PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2363, 8 June 1899, Page 60

PERSONAL NOTES.

— Lord Lonsdale has a curious hobby of collecting whips, and many in his possession are worth over £100.

— Father Selvagni, an old friend and playmate of the present Pope, loves to recall the days when they went hunting together. " Sir Nino," he says, " was more daring Jthan I. He would leap the most dangerous chasms and scale impossible cliffs. Now he is ' Leo Kin,' and the only peak lie sees is that of St. Peter's, which throws its shadow on his Palace prison. How I pity him !"

— Alexander Polonyi, who died recently in Vienna, carried his desire for the accumulation of autographs probably further than such a desire has ever been carried before. His collection, which contained no less tlian 30,000 autographs, filled the entire upper storey of his house. The autographs were in every case written by persons r of some historical importance or interest.

— The Prince of Wales, while at Cannes, has become a convert both to golf and the motor car. Hitherto the Prince has not been much addicted to games. Beyond coquetting with the cycle, and disporting himself in the tennis court very occasionally, he has not given himself much to active pastimes. He has now, however, became greatly enamoured of golf, and has been out a great deal on a motor.

— Lord Dufferin owes his brilliant career as much almost to his ingratiating charm of manner as to his great abilities. It was Ms reputation for courtliness which caused Lord John Russell to make him Lord-in-Waiting to the Queen at the age of 22; and even in those early days Lord Granville said of him, " That young Irishman would talk a bear with a sore head into an amiable humour."

— Mr Julian Hawthorne is, like the younger Dumas, among the few sons who have almost rivalled their fathers in the field of letters. The author of ithe " Scarlet Letter " had very different views for the future -"novelist, and sent him to Europe to make a civil engineer of him ; but, as in Herbert Spencer's case, engi- 1 neering had to yield its throne to literature, and' the son made his first venture in fiction 26 years ago.

— Sir Robert Reid, who, according to rumour, is destined to be Lord Chancellor when the Liberals come into office, is a descendant of a fine race — the Reids of Mouswald. "When addressing a- judge or the House he taps on the leathern caso of his eyeglasses, as his ancestors might have tapped on their snuff-box. He is a hard-working, genial bachelor, who tells a good story, and is as young as his own nephews. He thrice repre?snteis Oxford in racquets and was three years in the 'Varsity eleven.

— The premier Baron of England, Lord de JEtos, has just celebrated his birthday, having completed his seventy-second year. There are older peerages still in existence, but the Barony of de Ros is the oldest peerage of that grade, it having been created in 126?- by Henry 111, and the present peer is the twenty-fourth holder of the title. That gives an average life to each holder of over 26 years, but many of them did not succeed to the title very early in life. The present peer was 47 when he succeeded his father. The present Lord de- Ros served as Equerry and Lord-in- Waiting to the Queen and Prince Consort.

—Mr August Manns, the famous conductor of' the Qrystal Palace orchestral band, is by birth a German. His father was a glassblower, and there were 11 in the family. Mr Manns came to England in 1851, and for .a time held a subordinate position in the famous band he conducts. Ho then received £3 a week. Through a misunderstanding he resigned, and went abroad again, but returned in 1853 to assume the position of conductor. During the interim he has conducted about 12,000 orchestral -concerts, in which about 1550 different compositions have been performed, representing the works of some 300 composers of all nations.

— The Gzar has from his boyhood been a keen cyclist, and the Czarina, when her health permitted, has occasionally shown her skill as a wheelwoman. But latterly liis Majesty appears to have given up pedalling, and he has just had made for himself in Paris a petroleum tricycle of burnished steel, fitted with all the latest improvements. The machine is wholly devoid of ornament except in the form of a silver escutcheon attached to the left steering bar, on which are emblazoned the Imperial arms. In speed it is said to be a record-breaker. A little chariot of wickcrv\oik is being constructed in St. Petersburg for the use of the Czarina, who will thjjs be towed behind her august consort.

— Madame Solange Clesinger-Sand, who has just died on her estate of Montgivray, near La Chatre, was the last of George Sand's children. Solange Dudevant, who was born some 70 years ago, was brought up by her mother, who '•married her at the age of 17 to Clesinger, the sculptor. In a few months the ill-assorted couple parted. Madame Clesinger-Sand possessed some literary talent, and though rather plain of feature, was a very attractive woman. She also inherited her mother's disregard for ordinary conventions. Under the Second Empire, her drawing room was tho rendezvous of advanced Liberals, such as Gamhetta, Tame. Floqucl, and the Ferrys. In IS7O she betook herself to Cannes, and made a fortune by speculation in building site«. Retiring then to her country .seat, hhe led a respectable bourgeois existence. Madame Clo^inger was the pole representati\e of Marnhal S.ixe, who^e daughter, Aurore de Saxe, was her greatgrandmother.

• — Francois Coppee, the French novelist, lias had the most peaceful and uneventful of lives. His father was a poor man, a clerk in the AVar Department of France. There was a large family. Presently the father died, and Francois, a boy of 20, was left the head of the house. He, too, became a clerk. He worked all day, and wrote poems and plays in the evening, amusing himeelf with an imaginary world. Madame Agar, a young actress, found his poem, " La Benedictine," and recited it in society. It was so successful that one day, lite some of his visions materialised, she dropped into his life and asked him to write a play. " There is a young debutante," she said, " who appears with me at my benefit. I want something for us to play together." For weeks the Coppee household was hushed while " Le Passant " was written. It met with instantaneous success. The young debutante was Sarah Bernhardt.

— The announcement of- the death of Mrs Cavagnari, widow of Major Cavagnari, and mother of Sir Louis Cavagnari, recalls the event which^was the immediate cause of the Afghan war and Lord Roberts' s famous march to Candahar — viz., the murder of Sir Louis and his entourage by Afghan, troops at Cabul in-September, 1879.

Thft Logan Berry is sold by NmilO AND Blaik, and is the fine&t berry of its class. It is a cross between the raspberry and blackberry, and cannot be excelled for jams or jellies, having a most delicious flavour. Price, 2* Ul each- or* if nested. 3s aajik.