PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, 1 June 1910, Page 82

PERSONAL NOTES.

—Mr Akers-Douglas has sat in, Parliament without interruption since 1880. Ho earned great distinction as a Whip in the eighties, and from 1866, when Gladstone was driven out of power through his advocacy of Home Rule, until 1892 he was scarcely ever away from the House, and never missed a division except when illness laid him up for a few weeks. Eighty-three is the age attained by Lord Lister. It is well on 40 years since this grand old man of medical science gave to the world his great 'boon of antiseptic surgery. In 1883 his services were rewarded with a baronetcy, U years later he was granted a peerage, and in 1902 he was made a Privy Councillor and decorated with the Order of Merit. In addition nearly every country in Europe has shown him honour of high order; degrees have been bestowed by the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Dublin, and Glasgow. His discovery—the patient labour of many years—.has revolutionised the work of his profession, and he has lived to receive his reward.

Since his accession _ the King of the Belgians rises at 5, and w quickly at work. At half-past 7 he breakfasts with the Queen. At 8 the little Princes come to wish their parents good morning and to play with them. "For the King, work commences again at 9 and continues until 11, when he rides with the Queen or motors with her, unless, indeed, the Queen is kept at home by some of her work for the poor. After luncheon the whole _ day is given up to work within doors and out of doors. At 8 the King dines. Mr Henry A. Lytton, well-known actor and singer, tells of a ludicrous position in which he found himself when playing in; a piece called "The Sands of the Sea." "I was supposed to be dying of thirst," he says, "and was bemoaning my fate that there was not a drop of water within days' marches. 'Suck your cloak, lad,' a kind friend in the galleu-y suggested. Just before entering I had been sitting at the side of the stage on a fire bucket, and had unconsciously allowed one of the ends of my cloak to fall into the water, with the result that, as I sauntered along in this water-parched country I was leaving a little stream behind me." Sir Thomas Barlow, Bart., who succeeds Sir Richard Douglas Powell in the presidency of the Royal College, is a Lancashire man, and the son of the late James Barlow, of Bolton. Sir Thomas deserted cotton for medicine, and has had a wonderfully successful career. He has had an. amazingly long list of degrees and honours conferred bv universities at home and abroad. He has held all the honorary appointments that fall to the greatly successful doctor, and' 'ho was Physician Extraordinary to the late Queen, at whose bedside he was during her last illness. No one can accuse Sir Thomas of a.n ultracourtly manner. A man of kindly and sympathetic disposition patients invariably find him not only a highly skilful advisor, but also a frank and) strong friend whose presence is a tonic. He is 65, and is a remarkably w'ell-preserved man. The new Governor of New Zealand has not only changed his political allegiance more than once, but likewise his name. Originally Sir John Dickson, he assumed the additional name of Poynder on succeeding his maternal imolc in the Hartharu estates in. 1881. On coming o£

age in 1887 he was obliged to reassume the name of Dickson, in compliance with the settlement of his Scotch estates. He then barred the entail of that property, and l again assumed! the name of Poynder, ini order to avoid a forfeiture of the Wiltshire estates under his uncle's will. Hartbam, in Wiltshire, between Chippenham and Oorsham, is a beautiful place, famous for its jrardens and its trees, and surrounded l by charming country offering exquisite views from, the tea-race of the mansion. The original structure of the latter is about 200 vears old, but it was substantially added to at different periods between 1850 and 1860 by the famous Hardwick and later by the present occupant when he came of age. Without any great architectural pretensions it is very comfortable internally, and admirably adapted for enter-* taining. Signor Luzzatti, a professing Jew, has been called upon as Premier to form an Italian Ministry. He is the first Jewish Prime Minister of a great European State. Signor Nathan, another Jew, is Mayor of Home. This leads the Jewish Chronicle to point out the progress of the idea of toleration which is revealed by these fact 6. "A 1 member of the Jewish race presides over the municipal destinies of the city whicihi was the centre of the Roman power and the seat of the Papal Dominion, and another Jew controls, from this same city the fortunes of the Italian people." A real hater of conventionalities is Senator Joseph Cannon, whose powers asi Speaker of the American House of Representatives have been curtailed. He wears a battered black hat of the wideawake variety, a suit of homespun, and hobnailed boots. Indeed, he prides himself upon his rustic appearance. He is seldom seen without a cigar in his mouth, and, to quota one American newspaper, "the man who can beat him for power of language has yet to be born." He is now in his seventyfifth year, and for nearly 40 years has been a member of Congress. Rut he declares that "ho is as hard as nails, and is going to live to be a hundred." For months the American newspapers have been clamouring for "Uncle Joe" to quit politics and thi- v about dying. "Uncle Joe" retorts thr" "<e is having too much fun, and that k~ Heels younger every day. "Our Luckiest Peer" 'is the title that has been bestowed upon the Marquis of Bute, who has, unfortunately, been far from well lately. Although only 28, he ia one of the richest men in the kingdom. His income has been estimated at° over £200,000_ a year, and' he possesses vast estates, including rich coal mines in Wales. Mount Stuart Castle, his lordship's property near Botbesav. cost between, *£600,000 and £700,000 to build, while the Island of Biute. 20,000 acres in Wigtownshire, and 40,000 acres in Ayrshire also belong to the lucky young Marquis.- Lord Bute is very keen on everything Scotch. He often appears in the kilt, and keeps a piper to play the good old Scottish airs. He is anenthusiastic sportsman, and his love of open-air life is shared by the Marchioness, who is a daughter of Sir Henry Bellingham. Sir Alfred Sharpe has made public his intention of resigning from the Governorship of Nyassaland Protectorate. Once, while in a small boat on Lake Nyassa. he had a nasty experience of coining into close Quarters with a hippopotamus, with) very disastrous results. The boat was upset, three or four of the boatmen were drowned, and a whole cargo of ammunition l and rifles was lost. Sir Alfred himself, being a strong swimmer, succeeded in reaching a small island. Here he remained for six or seven hours in an exhausted condition, and probably would have been left there to starve had not an empty canoo drifted near. Securing it, he succeeded in reaching human habitation. There is an amusinq- story told of one occasion when Sir Alfred Sharpe organised a hunting expedition in honour of a number of native chiefs. These dusky monarebs, at the best of times not good horsemen, came attired in their full reeralia, making horseback riding next door to an impossibility. Sir Alfred in the meantime ordered that some particularly mild and gentle steeds were to be placed' at the disposal of his distinguished visitors, and that attendants were to keep close on their track to prevent any untoward accidents. The leaders rode slowly. It was a long and imposing procession. Just as Sir Alfred was congratulating himself that everything was: going nicely, his orderly rode up from the rear, saluted 1 , and said: "Beg pardon, sir, but one. of the kings has fallen off. He, says it's my fault, and wants my head off." Mr Thomas F. Walsh, the mine-owner and mining engineer, whose death took place recently, had' a very careeir. He was an Irishman: born in County Tippera.ry. When a lad of only 19 he emigrated to the United States intending to work as a wheelwright. At first he laboured in the streets of Boston, them engaged in carpentering, and finally struck out west to Colorado, when he became a contractor among the Black Hills, and ini addition managed an hotel. The place at the time was seething with the mining' excitement, and Walsh made £20.000, the foundation of his enormous fortune. A 1 man of extraordinary insight in business matters, and with a thorough knowledge of geology and metallurgy, as far as they related to the finding and working of auriferous deposits, he speedily becamei possessed of several rich properties, and his fortune rajpidly accumulated. It was when he was prospecting around the San Juan country in the late eighties that he came upon a. remarka.ble vein of gold at an 1 altitude of 12.000 ft. He had seen some of the ore brought down, and its remarkable tints revealed a storv to Walsh which ho was not slow to profit by. He bought the claim foa- a trifle, and in a very short time the value of this Cairp Bird Mine became so famous that a British svndieatei offered him £7,000,000 for it. Eventually he sold a part interest in the mine for £3,000.000. It wes at the Paris Exposition of 1900 that Mr Walsh met the late King Leopold, and the royal trader was so struck by the abilities of the American that _he asked him to manage his Congo properties. Walsh did not see his way to accept the flattering offer, but it is well known that he was united with the Belgian Monarch in various business undertakinQis.