PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2561, 15 April 1903, Page 70

PERSONAL NOTES.

— Professor E. B. Bryan, recently appointed Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Philippine Islands, was a farm hand 12 years ago. Wbjle ploughing on his father's farm, two miles east of Kokomo, Ind., he was accidentally injured in. such a way as to inacapcitate him for such work. Then he went to college, worked hard, and has had a successful career.

— The Hon. Harold Finch-Hatton, tho well-known city financier, has had an interesting qgreer. Aftet leaving Oxford he was, from 1875 until 1883, a .quatter in Queensland, whtm he returned to London. On three occasions he contested East Nottingham, but wa6 beaten every time by Mr Arnold Morley. Eventually he was returned by Newark foi three years. In the world of sport he is regarded as the only white man who ever could throw a boomerang like the blacks of Australia.

— The death of the Rev. Dr Gutty, which took place at Ecclesfield Vicarage, Sheffield, at the age of 89, remove* from the ranks of northern clergymen n notable and honoured figure. Dr Gatty was one of the oldest of the clergy in the York diocese, and he had the remarkable distinction of having spent practically the whole of his long career in one living. "A Life at a Living" was, in fact, the title of an interesting and chatty autobiography which he published as long ago as 1884.

— The President of the Royal Society, Sir William -Hugging, was born in London and educated at the City of London School. In 1856 he built and equipped a private astronomical observatory on lube Hill, where hie studies have resulted in many remarkable uccesses. His most energetic and active assistant has been his wife, a daughter of Mr John Murray, of Dublin, whom he married in 1875. He has written many scientific par-era, and three years ago, in conjunction with Lady Huggins, compiled an Atlas -f Representative Stella Spectra. — Thoug-h 94 years of age, Admiral Sir Henry Keppel is still an indefatigable traveller, and at present i 3 travelling as far away from home as Singapore. His long and active life tarted inauspiciously. At the time )f his birth he was thought to be dead, and in his autobiography Sir Henry Keppel says that he was "deposited in my father's foot-pan to be interred in a garden at the back of the house, not being entitled to a berth in consecrated ground." Fortunately, before it was too late, nur3e discovered that there was life m the "small thing," and to-day, at a great age, Sir Henry is still hale and hearty.

— The new Turkish Ambassador, Musurus Pasha, is the eldest son of the diplomatist of the ame -name who represented tho Ottoman Empire at the Court of St. James's from 1851 to 1885. He was born at the Turkish Legation in Athens in 1841, and accompanied his father, 10 years later, to Lcmdon. He entered the Turkish diplomatic service in 1861, when -he was appointed Second Secretary in the London Emba(==y. In 1881 he was promoted to the poot of Turkish Ambapsador at Rome, and remained there for three years, when he became a member of the Commission of Public Works at Constantinople. On the abolition of this body Musurus Be-y retired for a time from active service, but in 1896 he mi appointed Prkice of Samos, and governed that island, which enjoys a liberal constitution, with great ability and success. In 1900 he returned to Constantinople, and served on the Council of State till the vacancy occurred in the London Embaspy through the death of Anthopoulos Pasha. On this appointment he has been raised to the rank of Vizier, with the title of Pasha. Hia knowledge of the English and their institution iiypjed wi£U his great exoeri-

ence in the diplomatic field, should renderhim an ideal Ottoman representative in. London. - • - — The late Cardinal Lucido Maria Pa« rocchi was the last but one of the members of the Conclave whioh elected the present Pope, the only survivor mow being Cardinal Oreglia di San Stefano, whom he succeeded in tho Bishoprics of Oporto and Santa Rufino. It is reported that when the death of Cardinal Paroeehi was announced to the venerable Pontiff he exclaimed : "Am I really destined to outlive all those who elected me?" Among ill tho princes of the church who have been mentioned as possible successors of Pope Leo XHI, tho, deceased Cardinal was generally regarded as likely to receive the greatest number of votes. For years past he was the first favourite among the "Papabili." This was due to his very remarkable talents and hia great personal popularity. In erudition and intelligence he held easily the first rank in the Sacred College. He was also well known as a wit, and his epigrams are quoted with gusto. Cardinal Parocohi held many hish posts and benefices in the church and in the entourage of the Pope. Besides bishoprics, ho was Prefect of c:ae Sacred College and President of another, and also Cardinal- Vicar. He was born- at Mantua on August 13. 1833. and received the Red Hat cqi June 22, 1877.

— The Commander-in-Chief of the TJnitecl States army recently visited 'England, and he received a special mark of Royal favour in the shape of a "dine and sleep" invitation to Winds-r Castle upon the occasion of Souia's band playing before, the King. The King paid the States the great compliment of rising personally when the "StarSpangled Banner" was played, and part of this compliment was undoubtedly directed to General Nelson A. Miles, who is no stranger either to England or Royalty, as he was one of the representatives of the States at Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887.This time, however, he was here in an entirely private capacity, stayitag only a few days on his way homo on a voyage round the world, and the invitation to Windsor was a pur-ely personal one. When General Miles was over here in 1887 he made * close study of out army, its methods, its factories, and its arsenals. The history of his life is a most romantic and interesting one — on.-* of these cases of truth surpassing fiction. When the jivil War/ broke out he was a boy behind the counter; but before its close, 'at the age of 23, he had! fought Irs way up step by step to the rank of Major-General. jind was covered with glory and scars. Then he turned his attention to fighting the Indians, the Apaches, the Oheyennes, and other tribes, and his experiences against the coloured men af the prairies and backwood3 were most varied and brilliant. Next he headed the American troops in the Chicago riots, and then headed the army in the war asainst Spain. His has, indeed, been a distinguished career, and he stands quite at the head of his* profession in the States.

—At the age of 93 there-passed away at Crovdon on February 7 Mr Jarnea Glairdier. F.R.S., a mm of great scientific attainment. He was born in London \n 1809, and 19 years later he was engaged onf the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, and ifc was when movine: about over the hills and! mountains that the science of meteorolofrv' first beoame attractive t- him. In 1835 Mr Glaisher became an assistant at the Cambridge Observatory, moving to Greenwich three vear3 later, while in 1840 be

was appointed Superintendent of the Mag-< netic and Meteorological Department there, which had only just been established, and that post he filled for a neriod of 34 years. As loner ago as 1841 Mr Glaisher inaugurated the publication of the quarterly and arnual reports on meteorology, which have since been continued by the Registrar-General. To the general public, however, the deceased gentleman will be best remembered by hia association with the late Mr Henry Coxwell, an enthusiastic aeronaut, in =oine scientific balloon ascents. The British Assocj'jk tion first entertained the idea, but fio valu- 1 able results came ot the experiments made by Mr Welsh or the well-known Mr Green. Eventually the Britisn Association entrufitpJ a further r -eries of ascents with a soientifio object to the late Mr Coxwell and the subject of this notice. The former was an adept at everything which concerned the management of a balloon, but M. Glaisher knew nothinc about it — he confined himself entirely to the scientific side of the matter. Mr Glaisher went up in a balloon for the fiwt time on the last day of June, 1862. when the machine attained an altitude of five miles. Osn Septemhei 5 the two ma<J<* another .scent, the incidents of which will never be surpassed. The balloon went up seven miles from .he earth, and when it had ascended to a height of nearly six miles Mr Glaisher became insensible, and Mr Coxwell lost the use of his hands, but by a great effort managed to get the rope opening the valve between his teeth, the ad-ventiT-ous p"h tt last reachine the c-round in safety. In six years the late gentleman made 29 ascents for scientific tmrposes, and in 1871 he published his "Travels in tha Air"