PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2398, 15 February 1900, Page 65

PERSONAL NOTES.

— The Boy. Dr L.illen, tl.e well-known Irish Pre&byterian Professor, has just celebrated the beveniieth anniversary of his ordination. He is now in hij ninety-fourth year. —Mr Critchetl, the eelebrted London oruli&t, is said to have once refused a fee of no le^ than £10.000/ Thid sum wa-. offerc-d \o the di&fcLigui-hed specialist with a view to inducing him to proceed to Indite to attend the eyes of n wealthy rajah. — it ib a .somewhat curious fact that in the Church of England there arc two brothers who, a= extempore preacher 0 , enjoy the reputation of having no superiors. These are the -bishop of Hipon and the Rev. Archibald Boyd Carpenter, the rector of St. George's, Bioomsbury. — Sir William Turner, who i- the president of the British As-ociacion for 1900. has held the professorship of anatomy in Edinburgh University for the ppft 32 year-. He is one of the world's leading authovicict on anatomy, and has written extensively on i'.iat subject. — Mr Hash's appointment as American Consul in Pretoria is a graceful ooneesdion on the part of the Government of the United Statss to British feeling;. His fa* her wa 1 - exceedingly popular when he represented America in London, and when he left to lake up the great position ot Secretary of State it was with the abiding good wishe^ of everyone. — Air George Swanson, of Thurso, is the oldest Freemason in Scotland, and the oldest operative mason also. Born in Augu=t. 1804-, he is theieforo in hit ninety-sixth year. When 19 he joined the St. Peter's Lodge of Freemasoih 111 Thurso, oE which he ha? continued a member. Of his family of sons, five joined ihe Ma»onic craft, and one rose to the dignity of Grand Master. The venerable gentle man is still hale and active. — The Rev. William Nixon, D.D., Emeritus of St. John's Free Clui'-ch, Montrose, is not only " father of the Free Church oi Scotland." but the oldest surviving Presbyterian clergyman in the kingdom. He was ordained in 1831, 12 years before the disruption in the Church of Scotland, and 31 years ago was Moderator of the Supreme Court of his church. Dr Nixon, who is in his ninetyninth year, enjoys fairly good health. — The Grand Old Man of Australia, Sir Charles Nicholson, is ninety-two years of age. Graduating M.D. at Edinburgh when the Queen was a little girl in short frocks. Dr Nicholson emigrated to Australia in 3 U34-. He is now the f-olilary surviving member of the first Australian Parliament. Oxford made him a D.C.L. in recognition of hib genevoua benefactions to the University 01 Sydney. — Miss Clara Butt, the celebrated young contralto, has just returned from Ameiica.

Throughout a brief tour, which involved 8 good deal of travelling, her success, ws.s decided. "Cpcn the ri"h quality of Mi-j3 Bint's voice and it-, powei> ot expression musical opinion '.nts unanimous in Canada, no lessthan in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and elaewlipre. rtay would have been extended but for numerous eirja^innents to ping in England. — vli&s Goodr.e'i SYcev — w'lose book on the haunting of BaUcc'inn House, Fikihiie, writtan m colliibcr?ticn with the Maiqucss of Biae. has c ionic-.! such a se-ns.iticr. — -has a rspu'ab:onr s pu'ab:on as ;■ » rilej." and <*jjea!*ei - on ghosts, e"r irvoyciiic-c, and cuher uncanny subjects, naie'i of he< v, ork in this direction having l-p'ii done under the pseudonym of "Mis'? X." It may be added th.it MIV 3 Freer herself, who is a member of on old Highland family, lyys claim to the faculty oi second sight. — -iltuiame Patti has recently celebrated tl.e I'irtielh annivcrsiry of her operatic debut re~ ?!] adult aat:-! iv the Acaclcny of Mi'sdc, Xew STork. fc'ho then (on Xovcnber 24-, 1559) ,'laye'l T.vch, and, according, to the '"Someuirs iVuu luip.-e.^trio"' ol il'itulce Sirakosch, her brother ia-la\v and then manager, the mture piima donii wa: 15? id the by no li'^an; extras avant run; ot £20 a wesk. At ihe Albert fiall coucort in London recently she was paid rhc- .-am of SOurs. — _\li== Cbad-i.-icl", Ihe sister cupeii.ilendcnfc cf the Prii>fe;s of Walcs's hospital ship, has been engaged 111 inn-sing for 17 yc-ais. She lo'fived her fir-, a*.krin^ under hei 1 uncle, Mr W. Knight Trave-,, "f.E.C.S.. at Margate,. dom%- surgical work for him. Later fcha hid charge ol ihe opeiation theatre at • the Evelina Kospii?! for Children, and next surre r l a year at Gtty'r Uospiial, receiving her certificate at the end of that lerin. Si-ste 71 Ohadwick has since devoied herself entirely 10 militrry v.ur-uip successively at Netley, Woo]wirh. and liic Guards' Hospital. — ;Tluoi!g[iout rhe whole roll oi the heroic dead of Ulencoe no officer will be more genuinely mi=«cd then Capcain 11.I 1 . H. B. Connor, .Adjiiriun'ot the In Royal In^i Fusiliers, tie wa.-- an idea' adjutant, adoied by his ec'iiuiuV-. arid woi bj* his men ; a typ.cjl I>*i-jHmaii of IVO grand, bic-ezy order, gamal undei c*, eiy circumstance, and generoue 10 a tank. lie stood some oft, lin, and wa? of hercuicaii proportions. It is- ?n open ' secret that the "Captain John Dillon '' so sympathetically poitrayecl by Captpm W. Dutton Burrard in his la^t novel. '"A Weaver of Kuncii," receii tly published by iJr John Long, wa& none other than his friend and comrade-in-rum-, the late popular adjutant of the gallant. 87th. — iiere is a siory of Jennie Lee, the popit« lav "'Poor Jo"' cf the stnge. A'liss Let was playing- "Jo* in Scotland. She va° in the niidbt of the loi-g and harrowing death scene of poor '"Jo." The stage was darkened, and the limelight illiii^inQd the ijale features of Ihe fieath-Siti-ioken l:oy. People Mere sobbing all o" or the home. Suddenly, to her coiibtori'a'ion, "Mijs Lac iie.xrd the l.tucliiAit mail fiddres^iiif, her in a brawny Seoich whisper, tuitiible to Invlf the house. "'Dee uvick, Mkb !j°e; dee quick.' he roared solllj ; "the, limelight's gin ool !" She did die quick, but it was for the purpose of maknif, :i speech to tha ( limelight nan v, inch, he ssici, ».i? would never forirel. — .Some or the 13 nephews of Level George Hamilton who are fighting for Queen and country it 1 youth Africa are not difficult to tr?ca. The.'c are tue Miu'quij, ol Hamilton, of the 2nd Life Guard", eldest son of the puke i of Abcrcoru : ilr Gilberi Claude Hamilton, 1 o : ' the CJ-rcnadiei'^, f-o:i of Lord Claude; Lord , Georje Seoti, lC'.'^^us-ars, a son of the Duke ' of fiiiccleugh; tin- Ea'-l of Kerry. Greiiac'ier ! Guards, and Lcr-l Charles Fitzniaurice, Ist 1 Dra^oor', soy-;- of ti c Marquis of Laiirfdowno: Captain Charles Itsmbton, Northumberland Fi'siliors. and Captain William Lambton, Co'c'rCi-'eams, sou-s of the late Earl of Durham. 1 — Mi Bfv.'^et Bi^rlcigh, the war covrospon* dent of the Cailj Telegraph, has had a most interesting career. rlo is, every inch of him, i p rnau of j-otio'i. cud although he i? now in ;th iiftieri. he lua.s remarkably well. He I \\ci-- tiora 111 (si\s£O\/ ; oiid as a young man I had an exciting time of it -with the Conj i.-'dei'ates in the Am?rican Civil War. He I subsequently represented the Central News , in the Egyptian Rebellion under Aiabi Pasha. and he was iho li.st to "send liorne news of ; th° capture ci Tel-cl-Kebir. At Tamr.i he ' aeied both as v. orrior and war correspondent. In. 153- ho iicvorupaiiiec' the belated ooli'msi <-e:u to relie\e Gordou. Later, at Abu Klea, he again rendered the (voop signal service. The Soudan was next the scene of his jourua l i-.tic labours and his splenc'icl v oi J k ihero is -.veil knowii. ?\ow he :s st the frout in the Transvaal latunai';: 1 .. — Lord Cav.letowD. whosa far.iily name is FitzPiitrick. is dc-eended from J^arr.aby i'itzPatvick, ot whom the historian Burnet wrobe, "He was bred up in learning, and had been a whipping-boy, who, according to the rule of eduPttinsj rotmg prince^, was always to be whipped for the King's fault 5 ." The King in this ca-je w.is Edward VI : and if , we are to belia\e all ihe accounis of the Qfoodne'i of the yomiq; iiio:ip.rch, the po? r of whipping-boy in hiss time must have been a sinecure. There i- one story told 01 .1 whipping bo}- to Ed rt aid VC, who «\as b'.ernly rebuked by his young master for standing on a large Bible in order to reach another book which he \\i-hed to cake down from a fhelt. Probably thii boy was> ycang Barno by. Lord Ca-t-lerov.-ii's. ancestor. — The general regret occasioned bj' the news that Commar-dei iigerton had &uccuaibed to hi= injuries was incrssed by the fact that, unlike General Symons. he did not live long enough to know o[ his well-earned pro- | motion. Although his vounds were of so grave a nature as to nccesritate the amputation of both legs, a me«age to the effect that he had bori-uj the opeiation well and was making satisfactory progress encouraged the hoijo th.it his liie might be saved. By his death the navy los-es one of the moss promising oi its your.gei office* -. Born in 1&69, he entered the Britannia p.;- a naval cadot at the age of 13, becoming a midshipman two years later. in 1888 he was promoted to the rank ot f-üb-lieutpnant. and became a lieutenant in 1891. Ho had served *ov more than two years as gunnery lieutenant of the Powerful, when, upon that ship reaching Durban, he was placed in charge of the Naval Brigade sent, io the assistance of Sir George White at Ladysmitli. The brilliant service which, cost him his life will not soon be forgotten by the country. Commander Egerton was the second son of Lady Louisa Egerton (sister of the Duke of Devonshire) and a first cousin of Lord Ellesmere. His father was the late ■ Admiral Egerton, Lord-lieutenant of Surrey, who was for nearly 30 years one of the mem- • bers for Derbyshire, and an intimate friend and staunch supportei of Mr Gladstone. I 1 — Owing to the dry, cold atmosphere, not a single inteclious disease is known in Greenland. 'Ittssicura, for coughs and colds; no house should be without it. — Wholesale agents, Kempthorne, Prosser ; P. Hayman and Co.