PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2924, 30 March 1910, Page 88

PERSONAL NOTES.

Mr H. Twist, who won a seat at VVigian for the Lobourites, was born within hree miles of that town. He started work ir the mines at 11 years of asre, rising tc be check weighman at the IVaains Colliery, near VVigan. He did good work in connection with the Miners' federation, and now at 40 rinds himself in the House of Commons. - The father and mother ot Mr Will Thorne, who was returned for '.Vest Ham (South) wore both brickmakcrs. He was only seven when hie father was accidentally killed, and he never had a day's schooling 'though he says .hat "lard work, self-reliance, listening to good speakers, and reading will give anyone a sort of sduoation." These are the things, Mr Thorne declares, which have pulled him through East Leeds working men refer to their member as "Jimmy'' O'Grady simply because he is one of them. He knew vhac it was to earn his own living at JO jcars ot ago in a mineral water manufacturer s, and few men have worked hauler o secure reforms for the masses. And then there is Mr F. W. Jowett, member for West Bradford, who started nis Ciii'i'T ts a mill hand at a very early ai/e, and educated himself; also Mr 'I. Glover, the member for St Helens, vho as a mere child worked in the coal mines, a.nd was so keenly.alive to the necessity of reforms amongst his co-workers that at 16 years of age he became secretary of a union. Sir Edward Tennant is setting ', splendid example to the owners of great pictures in London in creating a gallery in his house to which the public will be admitted at all times. The pictures on view are apparently not to include the magnificent Turners which were in the possession of the late Sir Chas. Tennant. but there will be fine examples of some of the great English masters of portraitpainting Raeburn will also be represented, as well as several of the greater Frenchmen of the eighteenth century. The late Lord Kelvin, It appears, enriched .scientific language with many words of his own coinage. Professor Thomson, in the Life of ' the great scientist, just published, says that to Lord Kelvin wo owe the term* "kinetic" energy (the counterpart of Rankine's "potential" energy); the expressions "'permeability" and "susceptibilty" in the magnetisation of iron; the adjectives "aeolotropic, ' "circuital,'" and "positional" (a single adjective is used to avoid "a sea of troubles "), and the pbcfiae "ohmis resistance" for one cjf the factors of energy-waste in a circui'traversed by an electric current. The Commander'ship of the Order of St. James, which the King of Portugal has conferred' upon the Catholic Lord Mayor of London, was founded, in Spain after Henry of Burgundy had recovered Portugal from the Moors, owing largely, it was believed to the presence of the bones of the Apostle and Martyr. A candidate originally had to evince great ardour to fight the infidel. He had also to prove that for four generations his family on both sides had been Christian, and without taint of trade, brokerage, or usury. The Christian Wond records the death of Mr Henry Baker, Mus.Bac, who is known all over the English-speak-ing world by his tune sometimes called "Whitburn," written some 40 years ago, and many other hymn tunes. He was a civil engineer, educated first at Winchester's famous school, and afterwards at Cooper's Hill. Most of his life was spent as a civil servant in India. He was always fond of music, and, on the suggestion of his close friend. Dr Dykes, took the Mus.Bac. degree at Oxford. MiBaker had leached the age of 75, and for ' many years bad lived a very retired life at Wimbledon. Mr Samuel Storey, "the dictator of Sunderland," lias been returned as a tariff reformer after having for 14- years represented Sunderland as a Liberal, is a man who has made his own., way in the world, and was a schoolmaster, a commercial traveller, and a metal-broker before he became a newspaper proprietor. He has been Mayor of Sunderland on several occasions, and his career equals in interest that of the other Unionist member for Sunderland, Mr James Knott, a self-made man, who began business at the age of 23 by purchasing a brie;, for which he gave £lB5. This formed the nucleus of a fleet of 40 sailing vessels which he soon acquired. In addition, he has built over 30 steamships on the Weai alone. seat in Parliament for the Unionists, ever writes his reminiscences, they should make interesting reading; Although he is a son of the late Lord Alfred Paget—for many years connected officially with Queen Victoria's Household—and was educated at Harrow, he preferred to earn his own living. With this object in view he entered the workshops of the Midland Railway to learn engineering, but afterwards went to America, where for a time he worked, as a paid farm hand, ultimately acquiring a ranch of his own in the Far West. Subsequently he built up for himself a large and sucessful business career in New" York, and married a daughter of the late Mr Whitney, the well-known American sportsman and statesman, who won the Derby with Volcdyovski in 1901. Canadian, papers contain particulars of the death of Dr James Hannay, of St. John, an •eminent literary roan, and one of the leading citizens of the Province of New Brunswick. During - hia long career he had merited national recognition as a historian, an editor, and a poet. It was in 1875 that h.'s first book appeared, "The Captivity of John Gyles." Then followed, in rapid succession, a long row of publications of which the most, notable are: "History of Acadia," "Story of the Queen's Rangers.'' "A History of the War of 1812," "The Life and Times of Sir Leonard Tilley," "Ballads of A<--yUf> ' and this year his lone--,aw.aited "History of New Brunswick " Dr Hannav was in his sixty-ciehth year. Sir William Huggins, who has entered his eighty-seventh year, is -famous all over the world as the founder of the science of astrophysics, by means of which the infinitely distant stars and nebu have been eomnelled to yields- up the secrets of their physical constitution. The faint nebulous mists once believed to be the most distant stars are now known to bo immense masses of inci.nidescent gas. and most of the elements which are found in our own earth have recorded their in trie stars bv iho[ r unerring ' lines in the tell-tale spectrum. With the

help of his clever wife, Sir William Huggins for over half a century pursued IILI researches in his home-made observatory at Tulsc Hill, and only last year returned t< the Royal Society the instruments lent him many years oreviously. There are few nen who answer so completely o the papular conception of ■ sailor as Rear-admiral Sir Alfred Winsloc, the new commander-in-chief of the China squadron. Among the rank and file of Jack Tars he is affectionately known < the ''sea dog, ' and if manner and r acc and general bearing count for anything, the name is evidently suitable. Although a stickler for discipline. Admiral Winsloe is. nevertheless, extremely popular with his men. There is a little story told of how, on one ocasion, a sailor having fallen ill, Sir Alfred sent an officer with a bottle of wine for the invalid, adding, "Tell him. its from the old 'eea dog.' ' The sailor when he had recovered from his surprise, blurted forth: "Tell the old 'sea "■ I'll go tc the North Polo foi him if he likes." - -There are few famine:, in England that boast of a longei pedigree than hat of Lord Dynevor, who has just celebrated his seventy-fourth birthday. The family name is Rice, and according to the Welsh chroniclers, it is descended from a Cani-bro-British noble named Rheged, who became the husband of Margaret La fcY\... the half-sister of King Arthur, The tit'-; dates from 1730. when Cha-s < s Talbov. the Lord Chancellor, was made Baron ijvri'"l- - As a matter of fact, there has hardly been a time during the la-.t 800 years when a member of the family has act been considered of account in luH'ic life. A Richmond Talbot appears in the Domesday Book, w.Ti'e another, Gilbert, carried the spurs at che coronation of King Edward'V, and had a commission to receive the submission of the celebrated Welsh Chieftain, Owen Glendower,