PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2842, 2 September 1908, Page 80

PERSONAL NOTES.

— The Grand Duke Constantine is by far the mo^fc versatile of the Russian Czar's^ relations. Not only, xfjh&ji "play wtight,lbu£ he is jtlso- an actor, and not many yeai-s ago he took the >p>art of Hamlet in a performance which was witnessed by the Inv perial family and by select" members of- S£ Petersburg society. Last- year the-. Grand Duke amused hi 3 friends by\ issuing, for' private circulation only, a semir-medicat' -volume. His Imperial Highness knows English as :well as he does hie native language, aiwt it ie probable .that in the event of further; political upheavals in Russia he will settle in England. -*- Admiral Robley D. Evans, of the American -Navy, tells ithis story gainsl himself. He had: a Congressman Toi* a. guest, but hadl-run. out of his ' iavourhe brand of whisky, and had stocked up with sc inethinjy he - could not guarantee. He^explained this and added, "Here, however, is some brandy - that I've kept untouched for a good deal " more | than 20 years." ''Just hand me over the whisky decanter." was the reply. "Why,"- aai«J the .Adimjral,, '"what's the matter with the" brandy?" "That's just what I want to know, Bob,' 6aid tho guest; "but if you have had it untouched in your* possession for more than 20 years there must be something pretty bad tihe matter with it!" —It was remarked the other ~d«iy that the German Emperor, who always writes his own lefctars, addTesses them also in his own handwriting; the superscription, moreover, is always complete, nothing being missing in the way of a title. The Emperor is a stickler for etiquette, and no lapse with regard thereto escapes his eye. Wten walking in the Thiergiarten a soldier stood: at attention and saluted. The Kaiser stopped. "What are< you?" ho aeked 1 . "Paymaster of the Regiment, your Majesty," w/is the> reply. "Surely that's a mistake?" observed the Emperor. "Pardon, sire." said the soldier, "it is quit© correct." "Then where is your eagle?" demanded the Kaiser sharply. He had jus fc issued a new army regulation, requiring paymasters to wear a golden eagle in their caps to distinguish them from commissioned officers, a change which was not welcomed 1 by the men. "J forgot to- put it in, your Majesty," stammered the paymaster. "When I issue an order I do not it to be forgotten," remarked the Kaiser, and passed on

—The birth on Saturday, Alav 30, of a< son and heir to tbo Duke of Norfolk revives the title of Earl of ATunde^l, which has been -unused' since 1902, when the Duke's only son by his first marriage died. ' The new earl can trace his' descent back on hie father's sid© to before the Norman Conquest. He will in. time inherit the titles of Duke of Norfolk, Earl of Arundel, Baron Fit^alaq, Baron Oswaldestre, Earl of Surrey, Earl of Norfolk, Baron Clun, and Baron Maltravejs, in addition to becoming Earl Marshal an<J Hereditary Marshal of England — truly an imposing' array of honours. He willi also be lord 1 of" nearly 50,000 acres, the chief estates being situated between fchd Thamee and the Strand, ip. London, in Sheffield, and in Sussex, at Littlehampton and Arundel — at the latter place* bsing situated the historic oastle where the baby earl was born. From his mother he will inherit Oie title of Ba.ron Henries, which title ia one. of the few honours which passes, to female^ heirs. — It is a striking fact that' until" the closing months of the last Administration few people had heard the name of Reginald M'Kenna, the First Lord of the Admiralty, whose prospective marriage to Miae Pamela Jekyll, a lady of many gifts and accomplishments, who is herself keenly interested in politics, is creating so much interest in the soolal wotld. A few months before the last genera,! election, however, he at£racted notice by his assadiioTW attention to financial matterß and 1 the smashing Hows ha aimed at Mr Austen Chamberlain's Budget proposals, particularly that affecting stripped fobaceo. It is only 12 years ago nince Mr M'Kenna first entered Par.liament, after practising at the bar for a number of years. Trinity hall, Cambridge, where Mr M'Kenna went after leaving King's College, London, has produced some first-class lawyers a.nd very distinguished oarsmen, and the First Lord worthily upheld the traditions so far as rowing was concerned, for he was included in the famous Trinity boat which won the Stewards' and the Grand Challenge Cups at Henley in 1887. — Mr Asquith is not usually credited with much humour, and rarely does a smile flit aeioss hij face. Occasionally, however, he thiows Aside his customary stern dignity for a moment. At an open-air meeting in the tiny village of Daixsie, in East Fife, v platform was erected outside the village school, and 1 there, in the dusk, the future Pa-ime Minister besought the votes of hi& hearers. Tho chairman, after the speech, gave the hecklers their chance, and at onof a farmer, wearing an enormous straw hat on his head, threw himself into the foay. Mr Asquith peered into the darkness. "J am sorry," he said, "but I didn't see who ife was that put that question." Before the man could make answer a ploughman standing beside the candidate solved tho difficulty. Pointing to the farmer, he remaiked, "It was him with the coo's breakfast on his head." And Mr Asquith laughed heartily. — There are few better athletes and morn enthusiastic sportsmen in the House of Commons than Mr J. A. Pease, who will ba the new Chief Liberal Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury in succession to Mr George Whiteley. Mr v Pease has played football and polo for Cambridge University, has captained the Durham, cricket team, was master of the "Varsity Staghounds, and has since had a pack of beagles of his own. And he is as popular in the House of Commons as he wob 4t Cambridge, and has many personal friends on the Opposition benches. He has done some solid work as Junior Whip, and his new appointment has been received with much satisfaction. In business as well as in 6ports and politics Mr Pease has made his mark, and' ac director of ths firm of Pease and Partners and chairman of Wilson, Pease, and Co., he has earned a great reputation on account of his keen commercial acumen.

—On Friday. Juno 19, Jlr George Alexander atfrrtned the age of 50. Mr Alexander's career h&4 been a singularly successful one. It is now 18 yeai-e since he undertoojc th© douW« role of actpr-xpanager ftfc th© old Ayenu© Theatre, mlgralirig to tie St. James's a year or. two later- luring rb annual provincjaj tours Mr Alexsrjder Jifji m«t £1P) S* sl^ adventurer, on^

of which, at least, might have had a tragio sequel. During one of his most thrilling scenes tho stage cat calmly wandered on tcr the stage and commenced a plaintive ecng. Without hesitating in his part, Mr Alexander seized puss and handed her through a. dummy fireplace to a stage hand 1 "■■ifi Qe w'nfi!-- Now; that fiieiKe© was.'full oi the realistic paper "flames," and a mill hand in -the gallery -expressed his cr-mion of Mr Alexander's cruelty very forcibly.' ' He" hurled -an empty Twttle' itf him. Fortunately the missile went wide, "otherwise the curtain might have fallen finally .on Mr -Alexander. — The choosing by Mr John Moxley of tho title of Viscount Morley of Blackburn adds another to the long list of titles that confuse us. There are already an Earl Morley, whose family name is Par* ker, and a Lord d© Mauley=— to say _no\_ thing of the interesting claimant to that extinct peerage_of I>Br Morley^ -Many peopfe,w*re recently, under. -the '-impression that . the ex- Viceroy of India" bad been in trouble with the -.police for. exceeding the speedy . limit- in "his mot©i-«fir. -But~it was noiff Lour. Curzon oß..^EedlestoiT rwlio was : thes v offender", but Lord Curzon, the^heir pf-Eorj . Howe — a very'different person. Similarly,, ' Earl deT-Grey, who; will some day be Marquis of Ripon, is not Earl "Grey, head of. the famous family of that name. Nor ie he Lord Grey de Gorby, or Lord Grey de Wilton, who are the heirs of the Earls of Stamford and Wilton respectively. You must not confuse Lord Middleton, whose family name is Willoughby, witih Lord) M idle ton, who was once Mr St. Johnj Brodrick, Minister of War. Of course* the Dqk< of Devonshire has nothing to do • with/the Earl of Devon, whose heir, if ?J son, is Xord Oourtenaj. Nor is the latter, that Lord Courtney who was once Mr Leonard Qpurtney. (The heir to the pre« sent Earl of Devou is his brother, the Bey. Henry Oourtenay). And it must never be forgotten tihat Mr Winston Churchill, president of the Board of Trade, is by no means the same person as Mr Winston Churchill, tba American novelist. — Horatio Herbert Kitchener, Viscount" Kitchener of KEartoum, was 58 on Wed-* - ne&day, June 24.^ Lord Kitchener is one) of our greatest generals; but he is re« speoted, rather than loved, by those serving under him. Stem and reserved in hia manner, h© 'is, howeVex, Tjery^just. Ranfc does not influence him. The bluest-blooded subaltern is treated as impartially as an) ordinary HTcmmy." During the Soutib. African campaign a private of exemplary character reported himself as v unfit fon, duty. The doctor, however, thought otherwise, and ordered tho man back, to work.Later on the soldier found himself growing „ much weaker, and spoke to the sergeant "Why not tell Lord Kitchener?" was the reply. 'He's in his office." This the soldier feared to do, but the sergeant went straight in *nd' laid the case before Kitchener. "Send tho man here, and fetch Drs A. and 8.," commanded "K. of X.," without looking up fTOin his work. Thb two doctors examined the patient in tho presence of his lordship, and prononnced him to be suffering from typhoid fever* "Now send for Dr C." This was the doctor who had practically accused the patient of rr.alingering. He, too, etemined the pstient, and then said nervously: our. .•*• fear I have made a mistake. This man ia suffering from typhoid in an early stage. • "Remove him at once to the hospital, wa« Kitchener's reply. ''And you, Dr^O., appljj to the adjutant for youir papers, and re* turn to England at your earliest con* venience." *■

THE BROTHERS; CAIN 1 . The fury tihait was on hivcu tihea Will never pass »w»y; Be etandeth among lesser men \ A murd«r«r for «ye. ' ! His brother's blood feom out the ground : For ev&rmore will call, l I Tiho majrk upon Ihis brow bo found | Till Christ redieemeth all. Sore-weaTied through i£e Irtnd'of Nod' He, suffering, journeys fao 1 — An outcast, fleeing man. vad God; | And cursed by every star. [ The streams bem»ok*his *woll«n lips, * Th« fruits ibis famished tongue — In Vain his Eieod-S'tained hands he aipe, Fox since the eairtib was young A fugitive and vagabond Thiat wretched man bath be«n; And yet Ms father held' him, fond, I His nervy knees between, And blessed him when * little boj 1 Witt all & father's care. Hia bloodshot eyes are tired and dry, Why does h« wander there? ABEL. He knelt in adoration low Before the oiltar-stoaHt, H© f-elt his hia&ty brother's bio* And passed without a groan. He cam© a* length to Holy Christ, In the awful vast above, And therer his agony Be voiced,, With all a brother's love — " O God, forgive and bless again, In taste he struck th© blow: We on the same w*rm breast have lain-* Forgive, amd let him go- • • "We oft were sleeper « side by side In one warm little bed, The self -same anxious father's, pride, j A mother's prayers were said " Above us ; oft in boyisib 'glee We our father's plough, ; O. awful Father, set him free — : Forgive my brother now." A "voioe from far in til© firmament Spake. — sad was the Father's cry— • " Until the murderer repent, He is doomed by the law to die. " A brother's blood 1 in frenzy ihedi Will not be wiped away Till He a-riseth. who was dead^ To live and reign for aye. "Ah! human blood in frenzy sheel From the weary earth will call, Till Hate and Force ftnd Lust be dead 1 And Love is Lord of all. " Throughout the ages yearn- md plead, O first of martyred men; When all thy kin from the curse are freed Thy brother will bless the© then." — CHABLIS OfiCAB PAIMI» Kaikouxa, July, 1906. A little man stepped in the shop. An£ said: "Now, you be au.*« To give me what I ask for pop, Woods' Great Peppermint Curt* It'»j no use to try anc] force On m,e come other olase, : For though I am a little Hoarse Tm no* a ii*tle n^"