PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3316, 3 October 1917, Page 62

PERSONAL NOTES.

The war has furnished many surprises and transformations, and few would have imagined three years ago that Gabrielo d'Annunzio, poet, novelist, and a leader among Italy's intellectuals, would one day be decorated for valour on the battlefield. D'Annunzio is an extraordinary personality. He is the Beau Brummell of Italy, his wardrobe being said to be more extensive than that of any millionaire living. His idea of the value of money may be gathered from the fact that when he was offered £3OOO to give a series of lectures in South America, he telegraphed as follows: —"J was disposed to cross the Atlantic, but ; not for a box of cigars. Thanks all the same." —M. Alexandre Ribot is the grand old man of France (writes a special correspondent of the Daily Chronicle). Nothing daunts him. He has an amazing capacity for work. As early as 8 o'clock in the morning he is at his desk, and does not leave it until late in the day. His energy and physical resistance are such that ho crosses "the Channel for his numerous conferences with Mr Lloyd George, so that he may not waste an hour. Similarly, when he returns he hastens from the station to the Quai d'Orsay, where he begins his work and receptions. Everyone in contact with M. Ribot is astonished at the amount he accomplishes personally. He is a very quick worker, his secret being—method. An accomplished parliamentarian, with _an unrivalled knowledge of affairs, he is yet a great organiser. Sir Rosslyn Wcmyss, who becomes Second Sea. Lord with extended powers, is a favourite with King George, and has wide connections in official and diplomatic circles, including a link with the Aequiths and the Tcnnants. He is connected by marriage with the Moriers. his wife having been daughter of Sir Robert Morier, who knew more than any Englishman except Lord Ampthill of the Germany of the sixties and seventies. He is generally accounted a sailor of the modern, or advanced, school, and he gave a good account of himself in Gallipoli, especially in connection with the evacuation. It is one of the little peculiarities of the peerage that it is to hie branch of the family, and not the Earls of Wcmyss, that Wcmyss Castle belongs. —Mr John Stanhope Arkwright, the author of the new national hymn, "The Supreme Sacrifice," has a family association with Lancashire as a descendant of the famous inventor of the spinning jenny. Sir Richard Arkwright, although he did not wax sufficiently fat in the purse to justify his oft-reocated boast that his invention would enable him to pay off the National Debt, left what was regarded as a princely fortune of half a million when he died in 1792. His son, the second Richard, who died 64 years ago, left considerably over a million, and is said to have had " a pleasant habit of wrapping a £IO,OOO bank-note in the table napkin of each of his 10 children for a Christmas box." Mr J. S. Arkwright had a distinguished career at Eton and Oxford, and gained the coveted honour of tin; Newdigate Prize. He was well known ir the House of Commons as Conservative member for Hereford from 1900 until 1912. Few politicians have had a moro meteoric career than Mr Edwin S. Montagu. wi*o has succeeded Mr Austen Chamberlain as Secretary of State for India. Ho is the baby of the Cabinet, inasmuch as he is the youngest member of that august body, being only 33 yeare of age. Of slight build, with dark complexion and raven black hair, and a shrewd, kindly face, the first impression gained of the now Minister is one of suavity, tact, and reticence. Indeed, he is taciturn to a degree, and when ho first went to St. Stephen's his habitual silence attracted the attention of the then Prime Minister, Mr Asquith, who recognised great ability beneath this retiring personality. Mr Montagu soon became his "discoverer's" Parliamentary Secretary, a post which called' for a particularly wide knowledge on all matters, infinite tact, and quick decision.