PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2728, 27 June 1906, Page 79

PERSONAL NOTES.

— A thrill of painful surprise and .sin.cerest sorrow passed through tiie .minds of the agriculturists of -Scotland when they heard of the death .of fjoid - Mansfieldv which toqk pl«o& on Susday, April 29, after a very brief and acuteiHncss, *t Comlongon Ca6tle, Kuthwctl, .HDnmfcies. 'S3a». noble Lord had gone op a Visit 'to his Dumfriesshire estates, and haji caught a ohill, which rapidly developed into oolite pneumonia, and the end- came with -startling suddenness. He was only in bis-forty-sixth year. In early -life the HoWe lpr-d ewtered the army, and after: serving in thp Grenadier ■ Guards for c, < titoe he retired with the .rank of captain. In 18S6 -he .succeeded his , gcauctfather, the fourth of Manafiold, who died -at the venexablo age of' 92 years. Since then 'the noble -loci} ha§ been indefatigable in his labours in tsho public interest. A warm personal friend of the King, he was lost year created a Prij/j' Councillor, and all through his p&blic 'life he was .knee-deep iv engagements in fchepublio service. He had a nobly fcjgJvfleneo of -public -sduty. Ho was a perfect - i»c«ivpiation of-Jbiodness, "S>artieuli«ty .to.Jjjs flstatQ employees, and when any of .them. -became incapacitated through or illness he generously saw* to it that 'their, futwe -wants were provided for. He w .never m?rrred, and is succeeded in the title and* estates »by his youngest brother, .the Son. A. ,B. Murray. Aiiother brother, tlie Hon. Andrew David Murray, died a hero's- death at the head of the Lovat Scouts, in a fierce fight during the late Boer war.

—^There are alleged to bo 700 commissioned officers in the British anoy •who have risen fcom the ranks. This proportion is very small, indeed, One of the most distinguished ranktys now on the retired; list is Major-general Luke G'<3onnor, a native of Erphin, County Roscommon, Ireland, who, as a poor boy, enlisted in -the Royal Welsh Fnsiliore in 1&49 iat the age of 17, became sergeant, ;ind then on sign. Ho in the Crimea, receiving a modal \vith two clasps, V.C., Sardinian -and Turiish medals; ak^ in, tho Indian tilutiny, including the relief of Lucknow (modal -with two clasps) ; As<hantee expedition (medal). Ho was one of the centre tergeante at Alma, and advanced betweon officers carrying the colours. 'When -near the redoubt Lie h tenant Anstrufciier, who was carrying a colour, fell, wounded; (bough shpt in the broast, anaiciied «p tho colour and carried it to the of action, though urged to relinquish it «nd go to the rear csi account of' bis ivound. For this lie received his oomiuieslpn aß d the thanks of ihe generals on tho field. He was afterwards specially thanked ' by the Queen. , — The world-renowned inventor, Mr Thomas Alva Edison, who enfee/od upon his sixtieth year recently, though on American by bictn, is of Scotch riesnent on Wb mother's side. His maxim is, "A man .wbo can do something which no one elso can do can get a lot for doing it." He does not bcliovo in genius, and onoe said : "Two per cent, is genius and 88 per cent, is bard work." Another time, -when the argument that geniue was inspiration was brought before him, he retorted: "Bah! „ Genius id not inspiied. Inspiration is perspiration."

— The Right Hon. Sir Nicholas Roderick O'Oonor, G.C.8., British Ambassador to Turkpy, who is responsible for upholding British intereste in the critical negotiations with the Sublime Portp, is what Mr Doolev might ironk*lly term a distinguished Anglo-Saxon from Connaujyht. Ho joined the diplomatic service in 1866. Be is 65, a son of P. H. O'Conor, of sPumlermofct, Ballymoe, Ckjunty Roscommon. His mother^ was* a French of Frenchlawn, in the" same county. He was •educated at Stonyhuust. and married in 1887 a daughter of the late J. Hope-Scott and Lady Victoria i 'Howard (daughter of the fourteenth Dulta of Norfolk). He has been attache at Borlin. tlu Hague, Madrid, Rio <le Ja-neiro. and Pans, and Secretary of Legation and Charge d 'Affaires at Pckin and Washington ; Politioal Ag«nt and Consul-general to Bulgaria, Minister at Pekin, Ambajssa^or to St. Petersburg, and now represents Great Britain at gtamboul. Ho still retains his seat at Ballymoe, and as he is advanced in years his retirement esnnot be f»r off. — Lord Ellesmero has been justly fltyl«d a many-bided peer. He writes novels, and formerly used the pen-name of Charles GranvUle. Ho shoots, plays cricket, and is well known in racing circles. Lord Ellesmere, who ie the owner of Hampton, the sire of no fewer than throe Derby winners, keeps some of tho finest racing stables in England, but has never been known to make a bet. Bcidgewaier House. Lord Ellesmere's London bouse, is one of the finest private palaces in the Metropolis.

— Montreal has the largest flournull nc the British Empire. It turns out SOCK) barrels of flour a day. Friend, when a cold invades the nose, And damp the daily hanky grows, When racking Coughs distract the l-reasjb, And A>b you of your nightly rest, And shooting pains in chest ;and joint To pulmonary troubles point— What can once more good health ensure? Why. simply Woods' Great Peppermint Curcw