PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3280, 24 January 1917, Page 66

PERSONAL NOTES.

—=s> •—Rcnaud, tho well-known French bariInnp. has boon mado Chovalior of the Legion of Honour. Rcnaud, although 52, mid frco from military duty, enlisted as ;i privato, and lias won each gr:*de in active service, until he is now an officer. When his regiment i« resting 1 Rcnaud passes all t.ho time he can in the nearest field hos- : l>itals sinking to his wounded brothers in j arms. ■ Prince Albert has the reputation of being the greatest pedestrian in tho Royal Family. There is nothing lie likes better tban to take a long stroll through country lares, and it ie interesting to note that bis Royal Highness when in town invariably prefers walking to a taxi. Tito King of Sweden is another Royal walker, while j Prince George of_ Greece, during his recent I visit to London, is said to have never once ridden in a carriage. While acting as Secretary of War m j Mr Roosevelt's Cabinet Mr William Taft, President Wilson's predecessor, found himself holding views on a certain subject that did i.ot commend themselves either to his chief or his colleagues, but he made speeches on tho subject nevertheless. When j it was pointed out that this variance and action might be awkward for the Govern- ] ment. Mr Taft decided on the heroic course : of resignation, and wrote at great length to Mr Roosevelt explaining his reasons for j this drastic step. His answer, scribbled across the top of hm own letter, reached him within an hour and saved the situation. It read: •'Dear Bill,—.Fiddlcdedee.— T. R." Admiral Beatty nv.d Mr Redmond are dose neighbours when ot homo. and as boys thev were playmates, and had many a ramble together over the hills of Wexford. Tie 1 friendship has always been main-tained—-a personal friend-hip, in which there is no question of politics.—and Mr Redmond was one of the first to send Sir David Ben try congratulations after the battle of Jutland. Naturally, tho Irish party and ail

' shades of Irish opinion in tlio House are ; very pleased that an Irishman sliuuld bo given the command of ''the King's Navec." J. hey will remind you that Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener were also Irishmen, and will claim that Lord Nelson ought to havo been, if he wasn't. I —Sir Thomas Dewar, who is well known as the managing director of the lirm of distillers bearing his name, and chairman of Messrs A. and F. Pears (Ltd.), ti lis a good story of his efforts to obtain whisky from tlio conductor of a train while going through a prohibition .State. He was refused, but was advised to try at a store at the- next .stopping-place. "Are you sick, mister, or got a medical certificate?" asked the man there. "No." "Then I can't do it. Sc-e, this is a prohibition .State, so I can't still it; but I reckon our cholera mixtu.ro will about fix you. Try a bottle of that." Sir Thomas did, and found, to his astonishment, that, although it was labelled on one side "Cholera Mixture: a wineglassful to bo taken every two hours or oftener as required," it bore on the other sido the label of a firm of Scotch whisky distiller.-. Sir John Ellerman, the "shipping king,'' who recently completed the largest shipping deal on record by purchasing the Wilson lino for no less than £5,000,000, '3 tlio biggest income tax payer in England, and his yearly contribution to tho Treasury figures well over £IOO.OOO. Sir John is the chairman of a number of shipping companies, including the famous Ellerman line, and controls no fewer than 200 large steamers, with a tonnage of nearly 1,500.000. Ho is also a large shareholder in a number of newspaper cone-ins, including The Times and Tatler. The son of Mr H. Ellerman, a shipbrokcr, Sir John was born 54 years ago at Hull. After serving some years in an accountant's office, ho entered the service of the Leyland Hue. of which he is now chairman. His generosity is unbounded, and Sir John has given largo sums of money for the erection of war hospitals. Sir John Ellerman possesses a magnificent estato on the coast of Aberdeenshire. --Sir Eric Geddes, who has been appointed Director-general of Military Railways, in which capacity he is responsible for the organisation of all the railways used by our troops in Northern France, is a.'othcr of our great, railway men whoso remarkable business initiative is. being utilised by the Government. Sir Eric, who is a Scotsman, was educated at Edinburgh Academy. Ho was intended for the army, but after passing the preliminary examination he went to the United States. It was in the United States that he gained his first railway experience, and in 1896 ho joined the Baltimore and Ohio railway. Five years, later he went to India, and, although still a young man, his remarkable organising capabilities were soon recognised and he was made manager of one of the first tramway lines in the British Empire. Not long afterwards he became assistant trafiio manager of one of the leading Indian railroads-, the Rohilkund line. Returning to England in ISOS, he was appointed comagent to the North-Eastern railway. For this post a man of great experience is required, for among its numerous functions are the watching of trade movements affecting tlio interests of railways, and suggesting means of encouraging and develop ing new sources of traffic In 1911 he became deputy general manager of tbe company, a position which he held until his appointment to the Ministry of Munitions. Sir Eric Geddes was knighted this year, and is a lieutenant-colonel of the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps. —ln the Allies' .Flying Corps it is agreed that the greatest lighting aviator in tho world is a .French lad of but onc-and-twenty summers. This gallant son of tho tricolour is Georges Guynemur, whose name is a boast throughout France and a dread to German airmen, who have christened him the " Fokker Killer." During his n 2 months' service in the French Flying Corps he lias risen from private to lieutenant, won the Mcdaille Militairc, been made a Knight-commander of the Legion d'Honneur, received the Croix de la Guerre with seven bars, and has had .the unique distinction of being mentioned' in an order to tlio nation! To be mentioned in despatches is a distinction cherished by every soldier, but to attain mention in. an order to the nation moans that the Government considers, the heroic individual mentioned as serviceable in the very highest degree. Strange enough, the ''Fokker Killer," unlike his predecessors, Pegoud, Garras, and Guilbert, hitherto considered to be the three greatest aviators, had the utmost, difficulty in being admitted to the service. Five times the boy tried in different parts of tho country to get passed into the army, and each time he was rejected. Guynemur was at his wits' end to know what to do. Suddenly a bright idea struck him. lie pitched a tent in an aviation field near Paris and watched for his chance. It came on tho third day. A monoplane was temporarily deserted. Ke slipped into it and soared away up into the clouds. Tbe commander of the aerodrome witnessed the daring feat and interested himself in this auda cious youth. Finally, Guynemur was admitted to tho French Flying Corps under a special ruling. During the first month ho performed the remarkable feat of bringing down six German machines single-handed. Ho pilots one of the smallest aeroplanes ever constructed, which is popularly known as "Lo Vieux Charles" (Old Charley). Georges is a Parisian. Hi* father is a manufacturer at Cbmpiegno. When the war broke out ho was a student at Paris, Jiving with his grandmother, to whom he is devotedly attached.