PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3006, 25 October 1911, Page 86

PERSONAL NOTES.

The late Mr H O. Wills, of the great ; tobacoo firm, belonged to a family which established something- like a record in its way by acquiring within a little more than a decade tw~ baronetcies, a K.O.ii-, ana a peerage, while the amount of riches which ther fcUWU*ed between them was eJso something altogether exceptional, running into many millions in all. Even more honourable is'the record of the family in the matter of its benefactions. For geiieiations Wills has been a name to conjure with in Bristol and neighbourhood, ana the late Mr H. 0. Wills was not lees distinguished *wm any of the other members of his family in this regard. —lf there is ont trait more conspicuous than another in Lord HawWs. character it is a complete absence of side. ui this a good story is told of how some years ago, at Sheffield, he invited a /URfclyrespeeted professional to take lunch with him in the gentlemen's pavilion. One ot his colleagues thought it necessary to object to the presence of a professional player ac the table. "Then, sir," said the distinguished amateur; "since I cannot en.c.tain you here, perhaps I may have the pleasure of lunching with you? Ana with those words Lord Hawke proceeded to partake of the players' mea.l in tneir pavilion. ~ ~, , -An interesting fact regarding General Maekinnon, who was in command, of the troops at Liverpool during the strike, is that no fewer than five of his unc*es and great-uncles also wore the uniform of the Grenadiers, to which the gallant general belongs. One of these ancestors was blown up at Ciudad Rodrigo, and another fell at Inkermann. Moreover, the general * wite is trie daughter and sister of a Grenadier, while his daughter is married to a Grcnadieir General Maekinnon has been a soldier for 41 of his 59 years, and commanded the O.lV.'s ("Mackinnon's Boys, as they were called) in South Africa. Lord Kitchener has a fine collection of all the different weapons of war that have been used since the prehistoric ages, but he has other pursuits which hardly accord with the popular conception ot the man. Much of his spare time ho devotes bo the peaceful art of' collecting old nlue and white china. His knowledge of china is profound, and his specimens are amongst the finest in existence. It has been said, indeed, that next to soLdiering nothing wculd please him better than to buy an old farmhouse in some beautiful out-of-the-way part of rural England and fill it With old oak and blue and white china. _ Baron Sinclair completed his eightieth year early in September. Lord Sinclair s barony is a. very old one, and its first •holder found himself in a rather embarrassing position. In the thirteenth century his grandfather had become Earl of Orkney, and as the island then belonged to Norway he had to submit to conditions of fealty to the monarch of that country, which would have made it impossible for him in time of war to retain both his Scottish and his Norse possessions. The first Lord Sinclair consequently surrendered the title, as he did also that of Earl of Caithness, which had been conferred upon him. The present peer's grandfather, in 1782, succeeded in securing an acknowledgment of his right to the barony which had then been dormant for some years. Three years ago a Calgary millionaire played a joke <}n a Chicago girl which resulted very fortunately for her. Miss Caroline Cantlon, from Vassar College, summered in Calgary, and while she was there the annual fair came off. On the programme with broncho busting was a half-mile race for girls. Enthusiastic Miss Cantlon entered. So did five other girls. Then carne forward the gallant Calgary millionaire offering to the winner 1000 shares in the Gypsy Queen Mine. Miss Cantlon crossed the tape first. She got the mining paper, which her friends informed her was worthless. They laughed at her. But she kept it, "iust because it was pretty," she said. The other day Gipsy Queen stock advanced to 70dpl a share, and is soaring. Plucky Miss Cantlon, who had faith, is 70,000d0l to the good. She says she didn't mind the half-mile one' bit.

—An amusing story is told in connection with an address which Mr Lloyd George onee delivered in his native tongue and country. The Chancellor concluded his speech" with these words: "The Almighty does with you just as a good gardener does with his flowers. He plants geraniums and heliotropes in the sunshine, because he knows they will grow batter there, but he looks out for a shady nook for the fuchsias." On leaving the chapel the statesman was effusively greeted by an old lady. "Oh, Mr George," she cried, "I want to thank you for your address. It was so practical and so wise." "I a.m delighted to hear it," Mr Lloydi George replied, "and I hope it will prove a help to you.' "Yes. indeed," said the old lady, "it has helped me already, for never before have I been able to tell what was the matter with those dratted fuchsias!"

Earl Cat heart, who died early in September last, sat in the House of Lords as Baron Greenock, with which prosperous Clyde port be had' a very old ancestral connection through the Slxaws of Greenock, whose heir of line he was, and until comparatively recently the Earls Cathcart were surnamed Scbaw-Cathoart. But although heirs of line, the valuable Greenock estate was lost to til© Cathoarts by a somewhat unusual entail, which conveyed it eventually to an ancestor of Sir Hugh ShawStewart, now of Greenock. This deed of entail was executed at Edinburgh in the presence of 63 witnesses—l 3 peers, 13 baronets and knights, and the rest judges, etc., all of whom, subscribed their names, and were entertained at a banquet. Earl Cathcart, who took little part in public affairs, came of a famous military stock, and many of his ancestors fell on the battlefield. The barony—the first honour conferred: upon the house—dates from 1460,-and the second holder, with his two brothel's, died with his Kin.g at Flodden half, a century later, while his successor was killed in 154-7 at the battle of Pinkie. All but a few of the Cathcarts who subsequently inherited the title were generals, famous in their day, one being a distinguished officer under the Duke of Marlborough. The earldom was created just a century ago in recognition of the victory igained over the Danish fleet at Copenhagen by the then Lord Cathcart, who was Commander-in-chief of the British expedition. His son, the second ©arl, served in. the Peninsula and at Waterloo, while another son as a young man acted aa Aide-de-oamp to the Duke of Wel-

lington at Waterloo and fell at Inkermann 40 years lator. The Into peer, who was uiiinarrisd and is succeeded by his younger brothrir, was for a time in the Scots Guards, ami he had: an uncle who went through the Crimean campaign.