The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1877-11-10
The Richest. Esslishwenaa.

The London Times of Sept. 10, an
nounced that from that date Mr.. Ed
word Majoribanks ceased to be q men,
Der of the firm of Coutts & Co. A few
days later the same paper stated:
!" In reference to the fact that one of
the Sc Nor partners in Messrs. Coutts &
Co. has recently ceased to be . member
of that firm, we have been desired to
point out that neither he nor any Of the
other partners held or have held any
ownership in the bank. 1t belongs sole
ly to Lady Burdett- Coutts, as heircss of
the property of the late Thomas Coutts.' -
This means that all other partners are
and have been simply what is called
partners will. Be that as it may, they
have made . nice thing of it. Within
the last ten years three have died, and
none of them was worth less than SS,-
0OO, 900.
Mr.. Thomas Coutts died, aged 81, in
1922. He did not found the house, but
he gave it the fame it enjoys. Lady
Burdett, the mother of Baroness Bur-
dett-C outts, was his third daughter by
his first wife, an excellent woman of
very humble origin. He left the whole
of his immense wealth, after providing
handsomely for his daughters, to his
second wife, Miss Mellon, q celebrated
actress, and she no doubt in accordance
with his wishes, bequeathed it to his
granddaughter. Why Lady Burdett-
Coutts was thus selected has not been
explained. As soon as Mrs. Coutts was
known to have inherited this prodigious
fortune, she became q central figure in
English society. The London papers in
1924, when she emerged fromwidowhood,
devoted much space to her doings:
" Mrs. Coutts entertained at dinner last
night II. r. H. the Duke of York, the
Duke of Wellington, the Duke and
Duchess of Argyle" etc.,
and she figures in half
a dozen novels of that day, notably in
Disraeli's Vivian Grey" Five years
later she married the Duke of St. Adams,
but a life annuity of 100000 a year
was all he or his family got by the mar
rage. The lady knew full well how to
hold the purse strings; for in her youth
every penny had been of Importance to
the struggling actress. She hated the
Beauclerks, the Dukes family, and left
a special proviso against their ever oc-
cupying house she left the Duke.
Inthe earlier part of her career, the
Baroness Burdett- Coutts was, like Queen
Victoria-to whom men in the pit of
the theater used to write notes to say
that they had caught the glance of her
eye, and were ready to consent to be-
come prince consorts- dreadfully
pestered by would-be suitors, and GER
tain Mr.. Dunn became such an insuffer-
able nuisance that she had to seek a
legal remedy. When she appeared in
court, and during the proceedings
could not conceal her tears, consequent
on the disgraceful behavior of Dunn, an
intense feeling of sympathywas excited,
and if the crowd had caught the offender
it would have gone hard with him.
There is little doubt that her money has
made her an old maid, but she probably
finds compensation in the fact that it
has also made her the most popular
woman in London, with which city she
has always closely identified herself; for
Lady B. Coutts, with all her millions,
has no country seat, except villa, in
herited from the Duchess of St. Adams,
at Highgate, in sight of the metropolis.
Her town house is an immense bay-win-
dowed mansion in Stratton Street, a
which runs along side the walls
of Devonshire House in Piccadilly. Its
windows command a fine view of what
is called Green Park and Buckingham
Palace. The mansion contains quanti-
ties of very costly o6jets dart, including
a cabinet said to have been appraised at
$4,000 guineas.
She entertains great deal, and gives
perhaps larger dinner parties in her vast
dining room than any other person in
London, but neither her dinners nor her
balls are exceptionally recherche. Still
she sees all the most interesting people.
She is an intimate friend of Mr.. Glad
stone, who in 1871 advised the Queen to
raise her to the peerage, and he and his
family passed several weeks with her in
town some years ago when his own
house was not available. Mr.. Harness,
Julian Young, and, until he separated
from his wife, Charles Dickens, were
also among her frequent guests. A
most important person in her establish
ment is Mrs. Brown, her inseparable
companion, into whose good books it is
highly important for any one desiring
the favor of the Baroness to get.
Lady Burdett- Coutts is now about 60;
she is tall and thin, with a very amiable
of countenance and pleasing
voice and manner, the latter being ut
terly devoid of the slightest arrogance
or pretension. HerpoIitical sympathies
lean decidedly toward liberalism, and
she cherishes the fondest recollection of
her father, the radical Sir Francis Bur-
dett, a gallant, honest, impetuous gen.
tleman, who probably keenly enjoyed
finding himself a Stste prisoner in the
Tower of London. To whom Lady
Burdett- Coutts's enormous wealth will
go is not known. Her brother, Sir Rob-
ert, is a queer old bachelor, with $780,
600 year, but she has nephews and
nieces who are by no means wealthy,
and who consider themselves eminent
ly eligible for humping legacies.
Some Of them, however, have not been
altogether satisfactory. 1t is hoped by
her countrymen and women that it may
be many day before her will comes to |
be read, for her death would be little
short of a public calamity.-NesO York
Sun.
The Properties Of Coca.
The value of Coca as q stimulant and
tonic has been pretty well tested during
the past year by members of the To-
ronto Lacrosse Club. An interesting
history of the experiment is given by
DIR. E. B. Shuttleworth in the Canadian
Pharmaceutical Journal. In the
spring of 1876, several gentlemen be-
LONGING tn the Climb BEGAN taking Coca