People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, 4 November 1909, Page 1748

People We Hear About

Mark Twain, who will be seventy-four on November 30, has consented to pilot President Taft's boat down the Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans— about 1200 miles. This is the stretch of water on which, the famous humorist used to ply with the .old Paul. Jones boat in his early days, and it was the leadsman's cry of 'Mark Twain,' in sounding a depth of two fathoms, that gave him his nom-de-plume. ' _ . •• . . - - - *.).-, On Monday last Constable Mulholiand, of St.- Clair, retired on superannuation from the Police Force en thi cc months' leave- of absence. -It is six^and-fbrty • since Mr. Mulholiand joined the Royal" Irish. Constabulary, • in which body he -served for a period,., of ten years. jGumijog .out to New Zealand, "he joined the.^ police . in Otago;-i nder the late Inspector Weldon, since when he has had charge in turn at Winto~n, Cromwell, and St. Clair. A glance at the list of the Royal personages. in] the direct line bf succession to the British Throne reveals some - interesting facts. How many people know- that there' ;are only two adult males between the Emperor William and King Edward ? The German Emperor stands twenty-fourth on the list, but most of those who come before him are women and children. Only two are men of full age— the King's only son, the Prince of Wales, and his only living brother, the Duke of Connaught. To remain in the employment of an individual^ a firm, or the Government for a period- of- thirty-four yeara, and during that time to perform one's duty — eapooHlly an onerous and responsible" duty — faithfully and well, and to the satisfaction of all concerned, is a record of which any man might be proud. : This is the record of Mr. "M illiam Ames, one of the best known and most popalar diivers on the Dunedin-Oamaru section of the Government Railways, who retired on superannuation the other day. Mr. Ames joined the Railway Department on .luno 7, 1*75, and after having been stationed at Dunedin, Lawrence, and Balcluha he was transferred to Palmerston in 1889. Whatever may be thought of Mr. Bernard Shaw as a writer of risky plays which the British- Censor will not license, there can be no doubt that he scored a point in his letter to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Lord Aberdeen expressed his fears that Mr. Shaw's latest play, if produced in Dublin, might offend the religious susceptibilities of the Irish people. To this the playwright replied: ' I can assure the Lord Lieutenant that there is nothing in the passages objected to by the English Censor that might not have been written by the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, and that, in point of consideration for the religious beliefs of the Irish people, the play compares very favorably indeed with the Coronation Oath.' Lord Aberdeen must have enjoyed the quip. The Miners' Federation of New Zealand cannot be classed among those who are ready to, forget favors. Owing to amendments to the Compensation 'ibr Accidents Act during the session of 1908 the miners were placed at a serious disadvantage, and there was every prospect of a serious industrial disturbance. Mr. P. JV-O'Regan,- solicitor, Wellington, was on the West Coast at the time for his Christmas holidays. He found himself in the midst of the trouble, and during his fortnight's ■ stay on the Coast, notwithstanding that he was not then the Federation's attorney, worked day and night along with the officers of the Federation at Reefton to have the matter righted. Mr. O'Regan did this because he had the interests of labor at heart, and he saw the injustice which was being done the miners.- At a meeting of delegates bf the Federation in Wellington last week Mr. O'Regan was entertained by .them, and presented with "a gold watch and with a bracelet and a watch attached for Mrs. O'Regan, in recognition of his efforts on behalf of the miners on the occasion referred to. My mind,' says Sir Thomes Lipton, in the Strand Magazine, ' goes back nearly half a century to one day in autumn, when I stood, a very small boy, on my way toschool, before the window of a Glasgow" shop. Child as I was, I realised already many of the difficulties of life. .- I knew that my parents were poor, and I loved them dearly.. I hated to be a burden -to them. . So, . as.^ I , stood before that shop window, my mind was quickly made up. A" legend had attracted my attention — the familiar "Boy wanted." I went in. I interviewed the proprietor, and was engaged on the spot as errand-boy at the munificent wage of half-a-crown a week. I ,flew home with *the good news, but could -not understand why my -mother did not share my joy. It saddened her to think of my starting in business at so tender an age. She would like to have Chad me spared the stress of life a little .longer, but my enthusiasm and confidence in myself soon calmed her fears. " I will succeed,',' I told her laughingly, ." and by and bye, mother, you shall' have your carriage and pair." She shook her- Head and cried at my childish exuberance,' never thinking that her little Tom's boast could ever possibly come true.'