New-York tribune., 1892-01-06
PERSONAL.

Edwin Booth used to encounter preternaturafiy
solemn audience once in awhile, the actor Charles
b. Hanfod and would be much distressed by DIS flurs
TO elicit a smile from single face by his best NUS
on one occasion, it IS said, becoming cxaspcraeo De
yond endurance, he walked TO the fooulghts, ana,
drawing down his face, said earnestly ladies ana
gentlemen donC ask you TO laugh, but for heavens
sake don't cry, Needless to say they did not Mr..
Uanford also tells OF Mr. Booth consentng at another
Time under like circumstances 10 having one OF Two
good laugherS placed IN the auoiehce % ren''s "'
gloom.
Prince Henry Of Prussia, brother Of the Emperor of
Germany is about to be made Rear ar-Admlral OF the
Imperial Navy. The Prince has been acting as cap
tain for three years. More than two wears ago HIS
Majesty, not wishing to SEQ his brother ouHanked,
offered to raise him to the rank OF Rear Admiral ote
the sailor Prince declined the prcfcrment on the
ground that he wished to become more familiar With
the duties OF captain before accepting hsher RANK.
o has given notice to his brother that he Is ready
for promOtcn
Sir Edwin Arnold is now criticised By . natvs
Japanese living in this country, Yabahn Sanan BY
name for taking too "poetic" view Of people md
things in Japan. Tho gifted Englishman, he says
ooneously attributes certain snces and virtues OF tns
people in that kin gdom to the influence OF buddhism;
while Mr. sangn insists that they nherc In the raoe.
REGARDLESS Of religion. lie insists that tho poet errs In
saving after praisns the japanese for their cleanliness.
that they "haye towels, no sheets, no under
clothes no linen; in representing tho !inrckshs-
men as living on a cup Of tea and small biscuit, in.
,te.d OF having voraci0us appettes, and In several
other particulars.
The late sir George Bissell Airy received his ap-
pointment az Astronomer Royal in 1885, doubt
LARGELY as the result OF the Improvements which he
made in methods OF calculation while Pumian pro-
fessor at the Cambridge Observatory. To him the
Royal Observatory at Greenwich IS indebted for the
Introduction Of the altazimuth, the water telescope,
The transit circle the large equatorial which
erected from his plans in 1859 Ills labors We're not
confined to the mere routine duties OF his occ, for
be WAS for fully half century the recognized adviser
Of the Government nearly every scientific question
OF general interest. 1894 when the old standards
OF weights and measures destroyed BY the fro
ut the Houses OF Parliament he was chosen chairman
Of the commission charged with the construction OF
the new ones, and, among other public measures, he
advocated a dc -ima coinage and the adoption Of the
railroad gauge of feet and eight inches instead
Of SIX feet. In 1888 he investigated the disturbance
Of the compass in iron ships and devised means "a
correct the irregularity, The preliminary observa-
tons necessary for fixing the boundary between
Canada and the United States conducted by him.
and he also aided In tracing the northwestern boundary
Many OF the data now relied on for determining the
weight OF the earth and the theory OF gravity
obtained by MS experiments, and ancient chronology
has been rendered more accurate by hs computation u
the exact time OF the most important ecipses On
record In 1542 DIR. Airy went to Turin. in 1881 to
Gothenbnrg and IN 1868 to Spain for the purpose Of
obserng solar ecpses, and in 1874 he organized the
British expedition for observing the Transit OF Venus