PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2622, 15 June 1904, Page 72

PERSONAL NOTES.

— Sir Philip Crampton Smyly, a distinguished Irish surgeon, died at his residence, Merrion square, Dublin, on April 8, in his sixty-sixth year. He was an ex-pres:-dent of the Irish Royal College of Surgeons and Honorary Surgeon to the King in Ireland, and was knighted in 1892. —Dr Nichols Finsen, upon whom the King andi Queen called during their recent visit to Denmark, owes to Queen Alexandra the immense scope now eiijoyed by the work to wb.'ch. he devotes his life. Her Majesty became interested in his experiments while she was visiting Copenhagen five years ago ; had English surgeons and nurses sent over to study 'tlie light treatment for lupus ; then at hor own ccst caused apparatus to be installed at the London Hospital. Dr Finsen gave his discovery to tho world_ without price : he contented himself -nub a, pension of £300 from the Dan'*h , Government. Many notabilities havo gathe-ed in his lahoiatory. The speciah=t I is hnn-elf a great sufferer, as the outcome of his close demotion to scientific research. Every partic.l« of food he cat* ha-i to be weighed out to him. and ho nc\er knows the joy -of health, which his work is doing so mm h to =ecuro ior othei.3. — King Alfon o, uov. that he has come of age is beginning to exert himself acthely and to show that ho po-se=ses no small amo"nf of personality. He is etill known ■ among hi-, subjecis as "El Pcgueno" (tho I little cue), and 1 he is building up great I popularity for himself by h's lack of affectation and geniality of manner. He is at present taking- for the first time his posi- ■ tion amongst the ruling Sovereigns in Europe, and a few days ago he met and I received the Kaiser upon his -\ is:t to Spain, ' and made a great impression by his dignified

T and kingly bearing. Xo-,v he is engaged upon a. tour of his country, prcparato)y to formal visits to Paris, Berlin, and Vienna, and receiving King Edward in Spain, which our King proposes to visit shortly. Altogether, lying Alfonso's reign has opened in a. Aery auspicious and promising manner, and great things are expected of his capacity to rule and to bring Spain once more to the front amongst the European Poweis. —By the death of Sir Edmund AYiddringtoil Byrne, the. Chancory Division loses a strong judge. At the bar the late judge bad) a great' reputaton, and when the soli-citor-generalship was vacant on the accession of Lord Salsbury in 1895, and Sir Edward Clarke had refused it, Mr Byrne was generally mentoned as one likely to be offered the po-t, an expectation which was not fulfilled 1 . It was in 1897 that he "succeeded Mr Justice Chitty, and during his seven j'ears' experience of 'the bench ho had shown hiir-'clf to be a sound Chancery judge, and achieved a good reputation among- lawyers, more especially in commercial and' partnership cases thafc were dealt with on the- equity side. As a politician he was chiefly identified with the Walthamstoiv Division of Es=ex, being returned 'there as a Unionist in 18&2 and' 1895. The story is fastened upon him, though it is probably apocryphal, of meeting an elector in Walthamstow, and on inquiring warmly, ''How is your father"?" received tho reply that he was dead. Later in the day he mcl tlio same elector, and! repeated! the question. "He's still dead, sir," wais ths> pained reply. —In an obituary notice of Dr A. P. Aitke-n, the Field writes: — The death of Dr Aitken, consulting chemist to the Highland and Agricultural Society, occurred at his residence in, Edinburgh on Sunday, April 17. Born in the Scottish capital up- , wards of 60 years ago, Dr Aitken had been long intimately associated with educational matters in Scotland, and particularly in Edinburgh, where h& was lecturer in agricultural chemistry in the University, and professor of chemistry in the Royal Dick Veterinary College. For about 20 years he was consulting chemist to the Scottish National Agricultural Society, and the excellent services he rendered to agriculture in that capacity will long be remembered. He had made a close and thorough study of chemistry as r.pplied and applicable to agriculture, and! in die solution of difficult problems had established an enviable and merited reputation. Dr Aitken was also an accomplished botanist, and, indeed, was exceptionally versatile in his attainments intellectually and socially. At the time of his death he was a member of the Departmental Committee that is inquiring into the working of the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act. — 11. Paul Cambon, the French Ambassador, the other day appended his signature to a document which will become historic. He has been one of the principal factors in bringing about the cordial good! feeling which now happily subsists between the two great Western nations. A diplomatist of over 30 years' standing, M. Cambon has been Ambassador -to the Court of St. James for six years. Before coming, to London he held similar positions in Mad-rid and Constantinople, and was earlier still French Resident in Tunis. M.. Camboa was brought up as a lawyer, butt' he never practised at the French Bar. For several years he acted as secretary to the late M. Jules Ferry and thereafter began a diplomatic career which has now been crowned by the conclusion of one of the most important treaties which it has ever fallen to the lot of a plenipotentiary to sign. The French Ambassador is a brilliant conversationalist, a most delightful host, and a ■persona grata, at the British Court. The King has several times dined at the French Embassy at Albert gate. The Embassy is among the finest houses in London — so fine, indeed, that when it was built, andi before it found a tenant, facetious people got into the habit of speaking of it as "Gibraltar," because, they said 1 , it would never be "taken." M. Cambon is in the prime of life; he is 61. His brother, M. Jules Cambon, is the French Ambassador in Washington. —Dr Le Neve Foster is so very well known that> his name does not call for any lengthy introduction, though the appellation Sir Clement may sound strange to many, so recently was the honour of Knighthood conferred upon him. In mining circles generally he occupies a position of. eminence, whilst in the world of practical science he is held in 'the highest esteem, as an authority whose conclusions command a respectful hearing. Ho wa3 born at Camberwell or» the 23rd of March ' in £he year 1841, ancE is therefore well into his sixty-third year. He was the- second son of the late Mr Peter Lo Neva Foster, M.A., a barrister-at-law, and in hi? day thirty-ninth Wrangler and! Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Foi- a period extending over a quarter of a century or more Mr Foster, sen., acquired a reputation whilst fulfilling the duties 6E se-cretary ox ih.3 Society of Arts, a. position that in t!'o=e days, perhaps more than in the twentieth century, was no sinecure, entailing a vast amount of labour unsuspected by the ordinary man, who saw the fruit 1 ? of that labour without appreciating the dogged perseverance and determination essential to kee.p the society well to the front. — Lord William Seymour's new appointment as a Commissioner of Chelsea Hospital will not interfere with his position as Lieutenant of the Tower. That office, to which he was appointed 18 months ago, is held for three years, and though having now but -a salary of £400 a year attaching, is one which officers of distinction appreciate. Formerly it was a. billet which had its price m the jobbery mart. Sir Allan Apsley paid the Duke of Buckingham a sum equal 1 to £12,500 of our money for it. Whatever the emolument, it was then a post of responsibility indeed. He had in charge prisoners whose names will live as long as history. It was a. wonderful symposium' of captives. There was Sir Walter Raleigh, shivnig to win from the Great Cordial ihe» Elixir of Life. There was the Wizardi Earl of Northumberland, getting together ia the Martine Tower that collection of manuscripts which was to ehed such glory on the learning- of a. later and happier generation. There was with him, Heriot, whose, sundial remains to-day upon the southern face of the Martin© Tower, a better reminder even than the legendary ghost of the Wizard Earl of those days in wh" '■ he was in. correspondence with Kepler, helping 1 to determine, the nature of sun=pots oven before GaMeo had observed them. Lord William Seymour has no prisoneca to-day, but if the need arose he could furnUh at a moment's notice 80.000 stands of, arms for the defence of London, and, depend upon it, they would all be in good I shooting order.