People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8, 27 February 1908, Page 28

People We Hear About

r— : . . .». .: — rrr m ' :..-■•:■.. •„.'... It is natural to Sir Wilfred' Laurier, the Canadian Premier, to be quick at repartee. "He has' a 'ready . wit which he rarely hesitates to turn on a political 0 jponent. He was addressing a meeting on. one occasion, when a portly individual in the audience, a large employer of laiboov. interrupted him, charging the' Premier with ' fattening on the sweat of .the people. 7 Sir WUftefy slim and -dapper,, wail red "until perfect -quiet.replaced the commotion which this remark had made. Then he oasef.ed— ' I La c those present to decide which of us is the more exposed to that charge.' : . His passion for country, life has led ■Mi .Paderewski, the famous pianist, to establish a farm on. his estate in Poland-, Jwhere,. between his tours, he occupies his time in rearing! live stocc and growing agricultural produce. During a previous visit to England, Pa-derewski, through an' agent, bought some prize pigs from a farmr--er in Essex, who was quite unaware of the real profession of the purchaser. A day or two later Paderews.:i :visited the farm, without disclosing' his identity. During an' inspection, the farmer led the pianist to a sty and showed him a lino lot of pigs, remarking confidentially, 'Do you see those ? I have sold them to Paderewski, the great pig-dealer from abroad.' The late Mr. Francis Thompson (remarks *■ an English exchange), the distinguished poet .and man of clet--ters, has left estate .valued at £95. Letters of admin-, istration ha c been granted 1 to his sister, Miss Mary Thompson, ct the Presentation Convent, Manchester. It is an ironic commentary upon the profession of literature that while a man of undoubted genius leaves less than £100 as the net result of his life's work, Mr. George R. Sims is earning over £2000 a year, and Mr. Hall CameC a ine probably five times that amount. Some great writers have been even less fortunate than" poor Francis Thompson. When Oliver Goldsmith died more or Iss hea ily in debt, mainly incurred "by his generous prodigality, Dr. Johnson exclaimed, ' Was ever poet so trusted before ?' ■ The grandson of a man who had beftiendted the late Russell -Sage called on him one day and asked for a lo n of kn dollars, promising that he would repay in a weed's time. Saie let him hae the money. .At the hour appoint d the yo':ng man .re-appeared, laid the ten dollars before the millionaire, and departed. Soon afterwards he called again, saying that he wanted a hundred dollars for a sound and excellent investment. -If Mrr Saeje would let Mm have the money he would refund with interest at a given date. The old man teamed kindly upon his young friend. 'My boy,' he s.dd, ' you disapped-ated me once, and I don't want you to do it again.' The young man gasped. * Yes,' Mr. Sage went on, ' you paid me back that ten "dollars, and I never expected that you would.- Now, if I iet you have- a hundred dollars I should expect you to pay it baa'", and you wouldn't. One disappointment -is t enough at my time of life, my boy.' Mrs. Hinkson (Kathierine Tynan), the well-known author, was born in 1861, being the daughter of , Anrdrew Tynan, of Clondalcin, Co. Dublin. She was educated at the Dominican Con-tnt, Drogheda, and began early to write poetry, printing in- Merry EngiTa'tod ' ,the ' Louise de la Vailiere,' which gave the name to her first book, published in 1885.,- Henceforth her place was secured. »* Shorn rocks,' ' Cve 1 oo Songs,' 'The Land of Mists and Mountain, 1 ! ' Miracle Plays,' and * The Wind in the" Trres ' followed, and ' The — Collected Poems' "were published in 1901. Her first J>rose work,, to the ■ writing of whiich she brought a fidelity all her . own, ' A" Nun, her Friends, and her Order ' appeared in 1892 ; and, only second to her fame .as . a poeV is that won for her as a writer of fiction." • The Handsome 1 Brandons, 1 ' The Dear liuh Girl,' ' A Daughter of the Fields,' 'A Gil of Galway,' ' A Union of Hearts,' ' Judy's Lovers,' 'The Lix'c of the Fairfaxes,' and 'A Favorite of Fortune,' are a few of the books which have delighted boys and g : rls and their, seniors. In some of these works, hardly less than in her verse, she has captured more than any other li'ine; writer a pure and' distinctive Jrish no f e, and in this sense she may rank as the' greatest living 'nationalist.' Her*' Rhymed Life of St. Patrick ' comnletes hr cljim to be the Poet Laureate cf Ireland. Mrs. HinVson, whose contributions -to newspapers and magazines are e^silv recognisable by taeir charm, married (in 1893> Mr. Henry A. Hinkson, bar-rister-at law, an authority on- cony right, and the creator of several valualle ones on his own account. ''