People Talked About

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIV, Issue 6, 11 February 1905, Page 2

People Talked About

A Memento of the Diamond Jubilee In forwarding us the photograph, which we reproduce on this page, Mr W. Crow, private secretary to the Minister of Trade and Customs, who accompanied Mr Seddon to the Old Country in 1897 as private secretary, says: “In 1897, on the occasion of the Din mond Jubilee of her late Majesty Queen Victoria, and in 1902, when His Ma iestv King Edward VII. was crowned, the colonial Prime Ministers, with then wives, members of their families, am private secretaries, were quartered a & rvs. jKfe and friend, he ingratiated himself with each and every one of them. “Before leaving on their .lomewai iourney in 1897, the Prime Ministers to mark their appreciation of his courtesy and attention, presented Mr Gough . wi ' a purse of sovereigns and an 111 " n" ated address. As a further mark of ap pieciation of his Hon Ministers forwarded to the Right Mr Chamberlain, then Secretary of Sta for the Colonies, a letter expressin their satisfaction at the way in wine Mr Gou"h had performed his inultifari ous duties on that memorable occasion and recommending him for 1 the colonial service when a suitable op portunitv offered. They were gratified, soon after, to learn that the r—dition had been given effect to by tlu appointment of Mr G< ?ugh to the respon sible position of Resident Sup ent at the Colonial Office street, a position which he still holdL . “When I visited Mr Gough eighteen months ago he kindly agreed to s end me a photograph of the address, which has iuft come to hand. He has every reason to be proud of the address, for I believe it is the only one in existence containing the signatures of the Prime Ministers of each of Great Britain’s self-governin H colonies in 1897. , “The signatures are in the order . preccndence arranged by the Colonia Office (according to European popula, lien), and are as follow-Wilfrid Laurier (Canada), G. H. Reid (New South Wales), George Turner (Vi e toria), R. J- Seddon (New Zealand . Hugh M. Nelson (Queensland), J. G°i don Sprigg (Cape Colony) C-C--ston (South Australia), W. V White wav (Newfoundland), E. Braddon (Tasmania), John Forrest (West Australia), and Harry Escombe (Natal). “Of those who signed the address, two are now deceased, Sir Edward Braddon, a brother of Miss Braddon, the novelist, and Sir Harry Eseombe, who died soon after the outbreak of hostilities in South Africa. The Right Hon. Mr Reid is Prime Minister, and Sir George Turner Treasurer, of the Australian Commonwealth, which had not then been inaugurated-, but only two of the signatories. Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Right Hon. Mr Seddon, have remained in office continuously since 1897. “The photograph is by Messrs Russell and Sons, 17, Baker-street. Lon don, W.” 4* 4* 4* "Royalties on Horseback. While all of the younger royalties of Europe are "ood horsemen, an accomplishment duo to many hours of daily practice in their riding schools, only a few of the reigning monarchs or sol dier princes of the ruling houses ride well. King "Edward and his brother, the Duke of Connaught. and the Kaiser and his brother. Prince Henry of Prussia, are, however, exceptions to the rule. Kin" Edward was formerly a perfect centaur, and once as a gentleman rider piloted his own horse. Rupee, first past the post at the military race meeting

at Curragh Camp, in Kildare. But that was forty years ago, and now his riding is confined to a cross country canter on a cob on his Norfolk estates, or to an official appearance in uniform on a charger at some review, and he infinitely prefers the former to the latter. The Kaiser has not a firm seat, and is at a disadvantage because of his crip pled arm; he requires assistance to mount and generally uses a small twostep carpeted platform. Nevertheless, he sits gracefully, rides well, and manages his horse admirably. The Kaiser rides nearly ever day, but never alone, and he generally wears the undress uni form of a colonel of one of his cavalry regiments. Sometimes he is accompanied by the Empress, but more often by one

of his sons or by the military adjutant on duty. The Kaiser’s family are all good riders, and there is no more popu lar officer, no more dashing soldier in the German Army than the Empress Augusta Victoria. Her appearance at the head of her crack cavalrymen, the fam ous Pasewak Curassiers, when she leads them in review on the Tempelhofer field before the Kaiser, is always the signal for the greatest enthusiasm. On these occasions the Empress wears the showy regimental uniform of white with red facings, the Searf of the Order of Hohenzollern, and the famous three-cor nered hat with large drooping heron’s plumes. Her Majesty takes the greatest interest in iier regiment, and always accompanies it to the annual parades; she watches its drills, and frequently

visits the men in their barracks, or calls on the officers in the regimental casino. A sergeant-major drills the younger German Princes every day, and one hour is devoted to riding. From their earliest years the children are put on ponies and learn at once to mount a horse bareback. The Kaiser superintends these riding lessons in person because of his love for horses, and his skill as a horse man. As soon as the Princes could sit on their horses they were taught to jump, and it did not take them long to jump hedges, hurdles, and even walls. The Crown Prince is a daring rider, and a thorough sportsman. A year ago, in accepting a challenge of some of his brother officers, he rode his horse up a Hight of stone steps in front of the pal ace of Sans Souci, at Potsdam, and then.

daring his friends to double the wager, he skilfully guided the animal down the steps to the ground. Last spring he rode his favourite steeplechaser. Kerrimann. a dead heat with Lieutenant von Plessen. and then, like a true gentleman and gallant sportsman, he refused to ride the race again, thus forcing the Lieutenant to accept the cup. The Czar is not a master of the horse, and is not very fond of riding; once in a while at Peterhoff or Tsarkoe-Selo or in Livadia he will ride for an hour, but these occasions are rare. The Russian soldier’s uniform is at all times full of colour. A group of Russians is always a picturesque sight, and there is no more gorgeous spectacle to be seen in St. Petersburg than the passing of th<‘ Czar, with his great staff of generals and a brilliant following of aides-de-camp. Alongside of the summer garden, two squares from the Winter Palace, and separated from the Neva only by the houses along the quay, is a vacant spac over twenty acres in extent, known a the Champ de Mars, and used exclusive ly as a parade ground. About 40,000 men can be assembled in it. and here the great reviews are held in the spring and autumn and on the occasion of Royal visits. They are always attended by the Czar, by the Grand Dukes Vladimir. Michael and Serge, his uncles-, by his brother and by his cousins in their various capacities as commanding officers of different grades; by all the generals of the guard, by the Minister of War and his staff, and by the military attaches of the several embassies and legations. Everyone is in full uniform, and all are most magnificently mounted on horses of superb mettle. The Czarina often appears mounted and in full uniform. as she is honorary colonel of the crack corps of cavalry in the Russian Army, the spectacular Grand Lancers. Though King Victor Emmanuel is perhaps the keenest lover of horseflesh in Royal Europe, he has curbed the ex travagance which was displayed by his father in the stables of the Quirinal. lie has also taken a leaf out of Em peror William’s book, and no regiment knows when he may be down upon it for inspection. Tf ho finds laxity or graver faults ho is severe enough tn satisfy oven Lord Kitchener. Ono day ho ar rived, at one of the barracks without warning. TTis unexpected appearance caused such confusion that no one re ceivod him. The guards, although pro renting arms, did so in such an awkward way that he became pale with anger, and at last, when the officers did come upon the scone, with uniforms evidently iusf, thrown on. the review took place, but mon and officers alike wore so om barrassod that it ended in confusion. The King sat his horse as rigid as a statue and at the end saluted "and left ’ho regiment without a word, but an

hour later every officer, from the highest to the lowest, had a punishment more or less severe inflicted upon him. This barracks is now the model one of Borne. 4* 4* . 4' Mr. W. E. Norris. There are few sounder novelists than Mr William Edward Norris, whose latest hook. "Nigel’s Vocation.” was recently published by Mr Methuen. Mr Norris has never been "boomed.” and it is probable that he would strongly resent the

process if he were. But as a careful, polished and agreeable writer he is hard to beat. And those qualities which nearly 30 years since won him a faithful circle of readers, are to be found mel lowed and matured in “Nigel’s Voca tion.” Mr Norris is a son of the late Sir William Norris, formerly Chief Justice of Ceylon, and was educated at Eton, where among his schoolfellows were Lord Rosebery. Lord Randolph Churchill, and Air Balfour. Mr Norris, so he will tell you. was impressed by the abilities

of the first and last named, but he did not think Lord Randolph, whom he dr scribes as having been a “very ordin irv boy.” was destined to make hi- mark in the world. In Mr Norris' time Dr. Bal ston was headmaster of Eton. Dr. Wane Iwing an assistant master. Of himself at school. Mr Norris says that he was totally undistinguished, except, p-chaps, for an abnormal proficiency in what liibrother novelist. Mr Richard Marsh, styles the “line art of doing nothing After leaving Eton. Mr Norris h. his dinners at the Inner Temple, ami in <lne course, became a barrister. But hr has never practised. It was the late Sir Leslie Stephen, himself an old Etonian, then editing the "Cornhill Magazine.” who encouraged Mr Norris to tr\ hihand at writing, and published hi- tir-t story. Then in 1577 Mr Norris with his first book, “Heaps of Money.’’ found the public which has never deserted him \mong other of Mr Norris’ works th it have been ('specially successful, one may mention "My Friend Jim.” "The Ro-ue.” “The Dancer in Yellow.” "Giles ligilbv.” ind "’l'hr Embarrassing Orphan.*’ His own favourite is "Thirlby Hall.” The refined qualities of Mr Norri-' work are reflected in himself. H is a quiet, gentle, middle-aged man. who has known little of the hurly-burlx of life if. through the pleasant medium of foreign travel, ho has seen men and matters. In appearance he is fa«rlv tall, of slight though wiry build, with a thin, aquiline face, elean shaven s:ivr for a small fair moustache, brown eyes, a good forehead, and a quiet, diffident, re tiring manner. He lives at Torquay, and is devoted to golf. Tn the course of our ehat Mr Norris referred regretfully to the disappearance of the old "three decker” which brought up the questions of the price of the novel of the future. It is fair to say that neither publishers not authors have benefited by the reduction from three volumes to one. and from the price of thirty-one and sixpence to six shillings (less discount). The number of novels bought has not increased in proportion with the decrease in their price. Mr Norris thinks, and his views are held by many publishers, that cither there will have to be a still further reduction in price, say. to two shillings, or a substantial increase. - "M.A.P.”