PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2734, 8 August 1906, Page 72

PERSONAL NOTES.

— Sir Evelyn Wood has said that one of his narrowest escapes happened to him in the Crimea. He was climbing over a. parapet, when a private soldier forced bU w»y m front of him, and turned round savagely when his officer, who was much exhausted, caught hold of the butt of his rifle in order to pull himself up. At that moment the man was pierced through the heart by a bulkt from the Russian line*, while Wood, whose place he had taken, remained unhurt.

— The Duke of Wellington, who, m Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, in Spain, attended the royal wedding at Madrid, boasts many other foreign titles. Besides being an English duke and an Irish earl, he is the Prince of Waterloo in the Netherlands, the Duke of Vittoria, Marqu?ss of Douro, Marquess of Torres Vedras, and Count de Vimiera in Portugal. As a landed proprietor the Duke of Wellington own* some 19,000 acres, which include the 7000 acres composing the Strathfieldsaye Estate, presented to hia famous ancestor by a grateful nation at a cost of £263,000.

— General Weyler is the most popular .soldier in the Spanish army, where his real ability and passion for efficiency are appreciated by officers and private alike. When a lieutcnant-cojonel in a crack regiment General Weyler woced and won a humble peasant girl of iare beauty, who. like himself, was a natnc of the Balearic Islands. He invited hn brother officers to the wedding ceremony, at the conclusion of which h^ committed the bride to the care of the abbes* of a neighbouring convent. There -he aemained until she had received an education befitting her new position in life.

— Sir John Madden, Chief Justice and Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria, who ia now enjoying the first holiday of his life in London, is a native of Cork, who has spent 50 years in Melbourne. He was the first student of the Melbourne University, of which he is now Chancellor, to gain the degree of LL.D. As Dr Madden he soon, became a leader at the Melbourne Bar, a brilliant advocate, M.P., and Minuter of Justice. He was also'aTi accomplished athlete and aniate*ir boxer, and is well known to a number of representative English cricketers as the genial president and eloquent orator at welcome gatherings in their honour. — A noted diplomatist and a prominent

soci*l liyW "has disa;\ -;;r midss, with the »foath of L > ■ „ ho, after occupying * niunbp • \ ■ jjcste, was appointed Secretary to :■'! Salisbury's Special Embassy in 1070, »n<l proceeded with ifc to Constantinople to take part in the conferinee on Turkish affairs. The following year, when the Sultan's rejection of all its proposals brought the conference to a closfe Lord Currie returned to Eng land and became private secretary to Lord Salisbury. He was appointed in the same year to be Secretary and Special Embassy at the Berlin Congress, in conjunction with Mr "Monty" Cony, who became lior<?, Rowton. In 1894 he reached the height of his fame by his distinguished services as Ambassador to Turkey, and still iater went to Rome as Ambassador.

— Kaisor Wilhelm has a new fad. It is collecting picture post-carde, and he has thrown himself into it with characteristic energy. Every country in the world in which Germany possesses official representatives of any "kind whatever is laid under contribution. The Kaiser causes his secretary to write a picture post-card to the official s-alected, and this is enclosed in a State envelope, or endorsed " Business of State." This is then sent by mail, and on reaching its destination, often in the middle of the night, the addressee is at one© roused from slumber to receive the document, which merely conveys the Imperial greeting and commands a reply by picture post-card, wpresenting some local subject, " hy return."

—Mr John E. Redmond embodies in his own person the "antithesis of all the qualityes commonly associated with the English r!ca of a Pome Ruler (says the* London »fiil). In demeanour, it is true. Mr John <■) Redmond— not to *be • <Jonf used with his brother William — is\ as solemn and as grandly dignified as a foreign ambassador in court costume. He dresses like a member of the Royal Family, but hie head betokens 4Ln intellect suggesting Aristotle's. Then there is that melodious voice. There is something in the plaintiveness of it that makes women weep whenever -Mr Redmond describes an Irish eviction. There is a buoyancy in the , man's laughter at Unionism that is contagious. Mr Redmond ia the only member of the House of Commons known to have made Mr Arthur Balfour laugh, heartily. With no trace of Hibernian accent, Mr Redmond has so rare an elocutionary gift that Labour members have begun to study his oratorical style in the House. He is the best speaker there to-day.