People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, 5 November 1914, Page 41

Pe ople We Hear About

"•"■. Now that the Earl of Wemyss has passed 4 away, . the i distinction of being the oldest peer in the House of Lords falls upon the Duke of Grafton, who just recently entered his 94th. year. The Earl of Courtown conies next at 91, while Lord Armistead will fie (90 ; this year. In quick succession come ( the veteran Lord Halsbury and the Marquess of Abergavenny. The Father c of the -House is the Earl of Ducie, who has been a member for - sixty-one years. " A : The eminent tenor, Signor Caruso, in' a recent interview in Vienna said that nothing prevented his singing every'night except his nervousness. His voice was quite capable of the effort, but his nerves would break down ? under the strain. Although ‘"he never 'sings a role without studying it for a year, he is always timid and nervous when the time comes for going on- ; the stage. The 300th time that he sang in * Rigoletto ’ he trembled in his dressing-room . when preparing to appear. Signor Caruso stated that he was ready to retire the instant he found the public sparing in their, applause or if his' 'nervousness“ developed to an excessive degree. : .‘ 1 will not publish my ; memoirs,’ he said, ‘ but ; will devote myself to agriculture.’ . , _ ■Probably among living British' admirals (says f Truth), Sir John Jellicoe is the last the Germans would have desired to see in supreme command against them. There is a story in the Service which ; has never, so far as I know, been given to the outside world, about an I. official visit which he once paid to Germany. A friendly | call,at Wilhelmshaven was decided on," and the German | Government was notified in the usual way. At about : the time the squadron was expected to arrive a German j cruiser was despatched to pilot, it in. She steamed a J long way into the North Sea, but, meeting nobody, I turned and steamed back. On her return to Wilhelm- : shaven she found the -British squadron . comfortably at ~. anchor- inside. - ■ ' £ The Monitor, says that San Francisco-paper, takes' fe especial pleasure in chronicling the appointment of || Hon. Matt J. Sullivan to the position; of Chief Justice |of the - Supreme Court of the State of California. The | appointment was made by his Excellency Governor | Hiram W. Johnson, on Tuesday, August 18, and the -4 acceptance by Mr. Sullivan was received . on. the afterp noon of the same day. The appointment became effec- | tive immediately. Chief Justice Sullivan is one of the | most prominent Catholics and one of the most able and | distinguished lawyers in the AVest. He is held in the | highest esteem in all parts’ of California. Chief Justice $ Sullivan is dean of the law department of the University of St. s Ignatius and a member ; of the commission - appointed by Governor . Johnson to administer the fund ’of 5,000,000 dollars appropriated by the State of California for the Panama-Pacific Exposition. Quite a number of ladies have sacrificed wealth, rank, and title in order to enter convents and devote themselves to charitable work. At the beginning of the year it was announced that Julia Lady 'Lyveden had been received as a novice in the Convent of Poor Clares at -Edinburgh._ The Poor Clares is" one of' the most severe and exacting Orders in . the world. Some time ago, too, it was announced that Lady Baud Barrett, second daughter, of the late Earl of Cavan, was about to.enter a Sisterhood and cut herself off from the outside world for life; while in 1912 Lady Mary Catherine Ashburnham entered the Sacred Heart Convent Vat Roehampton, an . Order which devotes itself chiefly to the education of children. But this does not complete the list of ladies belonging to , the, British aristocracy who have: become nuns.. No fewer "than four : : of - : the Duchess of Norfolk’s aunts are in convents, while the % uke has one sister in the \ Carmelite Order, : and ; anothe r ||a Sister of Charity Two daughters of } the late Lord Russell of : Killowen are in the Convent of the Holy ■ Child .at Mayfield, Sussex, while Lord Petre, Lord Albemarle, and Lord Denbigh sisters nuns. .