NOTES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XL, Issue 3057, 11 July 1884, Page 2

NOTES.

Tho more wo learn of the state of publio I fooling m England regarding General •

Gordon and his mission to Khartoum, the more inexplicable the whole affair becomea. It soems to have been taken for granted lately that some disaster has happened to General Gordon, fend that the. Government have made up their mind not to trouble themselves any more about him or his fat,e. The Graphic of the 24th May has a ghostly full-page engraving entitled " Deserted !" m which General Gordon is depicted lyinj? stretched on the British flag, as if to defend it to the last, on the burning sand' of the desert, with his head propped against a rock, and his face guttling steadfastly into, the rigor of misery no longer to be borne. Iv one band is a revolver, m the other a tattered Bil>lo. Around him lie the akulls and bones of his followers, while troops of Cultures and hiddous birds of prey arc hovering about him, only waiting for the moment of-.death, to make a horrible feast on the body of England's hero. It is one of the most sensational pictures that could well be imuuiiied, and it can hardly havt failed to make n great effect on tho public mind. But what an extraordinary condition of things that must be, m which 11 hi-jh-class.pnper like the Graphic could publish such a picture without incurring ye 11 oral condemnation on the score of bad ta'sto ! A correspondent asks us for information »3 to Sir Julius Voge-Vs origin and antecedents, and also as to how he came bj tho handle to his name. Sir Julius Yogel is less known personally, perhaps, than any other of the more prominent New Zealand politicians, but we are able to give some particulars regarding him. He is the son of •Mr Albert Laopold Yogel, a metallurgist, if wo mistake not, of some standing, and is an EnglisL Jiw, though no doubt of Gorman oxtraction. Ho was born m London m 1835, so that ho is now 49 yoart oM, and was educated, at University College School, London. lie ouiigratod to Victoria at tho timo of tho gold exciteI'liont, and after various ox(iorionccß, tuoli to journalism as a profession. Ho came to Ota^o with many oilier Victorians shortly nfter the discovery of gold ii: 1860, and became editor of the Otayt Daily Times. He at once took an aotivt part iv lncal and general politics, bein<. returned both to the Provincial Counci of Otago and to the House of Represen tatives. In 1866 he became Provincia Treasurer of Otago, and three yean later, on the fall of the Stafford Ministry ho was appointed Colonial Treasurer anc Postmaster-General under Sir Willian Fox. Iv 1873 lie became Premier of thi colony, and field that office, with tin exception of a" brief interval, unti 1877, when bo resigned it m orde: to assume the post of Agent-Genera iv London. He was made Com panion of St.. Michael and St. Georgi m 1872, his being among the earlies appointments to the Order m Nev Zealand, and m 1875 was created Knigh Commander,—that is to say, fram beint Mr Yogel CM-O"., he was elevated to b( Sir Julius Yogel K.C.M.G.