PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2928, 27 April 1910, Page 80

PERSONAL NOTES.

Rossetti would have enjoyed "Chantecter," for he speait a large portion of his time among .he pheasants, peacocks, owls, and other birds which he housed at Cheyne Walk. According to Val Prinsep's Reminiscences, these birds were, on the whole, "a source of grief to the poet-painter." "Fancy," he said to me, "I bad the loveliest little owl, a delightful ball of feathers, and my raven bit its head off. I had that devil executed," he added, in vindictive tones; "such a jolly little beast, that little owl." Never be stingy about roses. George Robinson of Nantwich, a "shoemaker, was once walking from his garden with a bunch of rosea when lie met an old lady with a nurse. She admired the roses and he offered her some, which she accepted for her mother's grave. That was 12 years ago. The other day George Robinson received a legacy of £l2O from this lady as a. token of her gratitude. The resignation of his seat for Glamorganshire by Sir Samuel Evans terminated an almost unparalleled tenure of one seat. Glamorganshire for 80 years has had only one change of a parliamentary representative. In 1830 Mr Christopher Talbot, then a young man in his twenty-seventh year, was elected as memibei for Glamorganshire in the unreformed House of Commons. He sat for that constituency continuously for more than 60 years, till his death in 1590, as Father of the House, when he was succeeded by Sir Samuel Evans, who has been member for Glamorganshire ever since. Ramsay, Professor of Chemistry at the London University, who is appealing for funds or behalf of new laboratories, was warned against adopting chemistry as a profession. "There are too many blanks and too few prizes," he was told. But Sir William has proved himself quite capable of drawing some of the prizes. He it was who, together with Lord Rayleigh, discovered the new element "argon." the two scientists sharing a prize of 10,000 dollars awarded by the Smithsonian Institute for the discoverv. Mr Melton Prior, the war artist, tells how during the Ashantee War, on going' up the hill into the town of Kumassi with the troops under Lord (then Sir Garnet) Wolseley, he was so tired and "done up" that he could sea.rcelv walk. He was struggling along, . when Lord Wolseley, mounted on a mule, passed, and without more ado he laid hold of the mule's tail. Hei had been assisted thus for but a short distance when Lord Wolseley turned round and saw what he was doing. Of course, he rirjologised. but Wolseley only laughed, and replied. "Hold on, Mr Prior, we will pull you in." Mr G. N. Barnes, M.P., the new chairman of the Labour party in Parliament, onlv entered the House of Commons in 1906, but he is one of N the ablest and most esteemed member's. He is quite a. "selfmade" man. Born at Lcohee, near Dundee, where his father was eiriployed in a jute mill. George Barnes made an early acquaintance with work. He became an engineer, came to London, and, after his work in tho day time, stedied hard at nig'ht classes, winning several prizes and certificates. Step by step he rose", till he became general secretarv to the rich and powerful Amalgamated Society elf Engineers—the blue ribbon of the trades union world Mr Herbert Samuel, who has been transferred from the Under-Ssere'taryship at, the Home Office to the Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster and a seat in the Cabinet, has the distinction of being the first Jew to sit in an English Cabinet. Beaconsfield, who was born a Jew, embraced Christianity while a youth. Mr Samuel is one of the Government's brilliant youns men, and his piloting of the Children's Bill was so warmly admired that ■ he was entertained to a complimentary dinner by members of all parties in recognition of his excellent work. Mr Samuel tells an amusing election etory. One night he arrived 1 late to address a meeting, and saw a, working man whom he knew loung-

inig at the doorway of the hall. "Do you know who's speaking?" asked Mr Samuel, "or haven't you been in?" "Oh. yes. I've been in. Mr A ■is flaking." "What about?" inquired Mr Samuel. The working man sighed and shook his head. "Ha didn't say," be answered. A notable illustration of the important part played by the engineer in naval warfare is recalled bj the appointment of Sir Henry Benbow to the Good Service Pension of £2OO a year vacated by the death of Sir William Eames. It is 17 years since Sir Henry retired from active service with the rank of Chief Inspector of Machinery. Nine years previously, when serving with the Nile expedition, he achieved the distinction of a special mention in the London* Gazette, which read as follows:—"Lord Wolseley selected for special mention Chiefengineer Henry Benbow, R.N., whose splendid courage and resource during the memorable trip to the rescue of Sir Charles Wilson and his shipwrecked comrades had been brousrht under his lordship's direct notice by Lord Charles Beresford. Lord Wolseley warmly thanked and praised Mr Benbow for his brilliant feat of repairing the boiler of the rescuing steamer under the heavy and continuous fire of the enemy, and as a personal testimony to his merits presented him with his own silver cigaretteense. to the great delight of the asssimbled bluejackets." The Earl of Pembroke in his early days was considered the handsomest man in the House of Commons. Upon his accession to the (peerage he received a unique compliment from Sir William Hareourt, who. speakin<r of his departure, referred to it as the "loss of an ornament of the House." The Herbert family is of very ancient lineage, and their pedigree can be traced back to Herbert Fitz Herbert, chamberlain to Henry I. The first Herbert .to be created Earl of Pembroke married one of Sir Thomas Parr's daughters, and thus became a brother-in-law of Henry VIIT. He was Lord Mavor of London when Mary was proclaimed Queen. The second Earl married a sister of Lady Jane Grey. Wilton House, Lord Pembroke's beautiful Wiltshire seat, stands on the site where once stood the palace of the West Saxon kings. It was here that Alburga, Egbert's sister, was born, Twenty years later it wss trani formed into an abbey, in connection with which a quaint story is told. It appears that towards th« end of the thirteenth century a knight. Sir Osborn Gifford. stole out of the nunnery two "faire maids" and ran off with them, whereupon the Archbishop of Canterbury excommunicated him with the conditions that he should not came within a convent or into the company of a nun. that for three Sundays he should! be publicly whipped at the door of the church, that he should fast for a certain three months, that he should wear no shirt for three years, and that he should wear apparel of russet colour till he spent three years in the Holy Land. The Duke of Portland, who has been nrotesting against the export of worn-out horses to the Continent, is usually looked rpon as one of the fortunate ones of this world. A Cavendish-Bentinok, he must almost necesarily be a sportsman, and the Duke in n.o way belies the tradition of his' family. When he was the King's Master of Horse, it was generally noticed that never before had the roval eauipages been so well turned out. His success on the turf is no less distinguished than Every penny the Duke makes in racing is devoted to building almshouses and schools, and? Welbeck Abbsy is in every respect a model estate, inasmuch as it is entirely selfcontained and self-providing. It contains workshops of all kinds, from a model dairy to a fire briorade. The. Duke has strong oninions. which he expresses with the utmost frankness, on the follies of betting. As a keen lover of horses it is onlv according to the fitness of things that the Duke of Portland shoidd tell a number of srocd horse yarns. One of his best concerns a. certain little rural town in a. series of races "for all comers" is held every Eastar Monday. On one such occasion the sun was streaming- down on a. field of hot. excited horses and men. all waiting patiently for a raw-boned beast to yield to the importunities of the starter to get into line. "Bring in that horse " shouted the starter; "you'll °et into trouble pretty soon, if you don't." The rider of the refractor"horse, a. youthful farmer, yelled back, "X can't help it. He's been a 'bus* horse, and he won't start till he hears the bell go, and I ain't got no bell." His Highness Abbas 11, the Khedive of Egvpt, who has taken unto himself a. new wife, is one of the most interesting o? living rulers. He is a man of numerous parts, and i. in every sense, "a man of the world," for hie education was most eomopolitan, and he has travelled a good' deal in Europe At one time it was decided to let him come to Eno-land to study : but the idea wa« eventually abandoned, and when quite a youth he was sent to Geneva, and afterwards to Vienna. The result was that he went in seriously for languages l , and at the present day be is one of the best linguists to be found anywhere. Abbas II is a great admirer of all things English, and when, he visited London some time ago he spoke in warm terms of British rule in Egypt._ One of the Khedive's favourite _ hobbies is, curiously enough, engine-driving, which he indulges in on his own private railway line. One day. when driving an engine, his wonderful presence of mind was the means of averting what have been a serious accident. The train was going at a high rate of SDeed, when the Khedive suddenly saw that the line ahead was blocked by a waggon loaded with iron. His Highness, immediately shut off steam, and brought the train to a standstill, only just in time to avoid a collision. He then descended from the engine andi walked coolly back to the station to make inquiries about the matter. At the time of his call to the Khedivate, Abbas II was studying in "Vienna. The Austrian Emperor, anxious to do all he could for the new ruler, placed a steamer at his disposal to convey him to Egypt. On the way there the weather was very and the Khedive implored a halt at Brindisi until the sea should become calmer. He was politely informed, however, tha,fc the Emperor had ordered the journey to be accomplished quickly, and that, therefore, it would not be etiquette to have a delay. The Khedive acquiesced, but at last the sea became so tempestuous that be could bear it no longer. "Etiquette is well enough in its piaoe," he said, "but his Majesty Francis Joseph is safe at home in his Palace at Vienna, and xiefc seaside on this awful shitj."