Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-12-24
MARYANDERSON'SFUTURE
REPORT THAT SHE WILL MARRY
THE DUKE OF PORTLAND,

REPORT THAT SHE WILL MARRY
THE DUKE OF PORTLAND.
said to be on Authority-The Prospec-
Bridegroom, His Marvellous Wealth
and Great Estates-wonders of We'll
beck Abbey.
London Gable to Neao York Herald, s1st.
IL Is currently reported here that Miss
Mary Anderson is engaged to be married
10 the Duke OF Portland. There is good
authority for this statement.
THE HAPPY MAN.
The contracting parties to the forthcom-
ing marriage are both to be congratulated,
MISS Anderson will cause much jealousy
among the bellies of English society for
having the good fortune to caDture so
ellglble pGrti as the Duke of Portland.
On the other hand, there are few unmar-
rled English noblemen who will not feel
inclined to envy the young Duke. The
stage mas furnished many beautiful wives
10 the English aristoeracy, but so far as
Is known no American actress has here
IOIore made so remarkable a CONQUEST.
The Duke Of Portland is a fine. manly
young fellow of 26. He was for a
tlme In the COldStream Guards. where he
was very popular indeed among his broth
er ofhcefs. good shot, a genial good
lelloW, capital man in a canter across
country, ne was general favOrite. Every
one wished him hearty good luck when in
1913 ne succeeded the late eccentric Duke
Of Portland, his first cousin. For twenty
SIX years this last named parsonage lived
the lie or recluse. For more than a
quarter OF century all he cared for was
the carrying out of his wonderful works
at Welbeck Abbey. He used to dine
alone, no one approaching him but his
valet. There were drawn for him every
day Two quarts of beer and two of ale,
but he never drank them. He was free
from wee, and his unusual manner of life
was said to have been caused solely
by an 0yermastering desire to carry into
enect his rare constructive skill. His
'eccentricity" found emplOvmentt for
thousands of hands, and his works at
Welbeck remain a great monument to his
memory. The late Duke had refined taste
In architecture. An archway was at one
time built for him by an architect, which,
Wnen completed, was an eyesore. In
stead of manifesting his displeasure to
the architect, he simply had it pulled
down one evening, and when the archi-
tect came next day he did not even men
ton his work, and not word was said
about its disappearance. On the death of
the Duke, Welbeck went into mourning,
and the multitude of people who looked
for bread to tasteful and liberal noble
man asked themselves how far the works
at Welbeck would be continued.
wELBECK ABBEY.
The present Duke, though he did not
spend his money with the lavish hand of
his predecessor, still expended large
amounts in completing the works at the
Abbey: The work of reconstruction was
carried on in prudent manner, and the
present owner seemed to be imbued with
the desire of the late Duke to make We'll
beck Abbey architecturally perfect The
ABBEY VIII always be famed for its under
ground passages, which extend for miles.
ana Tor Its subterranean apartments. in
cludlng spacious ballroom and suits of
rooms in the bosom of the earth. The
most striking feature in the buildings
above ground is the large Gothic hall, re-
stored in 175l by the Countess of Oxford:
and the visitor cannot fail to be delighted
with the fan-like tracery of the ceiling the
elaborate designs and the splendid deco
ratIons. In the early part of his career
the late Duke devoted himself ardentlv
TO the cultivation of art, and the hundreds
of paintings which adorn the walls of the
Abbey testify to the good taste he must
have passed. Extending in all directions
from the Abbey are those lofty and spa
cious passages which have been for so
long the wonder and admiration of the
privileged visitor. They are brilliantly
lighted by means of costly apparatus for
attracting the sunlight. and where sun
light cannot be admitted, by gaslights.
The celebrated ''riding school," the like
OF which is not to be found in the world. is
reached through one or two underground
passages. Entrance is gained by trap
door, which is opened by curiously de-
signed crank in the passage. The build
ing was used for the purpose of riding
school in the Duke of Newcastle's time
but has since been converted into mag
innocent museum of art, 1S0 feet in length,
Large numbers of pictures are arranged
in the gallery, and on the oak floor are
thousands OF rare and valuable books.
ancient and modern. The gallery
is lighted by means of four chan
dellers, each weighing a ton. sus-
| pended from the roof. There
are upwards of 1000 gas jets, and when
all are Illuminated the effect must be brill
liant in the extreme. Mirrors adorn the
walls, ana the ceiling of the gallery is
! beautifully decorated with design repre-
senting a midsummer sky. The library as
we'll as the picture gallery is under
| ground, and is the result of many years.
labor. 1t is 236 feet in length and divided
into five chambers, which are so con-
! structed as to form when desirable one
very large chamber or hall.
FAMOUS PICTURE GALLERY.
Another apartment was commenced
seven years ago, but was not completed
| before the late Dukes death. 1t is reached
by spiral staircase at one end and by a
subterranean passage at the other end. It
was supposed al one time that it was in
| tended for church, but there is nothing
ecclesiastical about its appearance. Its
! oaken floor is a wonderful piece of work.
so close and fine is it. The deep tone OF
the wood has been obtained bv regular
washing with rare old Welbeck ale. II is
now used as picture gallery, and on the
walls are 16O grand works by Raffaele,
| Nandyck, Rembrandt, Rnbens, Holbein.
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Wouvermans and
others. There are many other underground
chambers, and all of them have been ex-
cavated at great cost. They are magnif-
Gently decorated, admirably lighted and
are free from draughts. Altogether there
are many miles of subterranean passages,
all of which are pleasant to walk In and
wide enough to allow of three persons
walking abreast.
| THE ESTATES.
A published estimate of the
! estates of the late Duke computed
his rent roll at something like
! 100000 per annum. In addition to the
| Welbeck estates he had landed propertv
in Middlesex, Norfolk, Derbyshire, Lin
| colnshile, Nottinghamshire Northumber-
land, Ayrshire and Caithness-shire. The
ground rents of the valuable property i'm
the metropolis, consisting of houses in