People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, 26 August 1909, Page 26

People We Hear About

« Messrs. Harland and Wolff, the well known Belfast shipbuilders, are preparing this year to celebrate the jubilee of the firm. Starting with a staff of fifty men in 1859, the ' undertaking has grown until now in normal periods 12,000 people are employed, and the weekly pay-roll exceeds £15,000. King Alfonso underwent recently two operations. According to the Daily Telegraph Biarritz correspondent, one was treatment of the nasal passages. The second was on the right ear, and was rendered necessary in consequence of a slight injury caused bs r the explosion of some fireworks during the rejoicings on the occasion^ of the King's recent visit to Valencia. The military traditions of the MacMahons are not being allowed to die down. France is sending to Italy a delegation to join in tho celebration for the fiftieth anniversary of Solferino, and among the „ representatives of the Government will be ' Lieutenant-Colonel de MacMahon, of the 155 th Infantry, son of Marshal MacMahon.' The appointment, of course, was dictated by the consideratio.i that it was mainly MacMahon's victory at Magenta that started and determined the brilliant successes of France and Italy in the campaign ending with Solferino that gave Lombardy to Italy. It is interesting to note that MaoMahon is still a name honored in arms, a living link between Italy^ France, and Ireland. Queen Amelie's gracious act in attending to the injuries of a .cyclist (says M.A.I*.) whom she and King Manuel picked up on the roadside while out motoring the other day, is a further instance of the good uses to' which her Majesty devotes her medical knowledge. As a matter of fact, she is the only Queen in Europe who has taken .the degree of M.D., a qualification which she never hesitates to use in cases of emergency. A short time ago, while out walking in the environs of Lisbon, she heard cries for assistance coming from a neighboring wood. Rushing t-> the spot, she found that a woodcutter who was employed on the estate had injured himself, the branch* of a tailing tree striking him on the head. She saw to the man's injury, and then assisted him to his cabin. Later on she called to see how her patient was. The idea is prevalent that young 'men are fit neither for generals nor statesmen, and that they must be kept in the background. Let us look through the history of the past, and in the list of heroes and statesmen who have nobly distinguished themselves we shall find young menAlexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three. Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of France when thirty-three years of age. Pitt, the younger brother, was about . twenty years of age when, in Britain's Parliament, ha boldly advocated the cause of the American Colonies, and but twenty-two when made Chancellor of the Exchequer. Edmund Biu-ke, at the age of twenty-five, was the Fist Lord of the Treasury. Washington was but twenty-five when he was appointed commander-in-chief of all the Virginia forces. Thomas Jefferson was hut twenty-three when he drafted the ever-memorable Declaration of Independence. Mr. J. F. Hogan has been telling the Londoners something about one of the most distinguished of the early Australian explorers. He says : ' Freedom shrieked when Kosciusko fell.' So the poet assures us. A telegram in Saturday's papers told us that Governor Lord Chelmsford had opened a State hotel on the slopes of Mount Kosciusko,. where visitors and tourists will find every facility for the* enjoyment of Alpine sports — ski-running, tobogganing, aivl , ska-ting. How came the name of the Polish hero to be associated with the highest peak of the Australian Alps? The peak was named by Count de Strzelecki, a Polish political refugee and distinguished scientist who sixty years ago did valuable exploring and geological work in Australia. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1869, and died in Savile-row eight years later. He was one of the first to discover gold in Australia. Sir Conan Doyle, in proposing ' The Royal Societies' Club ' at a recent banquet to Lieutenant Shackleton, tho . Antarctic explorer, said :/ ' Just one word more before concluding. Lieutenant Shackleton was, as he understood, an Irishman. As a fellow-Irishman, he took pride in him. Religious and. racial difference made extraordinary and complex difficulties between the two islands, but when people were inclined to underrate the gnllant race of the neighboring island let them think, when the time of danger came, of what they had got on the other side of the Irish Sea. Lot them think of what Irishmen had done for the Empire; think of the Irish regiments and of the great soldiers who had led them; -of the Wellingtons, the Wolseleys, and the Robortses, and, he would say, the Beresfords. When the tale earne to be read, it would be found th.pt Ireland had played its part in establishing and upholding the Empire. Finally, let them think of the flag floating down amid the Antarctic wastes, and remember that it had been planted there by Irish hands, and they " would learn that if in Ireland was to be found the weakest;, there also was to be^found the strongest, element of this great Empire.'