The San Francisco call. [volume], October 16, 1904, Image 17

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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LOXDOX, Oct.- 15. — William Wai- .
dorf Astor is coming out strong in his
new role of patron and preserver of
h<storic scenes and associations. Not
content with his scheme for restoring
Htver Castle as it was in the days
when King Henry VIII wooed the ill
fated Anne Boleyn there, Astor is
further planning to build around it a
Tudor village that shall be in every de
tail an exact replica of the dwell
ings of o^den time. One house, which
About Hever Castle the
Millionaire Will Con
struct a Quaint City
LONDON, October 15.— Following
the example of Lady Barrymore, her
countrywoman, the Marchioness of
Dufferin (formerly Miss Davis of New
York) is endeavoring to promote a
spirit of industrial activity in the
pe***ant women among: whom she
lives when in Ireland. The life of the
ordinary peasant woman is a most
monotonous one. The time required
dailv to rtut their own homes in nrripr
that his cab could not find a passage
through them. Dismissing it, he under
took to get through the jam on foot. By
the time he succeeded in getting inside
his own hall so great was the crush on
the stairs that after a hard struggle to
mount them and reach his wife he gave
it ur> and had to content himself with
seeing, and speaking to a few friends
as they were swept out of his own front
door, his wife upstairs apologizing all
the time for his non-arrival and won-
Great Crush at Swell Functions in London Results
in a Scramble Among the Invited Guests to
Gain Entrance to Home of Hostess.
Shows Keen Interest in
the Historical Scenes
in British Kingdom
MARKETS THEIR NEEDLEWORK
AND BRIGHTENS THEIR LIVES
ASTOR PLANS
TO CONSTRUCT
TUDOR VILLAGE
MARCHIONESS OF DUFFERIN
AIDS IRISH POOR.
British Peerage Still a FIELD FOR AMERICAN HEIRESSES Seeking to Wed Titles
PARJS. Oct. 15.— Robert Tony
Fleury, president of the Societe des
Artistes des Francais, announces that
plans will be published shortly for. a
home for aged members of the soci
ety. Almost $200,000 have been sub
scribed for the home.
Home for Aged French Artists.
PARIS, Oct. 15.— Dr. Dowie evidently
is beginning* a big crusade in Paris
and on the Continent. Mr. and Mrs.
Booth Clibborn, formerly of the Salva
tion Army in France, have become con
verts to the Zionist doctrine, and have
arrived here to carry on the propa
ganda. "My sister-in-law will start
here shortly,", said Percy Clibborn, the
financial manager for Dowie,"and some
days ago. we.sent'a missionary to.Bu
dapest. Last week -one went to Ber
lin and now we; are organizing a Paris
branch." ; . , . . ;
Dowie Converts In Paris.
DUBLIN. Oct.- 15.— Richard Croker
and his daughter Florence are visiting
J. H. Perd, a prominent Irish veterin
ary surgeon. Miss Florence is much
admired and has several suitors, but
her father has caused it to be known
that none but Roman Catholics needs
apply for her hand.
Croker and Daughter in Erin.
will be the first built, the millionaire
intends to reserve for his own occu
pation, that he may have the satisfac
tion of seeing the scheme carried out
under his own personal supervision.
The position of Hever Castle lends
itself well to such an undertaking as
its owner has in mind, for it is situat
ed on the banks of the river Eden in
the Weald of Kent and close to the
classic ground, near Penshurst, made
famous by the immortal Sidney. It
is quadrangular in form, surmounted
by towers and battlements, and inclos
ing a large courtyard. Few places in
England are. richer in historic asso
ciations, both tragic and picturesque.
Heretofore Astor has manifested a
spirit of selfishness in reserving his es
tates for his own exclusive enjoy
ment, which is not at all in keeping
with the customs and traditions of the
English aristocracy, most of whom
freely throw open their domains to the
public on at least one day in the
week. When Astor bought from the
Duke of Westminster the beautiful
Clieveden property, overlooking the
Thames, he treated visitors as tres
passers and withdrew • the privileges
which they had previously enjoyed.
At the present time he has a row on
Astor wants to be popular. It is no
secret that he would very much like
to get a title conferred upon him. But
it is also no secret that King Edward
will never give him one until he mends
his ways and shows some disposition
to share with the crowd the good
things that his money commands. The
public is anxiously waiting to learn if
the Tudor village is to be reserved for
Astor's exclusive enjoyment.
his hands with the Thames Conserv
ancy because he objects to the public
fishing in the stream where it borders
his estate.
British Peers Who Are Eligible as Husbands.
Well worth cultivating by American
match-making mammas is the Duke of
St. Aibans, hereditary grand falconer
of England, who, though thirty-four
years of age, has thus far succeeded
in eluding the net of the fowler. He
is not a drawing-room Duke and pre
fers a yacht to all the gayeties of town.
He is a handsome fellow with one of
the' finest seats in England at Best
wood , in Nottinghamshire and one of
the finest in Ireland, somewhere in
Tipperary, but he has never shown any
disposition to settle down since he en
tered upon his inheritance in 1898, much
to the regret of several English mat
rons with marriageable daughters. His
property covers some 9000 acres. At
present his half-brother, Lord Osborne
He has no objection to an untitled
bride, for he has been twice married,
and each time to a plain "Miss." His
first wife was Miss Amy Ricardo, and
his second, who has been dead seven
*teen years, was Miss Isabel Craven.
With neither did he receive a fortune,
but he was only the heir when he mar
ried them. Now that he is four times
a Duke he finds himself sorely in need
of ducats to maintain his estates in
proper style, for much of his property
Is in Scotland, where rents are low.
That is why an American heiress would
stand a . good chance now of making
her money count. The Duke already
has an heir— the Earl of March— by his
first wife, and this heir has a son, so
that his third Duchess would stand a
very remote chance of "seeing any of
her offspring In possession of the titles.
RARE DUCAL PRIZES. •
Dukes rank first in the British peer
age after the Princes of royal blood
and the two Archbishops. Matrimo
nially viewed, among the most eligible
of them is the Duke of Richmond, who
is four times a Duke — of Richmond,
Lennox and Gordon, in Great Britain,
and Due d'Aubigny in France. He has
also three Earldoms— March, Darnley
and Kinrara— and the Baronial append
ages of Settrington and Methuen. He
owns nearly 300,000 acres of land, which
Is about fifteen times as much as the
Duke of Marl borough has. He pos
sesses a fine old Scotch castle, Gordon
Castle in Banffshire, ' a magnificent
mansion at Chichester, Goodwood
House, which deservedly ranks among
the best of the stately homes of Eng
land, and several other residences. He
succeeded to his estate only last year.
He is 59, tall, thin and of active habits.
He carries his age well, and where
titled marriages are concerned youth
and romance are secondary considera
tions. He is a brainy man, too, and a
plucky one; was a member of Parlia
ment for nineteen years, and as colonel
of the Third Royal Sussex Regiment
he distinguished himself in the South
African war.
-i^ONDONr Oct." 15.-— Though "the Brit
ish peerage has of . ljite years yielded
many titled husbands . to American
heiresses there is no danger of the sup
ply, running short. With over 500 fam
ilies entitled, to representation in the
House of Lords, it will be understood
that John Bull's output of peers, mak
ing no allowance for new creations, is
in a fair way to keep pace for some
time to come with Uncle Sam's sur
plus of vastly rich and pretty girls.
As a matter of fact, there are at pres
ent far finer matrimonial plums to be
plucked from the tree of the British
aristocracy than' have yet been gath
ered by the American feminine in
vaders.
By long odds the richest bachelor
peer in the United Kingdom is the Mar
quis of Bute, who is only 24 years old.
At a low estimate his property is worth
at least $30,000,000. Cupid will count for
more than cash in determining his mat-
The generous money grant made by
n. grateful nation to the national idol
terminated with the third Duke, and
the estate, which consists of some 19,000
acres, does not yield enough in the
shape of rents to maintain a ducal
style of living. This state of affairs
should make Lord Douro an easy match
for some rich American heiress. With
enough of the needful to pay the bills
an American Duchess of Wellington
would stand socially, at least, on an
equal footing with the American
Duchess of Marlborough. As far as
titles go the Wellington dukedom is
much richer in them than the Marl
bcrough one. Spain and Pdrtugal vied
with England in lavishing them on the
Iron Duke, but did not sully their man
ifestations of gratitude by. associating
them with anything so sordid and vul
gar as cash.
There is no house in London better
adapted to entertaining than Apsley
House, with its magnificent hall, rare
art treasures and priceless relics of the
conqueror of Napoleon. It needs only
money and those arts in Which the
American* girl excels to make It the
most popular resort of the social elect.
Lord Douro is reputed to be a very de
cent fellow. In the Guards he made the
mistake of taking his profession seri
ously instead of "going the pace," and
was "ragged" by his brother officers.
RICHEST BACHELOR PEER.
It is as a prospective Duke that Lord
Douro should figure in the list of ducal
eligibles, for if he lives long enough
he will some day be Duke of Welling
ton. He is now twenty-seven and his
father, the present Duke, is fifty- five,
but longevity as well as genius has
thus far been restricted to the first
Duke. Financially the house of Wel
lington has fallen on evil days and the
Duke has a hard time of it to make
both ends meet.
&e~Xere, is the heir-presumptive. In
cidentally the Duke of St. Albans is a
descendant of Charles II and Nell
Gwynn.
As he celebrated his seventeenth
birthday only a few months ago-, a few
years must elapse before the Duke of
Leinster can be regarded as in the
eligible list, but he is well worth wait
ing for. He is the premier Duke, Mar
quis and Earl of Ireland all in one and,
unlike many scions of the nobility,
when he enters into his hereditary pos
sessions he will have plenty of money
to maintain them. He was only six
years old when his father died and his
trustees have been carefully nursing
the property ever since, so that when
he comes of age there will be a big for
tune awaiting him. ¦ His Kildare es
tate was recently sold for close on 57,
000.000 and he still retains a few thou
sand acres of the ancestral domain
elsewhere. Should an. American girl
marry him there 'would -be no ground
for the usual cynical jests about swap
ping British titles ' for American dol
lars. As he is one of the • few. peers
who will be able to afford the luxury
of a love match, an American girl
without much money would stand
about as good a chance of landing him
as one with lots of it. And such a
marriage would establish a new record
in international alliances.
THE FUTURE WELLINGTON*.
Equally prominent socially and from
a monetary view much' more desirable
is Lord Howard de Walden, the eighth
Baron to inherit the historic title which
dates back to 1597. He is only twenty
four and enormously rich as wealth fs
estimated in the British aristocracy.
In the South African war he served
with distinction for two years, but in
these piping times of peace he devotes
himself to sports.
Lord Gerard, whose father died two
years ago. will come of age this
autumn. The family Is not a notably
rich one. but socially it Is well at the
top and the wife of the young man
would experience no difficulty In gain
ing entrance to the charmed circle of
royalty.
Among the eldest sons of peers who
will some day inherit distinguished
titles, historic seats and large estates
there is a goodly number deserving of
the attention of socially ambitious
American mothers with pretty daugh
ters, for whose benefit their fathers
are willing to shell out handsomely.
Conspicuous among them is Lord Dal
meny, the Rosebery heir, whose com
ing of age was the occasion of so much
rejoicing and sumptuous hospitality a
couple cf years ago. He is a tall, ath
letic, manly young fellow and popular
everywhere. Thus far he has shotoro a
greater predilection for sports than pol
itics, and is a first-class cricketer.
The Earl of Caledon is still a minor,
but in two years he will take posses
sion of the 30,000 acres which constitute
his ancestral domains. Castle Caledon
and Derg Lodge, Tyrone, are the hfs
tcric seats which go with the title. la
the fire at Eton College last year,
which caused such a flutter in aristo
cratic circles, the lad distinguished
himself by his pluck and coolness. His
mother cuts a considerable figure in
London society and occupies a hand
some house in Carlton Terrace. It ta
understood that she would not ba
averse to an American heiress as a
daughter-in-law, for Irisn estates are
not usually productive of large In
ccmes, and the family is not a very
rich one.
Lord Lecon field is regarded as a
great catch among British matrons, but
the fact that he is still single though
thirty-two would indicate that he does
not look with much favor on English
beauties with limited purses. He waa
one of the most important hosts of the
Goodwood races.
Although a married man the Marquis
of Downshire figures among the elig
ible peers, for a few years ago he di
vorced his wife whom he had married
when he was 22. He is now 33. He
owns about 120,000 acres; -a castle in
County Down, Ireland, and a fine old
park and residence in Berkshire.
A IIEUO WITH PROSPECTS. -
rlmonial choice, but that is no reason
why it should not fall on one of Colum
bia's fair daughters. He is three times
an Earl and several sorts of lesser no
bilities, and withal he is an eminently
proper and correct young man.
Although the greater portion of bis
hundred thousand odd acres is In Scot
land most of his wealth Is derived from
Cardiff, which he practically owns. He
cares little for society and he and his
mother usually reside in one or the
other of his northern strongholds, sur
rounded by the superbly barbaric state
of the old fashioned Scotch nobility.
Instead of evening dress he dons the
kilt at dinner and insists on all his
servants arraying themselves in High
land costume. v
dering what had happened to detain
him.
Fashionable hostesses are utterly at a
loss to provide any remedy for the state
of affairs these incidents reveal. They
cannot restrict their invitations to a
reasonable number without giving mor
tal offense to many persons and placing
In jeopardy their own popularity. How
ever magnificent their .abodes, they
boast only one front door, and only one
carriage can draw up at one time. One
or two minutes are expended while the
occupants alight, and the carriage rolls
away. When there are hundreds of
carriages filled with guests waiting,
these minutes stretch into long and
tedious hours. And it is not alone those
who are invited to these grand func
tions who are exposed to sore inconve
nience in consequence of the street
blockades they cause. Cabs containing
people who are returning to their homes
and are very anxious to get to them
are often detained for over an hour In
consequence. Swells cannot be treated
like *?ostermongers and summoned for
impeding street traffic and creating
what the law terms a nuisance.
Still more comical and exasperating
Tvas the experience of Lord London
derry. His wife was giving a big party
at Londonderry House. He had an
other engagement that evening, but
hurried hack from it to join his wife
and play the part of host. He found
the street eo blocked with carriages
On the same night Lady Currie,
whose husband was Embassador to
Rome, but whose bad health does not
permit him to so to parties, attempted
to accept the Machioness' invitation.
Her experience was somewhat similar.
She stepped from her carriage at her
hoftess' door to observe immediately
afterward that folks were leaving the
party, and looking wistfully after her
departing carriage was by' no means
cheered to hear the liftman say, "I
don't know when you'll get your car
riage again." Then, in spite of the rain,
she set an example, which many satin-
Klippered dames followed— she ran
through the storm-swept, muddy street
until she caught up with her carriage.
EVEX THE HOST BLOCKED.
While the London season is in full
swing the crushes at fashionable func
tions are so great that many of those
who aro invited find it impossible to
gt>t inside the doors. Even more in
teresting than the stories told of grand
parties att^nipd are some of the ex
periences of those who have tried to
atter " them and failed. Determined
to be at the Marchioness of Lans
downe's big reception recently, Lord
John Hay, the brother of the Mar
quis of Tweeddale (pronounced in
Scotland Tweddle. where folks de
clare nobody but a Cockney would
pronounce it otherwise), came to
London, took rooms in town and then
brought his wife and daughters here.
Fittingly arraved, they all started out
in good time on the eventful night,
which proved to be a rainy one. but
for one whole hour and a half was
their carriage blocked in a never
ending line of smart vehicles, and the
family ultimately reached the door
of Lansdowne House just in time to
peep inside, get back to their car
riage and return home again.
THE IMPOSSIBLE CRUSH.
The Marchioness of Dufferin is go
ins one better. She is encouraging
th*» same class of work, but she is
finding a market for it among store
keepers both in England and America,
where she is able to obtain market
value and is, therefore, in a position
to pay the peasants a better price for
their work. Musical evenings and
Sunday outings for women and young
girls are also a r>art of her pro
gramme to relieve the monotony of
these poor people's lives. She does
not believe in indiscriminate char
ity. While she has no desire to make
money out of this scheme of hers,
she insists that it must pay its own
way if it Is to continue. If she gets
back the value of the materials which
ehe eupplies she is satisfied that her
effort will be productive of some
good.
does not mean much effort, and al
though they are wllttng~to work, there
is little they can do from which they
can reap any pecuniary benefits. Lady
Barrymore some months ago con
ceived the idea of encouraging cot
tage industry by providing materials
for Etocking making and needlework
of every description, afterward finding
an outlet for the work produced
through the medium of a number of
charities in which she and many
other friends were interested.
The, Duke of Richmond, With Vast Estates,
and the Marquis of Bute, With His Thirty
Millions, Plums in the Matrimonial Market
SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1904.
4 1.
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