have to walk backwards out of the House. He, whp , had faced death a hundred times without -a pang, was struck dumb by thi3 appalling prospect, and . actually stood speechless for two minutes before the horror that had seized him departed. ■ . ■ Mr Gerald Balfour has little in common in looks or ability with his more famous elder brother. Whilst Mr Arthur Balfour has the short nose and high forehead of the Cecils, the Irish Secretary has the. more marked features of the Balfours of Whittinghame. He has, however, the same scholarly tastes and habits, and the same graceful style of expression and charm of manner. At Ebon and Cambridge he had a brilliant career, winning's Fellowship and taking first-class classical honours. Mr Gerald Balfour's wife, Lady Betty Balfour, is [ % daughter of the late Lord Lytton. _• , * Admiral Thomas Massie. who suc-

ceeded Sir Provo Wallis as " Father of the Fleet," is a hale and active man of 95, full of stirring memories, and " ready," as he avers, "to go to ssa agair;, if his country wants him." He -was born three years before Trafalgar, and has a vivid memory of the Waterloo rejoicings. He joined the service as a midshipman in IS 18, and took .part in the battle of Navarino. Ha reached flag rank before leaving the navy at the age of 58. Admiral M*ssie is a well-known and revered figare at Chester, where he takes his " walks abroad " daily with the regularity of clockwork.

• . • The King of Siam has a psssion for all things English. He reads and speaks English fluently, he is clothed by Weatend tailors, has made a hearty handshake a compulsory form of greeting at the Siamese Court, and ia an ardent devotee of billiards and crioket. His English tastes are shared by his sons and nephews, some of whom are at different schools and colleges in Eaglancl. Tha Crown Prince, who is readtag vri»k a tutor near Eton, is an athletic boy of 17, and "a fine horseman ; whilst another son is in training at the Royal Naval Academy, Greenwich, and is reputed "to be as well aoquaiatod with, the use ofithe "gloves" as with the principles of navigation.

• . • The Prince of Wales is exoeediugly f6nd of all dogs, not excepting mongrels. It is told of him that oec«, many years ago, ke, was in church when a little terrier iavaded ; the sacred edifioe. The animal, after being hunted vainly and fiercely by indignant psr- j sonp, took refuge with his Royal Highness, ! who, upon giving it up to be removed from church, not only tenderly caressad it, but expressed a desire that it should not be punished but treated with all kindness. There Jived a dog in the neighbourhood of ; Sandrin-gham, as lately as last year, which , was locally known as " Albert Edward's," on j account of its habit oE following in the ! Prince's footsteps whenever possible.

• . • Lord Salisbury would live as modmily as any citizen on £200 a year, says the Sum. He cares little for society, and bakes fass. To tbe party receptions which he is expootod to attend he sends his secretaries with imsfcrnctions to be all things to all mas. He lives Bcrupulcualy, is very precis*, exacts obedience which is never challenged, and, like Sir Charles Ooldstream, insists tfaa* there is " a e;reat way oil doing everything." He is respected by his family and his entourage. No. 20 Arlington street is ona of tbc quietest houses in London. " Early to bed and early to rise " has always been its master's motto. To be in bed by 11 o'olook is one of the gentle domestic orders of Lard Salisbury's lite. He eats sparingly, and, iika Sir William Haroourt, would doubt leas say, " I feel best when I eat least."

' 1 • . • Signor Orispi, the former Premier of J Italy, a mate whose came has been closely i and paiufulLy cone ec ted with she B*nk of j Naples ecandalF, is, according to the Borne ! correspondent of a London paper, one of the I most superstitions men la a. land whtre 1 superstition reigns supreme. The ex-Preaaier > has a wholesome— we should probably aay' an wholesome — dread of the supposedly -fatal i irfluence of the "evil eye," and invariably carries abont his pereon an amulei charm, made of coral and horc-shaped. This peculiar product of art snd superstition is [ supposed by the vast majority of Italians to i ace as a specific against the " evil eye," and consequently Orispi never fails to clutch his amulet wben threatened by an enemy. The writer of thesa lines once witnessed a delicious episode in the Italian Parliament bearing on these facts. In the course of a heated and somewhat virulent debate Signor Oavalotti, one of Crispi's most inveterate adversaries, rose from his seat with the apparent intention of attacking the great Minister. Tho latter, however, was equal to the occasion, and, crying, " Oome on ; I defy you ! " waved tho coral curio in the face of his speedily abashed adversary. Nesdless to say, an otherwise turbnlent &cens terminated in general hilarity. |

• . • Captain the Hon. Danis A. Bingham, second son of the third and uncle of the present Lord Clanmorria, who recently died at Cheltenham in the sixty-ninth year of his age, was educated at Ragby, where he was a contemporary of the late Lord Darby and of M. Waddington, the French ambassador to England . He had resided during a greater part of his life in Francs, and for 15 or 16 years he was the Paris correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette (under the editorship of .Mr F. Graenwood), the • Army and Navy Gazette, and the Scotsmar. Captain Bingham was also the author of several historical works of extreme interest, such as " The Marriages of the Bourbortp," " Tire Marriages of the Bonaparteß," M The Taking ; of the Bastille," and the " Correspondence of Napoleon I." His latest work took the form of personal recollections, and was full of interest, for Captain Bicgham was a very keen observer and had an excellent memory, while his untiring research and great erudition enabled him to briog together a great many important facts which but for him might have faded into oblivion. Captain Bingham's first book gave a vivid description of Paris daring the siege of 1870, as he was confined in the beleaguered city after the fall of the empire, and also remained thers throughout the Communist insurrection, in the course of which he had many hair-breadth escape?. Captain Bicgham, whose health had been failing for some time, came to England after the death of his wife (a French lady of the Lacretelle family) four years ago, and had since resided at Cheltenham.

<" — A reward was once offered in one of the Indian States of a rupee for "each foot of crocodile killed. If a 17ft crocodile was killed, the killer got 17 rupees. Some 30 OCO rupees were paid for crocodiles while the offer of the reward held gcod ; this meant nearly s»x miles of crocodiles. Then it was fonnd that crocodiles were being imported from various adjacent States, aud reward paying was stopped.

Losb of Voice. — Bonnington's Carrageen Irish Moss is highly recommended. — " Sydney, April 20, 1896. My dear Mr Bonningfcon, — Allow me, on behalf of Mrs Holt, to thank you very sincerely for your kind thought in sending her, on Saturday, a bottle of your famed Irish Moss. I may say that it is an old aud valued friend of ours, and I am sure our eeteem of its virtues will be strengthened by the acquaintance with it which we now renew thrpngh your good agency. With all sincere wishes for yoin success and well-being, — I remain, yours cordially, Bland Hoik"