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MEN AND MATTERS-
Class and Colour.
An elder?? negro, wiho 'bad been summoned-to
serve on the jury at the Criminal-Court,
asked to be exempted on the
ground that class and colour * prejudices
would make it an unpleasant tiring for him
to be one of a jury. Mr. Justice a'Beckett
to-day (says Tie Melbourne Herald of Mon
dayj considered that the objection -was not
an unreasonable one, and exempted the appJincant
from attendance.
Courteous .and Prompt.
A tribute, to the courtesy and promptitude
of the Chief Secretary's Department
has just been paid by an officer of the Borough
of Homsey Electricity Works (sa'ys
The Melbourne Herald). On March 12 last
this gentleman wrote to. the department
.and asked for information concerning the
•whereabouts of ;his uncle and aunt, who
•wtre supposed to be in "Victoria- On June
S he receiveda reply which -was preceded
by one post by a letter from his aunt,
irtio had been communicated with by the
department. In conveying his Tlianlrs for
_ the "prompt answer" tine enquirer wrote:
' •—"If it is any satisfaction to you to know,
SajJthe enquiry I had made to you been
cent to the present English Government, I
should have received a reply (if at
about .12 months hence."
Judge Backhouse.
'
-all)
' With his bright, smiling face and fresh
tadonr. Judge Backhouse looks more like a
country squire than a typical member of
the Judiciary. and yet he has been a member
of the District Court Bench since 1878,
and was entitled to retire some years ago
fsays .The Sydney Mail). But time has
dealt gently with His Honor, and mentally
and -physically he shows little sizn of the
wear and tear which old Time stamps upon
most of" us. No one' questions his right
to be -considered a sound and impartial
dispenser of justice, and. like several other
Judges in a superior jurisdiction, he is
down upon members of either branch of
the learned - profession who seek to cloud
the mam issue of a case by flimsy leeal
"points. Where an objection is bona fide
and material His Honor listens to aigu
•ment -patiently, as, of course, he 4s bound
io.do; hut when a lawyer comes alone
trilfc.a sbe&f of pure technicalities he passes
an unenviable qdarter of an hour under
p-athins Judicial criticism. Jnd^e Backhouse's.
career at the university was a brilliant
one, .especially in classicn and mathematics,
and for Tears he has occupied the
distinguished position of Vice-chancellor of
the Senate of that institution. . -He is a
thorough believer in the benefit of outdoor
exercise, and is a consistent and enthusiastic
supporter of most forms of legitimate
sport.' He i.s seldom absent from any creat
cricket or aquatic fixture, and has held for
years the position of Chairman of the Anniversary
Regatta Committee. He is also
President of the Board of the Women's
Hospital in Crown street, and has been pro
ivinentiy connected with the Philharmonic
Society for many years. His popularity
both on and ofi the Beach is indisputable.
Plora Macdonald's Grave.
. In the parish churchyard of Kilmuir,
Portree, stands a tall, weather-beaten
cross.. It marks the grave ,of flora Mac:
tjonald, whose devotion to Prince • Charles
Kdward dining, his 'adventnrbus journey
from Benbecirla: to Poiireef'in"the Bebellion
of'45is:Olie ofthe great romances of Scotland:
Disguised -as Betty Burke, she led
Birtjnie. Prince Charlie after his defeat , at
Culloden through a country infested with
spies and informers anxious to obtain the
£30,000 set on his head. Although not a
Jacobite, she succeeded in assuring his
safety. He sailed for Brittany, but' his
•winsome guide spent a year in -captivity on
a troopship. It is not unfitting that the
last earthly resting place of the brave girl,
whom Dr. Johnson describes as "of'middle
- stature, soft features, gentle manners, and
elegant presence," is within sight of the
sea, for she' was born fn the Hebrides,
yemigrated to North Carolina, and even-
- tually returned to Bonnie Scotland. Time's
withering finger <has been laid none too
gently on the giant cross, but the moss
clings lovingly to the slab bearing the
' name of a woman whose memory is as
i fragrant as the flmvere which are sometimes
strewn on the stone by -unknown
admirers.
£800 for £10.
A poor workman out of employment
c&rried an old violin 1 to a shop at Nyon,
near Geneva," recently, and offered the
instrument for sale, stating that he and
his family were in wast of a little money
A young clerk in the shop, out of pity,
bought the violin for 10/, and, after
having it repaired, began to plav upon it.
He was surprised at the melody, and
when a. .musician-offered him £4 for the
instrument he took it to an expert, who
declared it to be an Amati, and worth a
food deal. .Then Mr. Ernest Schilling, the
VeH-lsnown musician, who lives near Paderewski,
at Morges, not far from Lausanne,
-heard of- the matter, and' he has
• offered the young clerk ££00 for the
violin. The clcrk says be intends to reward
the workman in a suitable manner
when the violin is sold.
Schoolboy Discovers a Comet.
One of the greateR icewars which has
been conferred ct a s;H«>]bay by any
famous scientific fsr at lease two
generations is the reseat Fellowship of the
Boyal AaLrononiioal Society,- which thai
- celebrated association of scientists has given
to 'Mr- W. H. Steavensoa, a schoolboy at
Cheltenham College. This young gentleman
is the youngest ton of the la:e Rev.
F. B. Steavenson, a former rector
Quemngton, Gloucestershire. The new
FJBJA-S. wa6 but 17 years of age when the
dignity was conferred upon him. lie began
1o study astronomy especially as a hobby
in 1908, and was sent to Cheltenham Col-
•lege in tihe following year, n-here he is now
in the Upper Sixth Form on the Clascal
side. Young Mr. Steavenson dees all hie
astronomical work with a three-inch refractor
telescope. The reason why -the
grtat society has thus specially honoured
him is because of his unique -photographic
worfc on Brooke's comet laai September, in
addition to which he was the first Englishman
to discover another comet on one of
hie plates. . The original French discoverer
of the comet -was a day earlier, but had
not published his success to "the world
•when young Mr. Steavenson made "his discovery
>cn own to the Astronomer-Royal of
Endand-
Later on, Greenwich found the
romet
afes;
the astronomers were
etrusk
tfhe Cheltenham sender's marvellous
zeal and success t&at, the Astrono
: mer-Eesal leading, ihey proposed him for
the mneih-coveted Fellowship of tne society.
Good Enough for Saint Paul.
. Among the Wesleyans a ceflturv ago
there was a well-known and eccentric
Treacher named IXivid Mackenzie. When
reading the third chapter or Daniel he
invariably abbreviated the fifth verse, in
which are enumerated the instruments oi
tie Babylonian mt*aeiana; and -wJien tne
names erf the instruments were repealed in
T-onses 10 and 15, he would say "The band
u before." He was a lay preacher of the
eU order, and -mas admitted without
having read the prescribed "Wesley's Serjpone"
&ie rest. He boasted of his
lack of "book-leirning." and sncrnfiifly told
aatudent -of the now £~noo! who was learning
Latin thai "English was goodflfsiougb
for PauL Ain't it flood enough Sor $on.V
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