People We Hear About.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 25, 21 June 1900, Page 30

People We Hear About.

It is not generally known that General French served four years in the navy before ho enterei the army, and was on board the Warrior whe i the Captain went down. The French Government lias purchased for the LuxemburgGallery the picture, • Father and Chili." by Mr. John Lavery, the dialing u.iolK J CcilLulic arti.st. One of the greatest w,\r -orre^ponrients of this era is Sir William H. Russoll, who celebrated hn eightieth birthday on March 2H, and who went through the Crimean, Ind.an Mutiny, Austro-Prussian, American Civil, and Franco-German W.irs for the Times newspaper. During the Crimean War he wrote hi* despatches, frequently under fire. In South Africa, in IS7H, Sir William was very nearly drowned near Pretoria, and during the Indian Mutiny in 1S5I), the mere fact tha<- he fell down senseless from sunstroke, and was thought to be dead, only saved him from the rebels When at Cape Town the Rev. Father Tiraoney, chaplain to the Australian Bushmen's contingent, met Mr. Kudyard Kipling at the Lord Nelson Hotel. ■ The cynosure of all eves (writes Father Timoney) was Rudyard Kipling himself, fresh from the battlefield with new materials for son^s and stories, lie has not a commanding or a distinguished pre3ence, but his doggerel vt rses have placed him, in the estimation of many, far above Lord Roberts. I was introduced totbe illustrious man and had a short conversation with him. He seems to be a shrewd business man and evidently enjoys his popularity.' Lieutenant John Charles M'Kenna, who wa« the only native Victorian officer in the Mafeking garrison, is 2S years of age, and is of a fine physique, standing Gft. 4in. in height. He was born in Dunolly. but his parents removed to Castlemaine when he was about two years of age. and have resided there ever since. lie was educated in the Castlemaine Grammir School and at St. Francis Xavier's College, Kew. He left for South Africa in September. 18%, and on a volunteer force being formed in Mifeking he was appointed sergeant of D Company, and during the siejje on January 11 last was appointed lieutenant. Like his versatile chief, he dabbles in journalism, has donosome sketching, and has al->o written verses. A charming Connemara story illustrative of Lord and Lady Roberts"* amiability. 'On one occasion (says a correspondent of " M.A.P'} we found him talking to a poor woman who was sitting by the Hide of the road. She was barefo <te-i. and in a bag lying benide her was a bonham. or younij pig. We pulled up. and told her ladyship that this poor woman had got very tired carrying the young pig. She had carried it from Letteruresh. They asked me how far this wa«. and I '•aid se\en or ei^ht mile", and his lordship thought that was a long way for her to have come ; however, they got the woman and her pig into the cnria^e alongside her ladyship, and Lady Roberts began .it once to talk to her m Irish, asking her all sorts of questions When we reached wheie the woman wanted to be set down, we stopped and let her down, and they gave her some money. Ye-, Lord Roberts is the kindest man I ever saw.'

The letter ' Z ' is very unusual as the initial of a surname. Th >re are nearly 700 members of the House of Commons, but not within living memory has one of their names commenced with a Z. On the other hand (says an Australian Exchange), the Parliament of Victoria has never in its living memory been without a'Z.' A gold fields constituency started the Hea by sending down to Melbourne a member named Zincke. Then East Melbourne elected a Jewish gentleman named Zox, and returned him regularly for twenty years. Sir William Austin Zeal, who now presides over the Legislative Council in Melbourne, is a third oase in point. Many Catholics of middle age (says the London Tablet") will lemenibei the vioits to Catholic Colleges of Professor Pepper, himself a convert to the Churoh. Great waa the disappointment when he appeared without his ghost ; but hia lectures, nevertheless, were amon* the most interesting. The death of the Professor (a title Matthew Arnold fastidiously refused, under all the ciroumstances, to take, but which Ruskin gaily bore), is now announced. Born at Westminster in IS2I, and educated at King's College School, he became in 1810 Chemical Lecturer at the Granger School of Medicine. In 1«47 he gave his first Lectures at the Royal Polytechnic Institution, of which he afterwards became Honorary Director. He improved Dirck's rough model, and rendered the exhibition of the ghost, known as 'Pepper's Ghost,' a practical thing. The ghost daring the first six months realised £12,000— a decidedly substantial sum. Professor Pepper waft an honorary life member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a Fellow of the Chemical Society. While in Australia he was Public Analyst to the town of Brisbane, holding the appointment for many years. He was the writer of several books, the design of which was to popularise science for the beginner. The death of Mr. James Roderiok O'Flanagan, which took place on Lady Day, ore xtes a void among- eminent Irishmen and Irish authors. Born at Fermoy in 1814, he claimed descent from an old Celtic race, the OTlanagans of Tuath-Ratha. Educated at Fermoy, he in his eighteenth year resolved to become an M.D., but before starting in the medical schools he made the ' Grand Tour ' of Europe, with this result : the publication of his first book Impres* stuns at Home and Abroad, the success of which confirmed the natural bent of his mind in favor of authorship. A favorable change of circumstances enabled him to change his intentions and to proceed to London to read for the Bar. He was called in the Easter Term, IbSS. In 1843 he compiled the Illustrated Guide to the JSlaeJi water, which attracted considerable attention. While reading for the Bar in London Mr. O'Flanagan became acquainted with the family of Mr. Witham, a well-known lawyer residing in Eaton square, and later, on May 4, 1851), he married Misa Witham. Just previous to this step Mr. O'Flanagan was appointed to a position in the now extinct Court of Insolvency and Bankruptcy at the Four Courts, Dublin, and he was also occupied with literary work. In this position he remained for 20 years, when, retiring on a pension, he returned to London. In 1873 he caused to be erected on the Unds of Grange the handsome house in which he lived so happily until his death, at the age of 85. To give a list of Mr. O' Flanagan's many works of fact and fiction would take up too much space, but they include A History of Dundalit, The Lives of thi Lord Chancellors of Ireland, The Minister Bars, The Munster Cunt it, and many interesting novels.