PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2784, 24 July 1907, Page 81

PERSONAL NOTES.

—Mr Jc^ph Arch, co long the voice of th& farm labourers' discontent, is just 80 years of age. Born the son of- a farm labourer, he was one of- those dogged souls who educated themselves with hardlyearned books in days before *the School Board had come to the village. H» mother waa in her youth a servant et Warwick Castle, ajicl -«c-Ik>h Josopli JLroh's avtixAxjography came to be written it-was a Countess of Warwick who edited and introduced it. — Sir Francis Powell, M.P. for Wigan, might well be described as the grand old veteran of the House of Commons. He entered Parliament exactly 50 years ago, and has a record of 10 years longer service than any other M.P. Furthermore, he has fought more contested elections than any man living, arid has stood at every general election since he began his parliamentary career, not to speak of the numerous byeeleo'uions at which he has fought in the interests of his party. Sir Fraaaois Powell's pet subject is sanitation, and he has digested mere information, and read more Blue Books about it than possibly any other dozen men.

— Sir Albert de Rtntzen, who has been a member of th© English Bar for half a century and a magistrate for 30 years, ia , noted for his wonderful memory. There is a story rebufcrng to this of an old lady who had been hoping for many years to obtain some thousands of pounds for breach of promise to marry, alleged to have been mad<» in her youth, and who appealed to Sir Albert for advice. '1 know all about it," he said to her. "You spoke to me about 20 years ago at Marylebone Police Court. I then advised yon to- instruct a -solicitor. The advice ,1 no#.i;give you.. Is tine same." '^ > \-" •''•£■:»-' - -i> ? ■ —Mr John Brinsmead; the father of the pianoforte trade, and his wife, who are odea 92 years of age, celebrated fcheir

seventieth wedding anniversary on Juno 3. Mr Brinsmead was born in North Devon on.. October 13, 1814, and was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker in Torringtcn. As scon' -as hie time was out he walked to London^ and founded the great house of Brinsmead. On June 3. 1837, a few days before the secession, of Queen "Victoria, he- married Alis?' SusaJn Brown, daughter of an officer in th.c ,92nd HigiManders. Mr Brinsmead is a. .Chevj&lier of the- Legion of Honour, and lias been decorated with the" Order of K*i«hthbdd (Villa Vicoza) by -the King' of !Por%*aL . . - — That adventurous - author, Mr. Jack London, is just now engaged on one or the t most remarkable ~ literary cruises , ever undertaken. In the Snark, a 45ft boat! with a crew oonsisfing of Iks' wife, two servants, and an uncle, he is- sailing 1 round the- World. The voyage will probably -take seven years,, and Mr London has already' made satisfactory arrangements with American magazines by which be will be able i» defray the whole cost of the trip. TJie-" -voyage is - quite in keeping- witb Mr London's characteristic daring. Amongst -other thongs he has been a* gcAd miner, tramp, .Socialist, '.•saJißbn-fisher, ioyster pirate, a feh pa^ol- . ijian, sealhunter, and war obrrespondenlfc.' He started his career at 17 by Shipping before 'the mast as able seaman^ -s * — -.Of the" self-made men to be found, in ■ the Ho,use of Commons to-day none Save bad' a more chequered and instructive career than Mr George Niohofls, the Liberal member tfoiy" North Northampton. When JieVwas eajijh-t years -of "age~Mr-JSicholis,.~waa turned out into the fields -to hel^yii* ■"widowed moth«r'to earn the family living-. - Ultimately he- became a navvy, an*jl as * v^j_ch helped in the" construction of THawi • T)ooks. For 11 years he wielded the^pick j and the shovel, hw spare time being devoted j to reading, thinking, and learning to speak ;in public. Ultimately Mr Niohofls became ' a lay pastor in Staffordshire, and after -doing much municipal work he was chosen to represent North Northampton . in' tihe House of Commons, where he- voices — as , Joseph Arch did 20 years ago — the aspiraI tions of the toilers on the land. I — Lord TanfcerviUe, the carpenter eafl; in [ certainly one of the most many-aided men, .; in the House of Lords. He has beeft . HsailoF, soldier, -»«ourtier, "cow-punoher,'*- ; singer, sportsman, artist, athlete, evange*. list; 'and though- he is now 55 he is. always i ia tibe pink of condition, and certainly doe* 1 not look his age. At Thomin^ton House; I in Northumberland, the peei-earpenter- h£s - | a well-appointed workshop adjoining "ft* | house. There he not only» cartwr ins wood". ' making many a handsonfe bracket or cup? ' board, but he also undertakes-, tine more tnoI dest work of repairs. Thjrty yejira ageuLtttvl • ! Tai-kerville, Who was men Lord. lkams£. 1 defeated-, left-handed, the. first and* jecogfri ; prizemen with the aing'lesfieks at'the-Arfii- ., lery sports. Again, when ne_ wjs. Jsl, ia • threw a stone 113 yards. . On one occasion, he was challenged by a frienfl to'a-MJ^l*- ', stick cont-est, and actually, beat Tarn |)Jm^i I fold; all he could see ofjxis opponeat wa» i his feet, but that was qu*t» enoughl . • He- ! is bringing up his bo^s, Lord. Os^nision ainl - litfale George — o*heirM(jse known- as.tVßafos" —^to be as good boxers «a f ne is,, "and "the gloves" are an in dispens«J^e > feature of th^ nursery at Thornington. , ', ■ .'*'.. i — Lord Edward Spenceri©bnrcibi!J,^whb *« , the great-uncle of the Duke^/^Marrborougg, ' is even more of a mechanical 'expert" lha»i k Lord Tankerville. He has not had such . an adventurous life in "bis 54 years, thbug'H J h-? served through the South African war, winning medals with no fewer than seven His greatest interest is --perhaps in the .praotioal applacaibum of etfeotrioifcy ;? thus, when foe decided to have the-.eieotrio light in his beautiful house at Windsor., Queen's ■ Mead, he himself wired the rooms - and built the dynamos. The bicycle n*tnrj ally appealed to him, and he was one^o£ the pioneers who succeeded in converting society to the cult of the wheel., Thenwhen Battersea Park became no longer, fashionable, Lord Edward, fell an easy Victim. to the motor-car passion. He is aJs" a practical astronomer and ah expert with .the microfteooe; wiile amongr" oihef .'tfajtnga he has actually hnnaeHf constructed a church organ and a. Brass model of an 80-ton gun. —In aH "parts of the world are to h» found monumento of the genius and skill of Si; Benjamin Baker, the famous engineer, who has just died. There are two, however, which illustrate more forcibly than anything else his wonderful ability — namely, ; the Forth bridge and the Assouan Dam. ' The fetter is a massive artificial embank- 1 | ment, thrown across the Nile, a mile and; a-qusrter in length and 126 ft high at its deepest point. It holds, an enormous voir of water, benefiting all Egypt. Tft« whole cost was under £2,000,000 sterling, ; and already it has paid Egypt many times > that amount in crops. For his services asj join* engineer with Sir John Fowler on the Porth bridge, Sir Benjamin "was' knighted. The work took seven years to> complete, and during that time Mr Baker) 'was on the ground early and late, and hmim bo boVtb every difficulty as it came up, asl there was 'no experienoe of, a similar strut;-! ture to guide him. During the fiercs* storms which tore/alons; the Forth estuarj} he would leave his lath-and-plaster shelter on the Hawes brae and venture on thai wind-swept platforms perched high in tiwr air to O-bser-5-e Jbo-w -the cantilever anw etood tlie blasts. Often he had to hold ott for dear life at unfenced portions of ihe bridge. It is curious to note that it wai (Sir Benjamin Baker who deskmed the quaint crait which encased Cleopatra* Needle durinss its' memioiwbfe "to England. He started life in the Souti Wales ironwortks, and afterwards entered the office of Sir John Fowder, whose partoei he eventually became. Sir John and in were once consulted by Garibaldi, wiio tru anxious to sbift the course of the Tibei; which he regarded a» a menace to Bomej but the British, ennuieen confron/ed bid with an estimate, Which ohjinged his ideaa about the- hnstorio -rivor. - Sir Benjamin had a dream. which ihas never heen reaJiaed— of an alternative to the Suez Canal by way <j|. C^uiro and Alexandria. - . .

"— — - .- v — There w at feas^ one redeeming feafaif about our air castles," and] $&$ jfi we don't have to pay -taxes on / them v ,_ The trapper in the lonely ranges grimj) 1 The miner gasping- in 'the dxiyingy dun? jm The horseman winding «attle. act wf plain; -- • —fc2 The farmer husbanding his golden griifa The pressman scorning time at d«4« night ; . ji/h The high, the low, end the cojimopoliteft \ The shiv'ring beggar and the epicure^-' J New Zealandera all — use Woody CrfQu Peppermint Cure,