PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2505, 26 March 1902, Page 66

PERSONAL NOTES.

— Lord Lansdowno. who has the reputation of hem" one of the men with the most pohshecf manners of our time, a qualification which particularly fits him to fill the office of Foieign Secretary, was 57 on January 14 His official life began more than 30 ve'ar- ago, for in 1869 he was made a Lord of the Treasury, an office which w as fo lowed by the Under Secretaryship cf War, and 21 yeais after he presided over the department. ... . — \ good deal of tho lrihtary life of Colonel Henry Alexius Abb-»tt. O B has been spent in India, where he is now Coionel on the Staff commanding at Delhi. He was born in India on January 22, 1849. He took part in Lord Roberts' s famou* march from Cabnl to Kandahar, and not only got tho medal, two clasps, and bronze star, but wa; mentioned in the despatches, as indeed he has been very frequently since. Later on he went to the Soudan, but he was afterwards transferred to India. , , /-, t — Commander Sir Charle= Leopo'd Cr.st. the Prince oi" Walee's naval erftiovry. ha« hoid that position since 1392. He ,s almost the me age as the Prince, became a b?roaet when only 12 years old, and was in the Egyptian Campaign of 1882. His grandfather was in the Peninsula with Wellington, and was afterwards Master of the Ceremonies to the Queen There is a dose friendship between the Prince and Sir Charles Cust, due not only to many vrars' companionship and similarity of ago, but to the fact that both belong to the Royal Navy. — Archaeology and antiquities, especially armour and costume, are subjects which greatly interest Lord Dillon, in addition to hospital work and management. He has written a pood deal for the journals relating to those sujects, and is curator of the Tower armouries, while his interest in painting is evinced by his being trustee of the National Portrait Gallery, an office he has held since 1894. His Lordship, who was 58 on January 24-, is President of tho Society of Antiquaries, and was foi sixyears President of the Royal Archceological Institute — Sir Herbert Eustace Maxwell, the Conservative member for Wigtownshire, is just 57. He is a student more than a^platform or House of Commons "prater," though perhaps even in that august assembly h" is able to successfully carry on his favourite study of archaeology. In 1885 he had fome difficulty in keeping on the Parliamentary steed, for Viscount Dalrymple's youngest brother did his level best to make him lose his f-eat. Since then, however, hi- majority has increased, and his position i= regarded as s»fe. Sir Herbert ha« written several novels, but his leading con* » tio:i to literature is "The Life and Tiim f 1 the Right Hon. W. H. Smith - \ fine -prnmop of the old sokher is Sir \rchibald Alison, who was 76 en January 21. He i<= one of the veterans of the Crimea, and was present at the assaults on Sebastopol, a» well a.= tho expedition to Kertch while subsequently he went to India, and at the relief of Lucknow he lo>=t Ins left arm. In later ypai- he commanded the European Brigade in the Af-hantee Expedition, and was if command of Alexandria in 1882. after Hip bombardment, until the arrival of Lord Wol«e!ey. while he afterwards commanded the Highland Brigade --at Tel elKfbir, and was Commander-in-chief in Kinpt until ti>p following yeai. — A pci-onacc of coniklerablp importance in his Ma)C-ty's household i- Sir Dijrhton Probyn, vho is Keeper of the Privy Purse and c\tra Equerry to the King, ag he was Comptroller and Treasurer to tlie Household of hi- Maji-tv when Prince- of Wn'e>. He thi- year c'obrati's the 25th anniversary of hi- ai.oon.tmrnt as a member of the Dik liv of Cornwall Ho won hi- V.C dining the Ind'fin Mutiny. On one orca^on when sepatated from hi-> men he was mobbed by <-i\ Sppov>, but lie beat th n m off. killing two of them: while on another occasion 1;P fought a -tandard bearer -ingle handc-d, and. with thr- oiiomj in fiont of him, killed the man and captured the standard. He was 69 on January 22 — Sir Rennel "Rodd. who ha- ju-t returned to Rome after a brief visit to England, is one of the mos-t versatile of the younger memIk r- of the- Diplomatic' Service. In the (our-e of 18 yenr- ho has -c-rved in Re-rl.n, Atlien-, Pan-, Zanzibar, Cairo, and Rome. He ha- depo-ed a Sultan and made a treaty with the •'King of Kings" — ntherwi-e tin* Xr^ii- Xegu-ti, tho gr.inter of ( oneeisioiis which concede- nothing. Sir Rennel i-. however, proud*"! 1 of liih achievpinenti in the domain of literature than in that of diplomacy That he hat- the true pootic vein was proved by the publication of his stirring " Ballads of the Fleet" He has told v- of " The Customs ami Loie of Modfrn Greece"; may he not find leisure in the ralm atmosphere- of the Roman Embassy for a treatis on the mustoms of modern Italy? Sir Rennel Rodd i« 44 When at Balhol he carried off the Newdigate Prize. —Mr Pirie, M P . whose "brief for the Dutch ' has led him to quc-tion the Colonial Secretary concerning martial law at the Cape and the Refugee Canips,^ jf. known in the army a o Captain Dune an Vovnon Pine of the 3rd Hu-'ar-, and formerly of the 4th Dragoon* The captfun has fought in Egypt and the Soudan, and in the present campaign f-orved m the remount department He went out a latlual; he came home with more than a -Uspieion of .Dro-Bocn'm. But his chief, title to fame

rests on the fact that he is an Aberdoniau— at least such is the opinion of the good citizens of "Bon Accord." With them the question concerning any man of mark is not has he any connection with Aberdeen, but what is his connection with the city? It was once asked, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" The revised version runs, " Can any good thing come except from Aberdeen?" Long may such local patriotism flourish ! In the present instance Captain Pirie is not only Aberdonian born, but he has the felicity to represent the Northern Division of the city at Westminster. — There are people who are constantly confusing Mr Marion Crawford, the wellknown American author, who has just written a, no\ el dealing with the ancien.*' timea of Venice, and Mr Oswald Grawfurd, who is also well known in the literary, journalistic, and publishing world. Mr Marion Crawford has, personally, at anyrate, no resemblance to his English confrere. His grey hair and moustache, rather long, thin face, keen, pointed profile, long, slightly aquiline nose, large, penetrating, \i\kl eyes and finely-arched forehead mark him out at or.cc, in any company, as a man of intellectual distinction. Aad the foice of the impression is not lessened by the measured, deliberate tones of his voice. He is a great friend of Mrs George Corn-wallis-Wcst, and accompanied her and her late husband, Lord Randolph Churchill, on Lord Randolph's las£ unkgtppy voyage in starch of health. Mr Crawford, as everyone knows who has read " Saracinesca," " Sir.t Ilario," etc., is an authority on Italy and Italian society, past and present. He has become an Italian of the Italians, by residence and choice. —To the "stream of facts" by which the pro-Bo9rs are drowned out. Sir John Farley has added his quota in an emphatic testimony to the humanity of the private soldier. Sir John is the chief British representative of the Red Cross Society, of which he is one of the founders. He has been on active service — the sen ice of humanity — many a time and oft, as a bare recital of the list of campaign* he has seen shows. He was with the Red Cross throughout the Franco-Prussian War and its terrible sequel, the- Commune : was in Spain during the Carlist war, and in Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish conflict. He was also in South Africa for many months recently. Sir John has therefore seen under arms Frenchmen. Prussians, Bavarians, Bulgarians, Spaniards, Russians, Turks, Beers and British. His verdict is that the British Tommy is kindest of all to a beaten fop. For 4iis services to suffering soldiers this fine old English gentleman — he is 66 — has received a knighthood from his own sovereign, the Legion of Honour from Franco, and Spanish and other decorations. — Sir Ernest Cassel. .vho placed £200,000 at thc-^U-posal of the King "for charitable or utilitarian purposes," is a notable instance of a epJf-made man and millionaire. His father was a small baukm 1 in Cologne. w here he was born in 1852. A member of the" Jewish race, it was but natural that, when he emigrated to England as a young man, ho should turn to finance to make his foitinie. He secured a berth as a clerk in Liverpool, where he earned a few 'shillings a week, and subsequently made his way to London. Here he was fortunate enough to unravel the financial perplexities which beset — indeed, threatened to over>whelm — one of the most noted financial firms in the metropolis. Once started on his own account, he poon showed the stuff he was made of, and Argentina, Mexico, Sweden, and Egypt can bear eloquent testimony to his genius. Amongst his varied enterprises may be mentioned the amalgamation nf the Vickprs-Maxim firm and the Banow-in-Furness Shipbuilding Works, the 1 Twopenny Tube," and the raising of a loan for China after her defeat by Japan. Wo all know what 1-e has done for Egypt, for he it was who concluded the negotiations for providing funds to carry out the Nile irrigation works — a business, by the way, which occupied him only four days. Upon the negotiation for the Nile irrigation followed that for the formation of the National Bank of Egypt, which has been opm -,11100 the autumn of 1898. For his ser\ic<\« a Knight Comnmmleisliip of St. Muhael and St. George wa-, conferred upon him by ihe latir Queen. Sir Ernest is a, great patron of sport, racing being his principal recreation.