Morning journal and courier., 1889-02-12
OvER IN SUNNY AnB1oN.

Amer1ca,s Mild Winter Duplicated Hn EngIand-Larks ana Cuckoos singing-From Poverty To Great Wealth-Vaat Fortune of SeIf-Made man-Makes a PrinceIy Gift To His Native CIty-Kirkstalt Abbey.
 New Haven friends have been much inter- ested in letter and papers just received from England. In the letter a prominent gentleman writes of the delightful winter weather which they are having across the big pond, much like the remarkably fine wealth CT which we of New England and other parts of the United States have been experiencing. He speaks of hearing the larks and cuckoos sing, which tell the story of the mildness of | the season much better than can be describ ed, at least to all familiar with the habits of these songsters, dear to the hearts of all born | on English soil as special reminders of
 ''home, sweet home" and days of childhood. He speaks also of the princely gift to the | city of Leeds, made by one of her sons now wealthy Londoner, who, by his own native abilities, rose from the rank to w1eld 8 big financial influence as the pessessor of a for ! tune of fifteen or twenty millions. This \ gentleman, Colonel J.. T. North, has bought ! and given to Leeds the beautiful Kirkstall Abbey, very romantic and beautiful, mas- ! slve ruin, with spacious grounds, admired by I all travellers and tourists. The gift, it may be imagined, was warmly appreciated by Lseds, of which city the deceased brother of | our New Haven townsman, Samuel L..
 Marsden, Esq, was mayor. Colonel North's only qualification with the gift was that it ! should benefit the public of Leeds.
 The reception and formal acknowledgment ! of the gift of Kirkstall Abbey to Leeds was l a red-letter occasion in the history of the city
 and the generous donor, whose gift cost him ! $67, 300, was made an honorary freeman of
 Leeds with accompanying imposing ceremo- \ nies. In the evening a grand banquet was given in honor of Col. Leeds. On the previ-
 ous evening there was grand popular dem-
 onstration in his honor as he entered the Grand Theater.
 The following from the Leeds Mercury's
 London correspondent tells of a grand and
 brilliant fancy ball given in London by Col \ onel North.
 The fancy dress ball given last night by Colonel J. T. North at the Whitehall rooms A of the Hotel Metropole can fairly claim rank as one of the most brilliant spectacular gatherings ever witnessed in London. The
 colonels guests included many of the most prosperous financial magnates of the day, | and it was apparent at a glance that the | friendly rivalry go often shown i'll the mat. ! ters of equipsge, wine and household goods, \ had on this occasion been continued as re- ! gards costume. It was no question of hiring
 a more or less appropriate garb from a
 fashionable costumier at from two to \ three guineas night. On the contrary, ! sion had had built for themselves by the cun- I ming fingers of fanciful-minded tailors and ! delft modistes some of the most marvellous
 and costly reproductions of the garb of by ! gone days ever witnessed on or off theatrical I boards. The guests on entering the hotel
 passed down long passage lined with ver- | dant palm trees to the Louis Seize drawing | room, where they were received by their host I and hostess. The stalwart figure, horid face | and full beard of the former were admirably
 set off by the costume of Henry VIII. he had | appropriately selected. Mrs. North wore 8
 replica of a Louis Quinze Court costume
 assigned to the Duchesse De Main,
 during the reign of that monarch, whilst Mr. Henry North and Miss North figured, the one in a splendid eighteenth cen-
 tury court suit of blue and gold, as the Due de Richelieu; and the other in the dazzling | and fanciful array of an eastern princess.
 Master Arthur North was arrayed as Edward | VI. Before this family group long success | sion of invited guests swept by in swift suc- | cession, costume after costume eliciting ap- proving murmurs by its taste. elegance and \ quaintness. To catalogue the whole of them, \ or even to repeat the names of the whole \ twelve hundred guests who had arrived by | midnight, would be impossible, but amongst | few of the earlier arrivals may be noted Sir Alfred and Lady Kirby, the lat
 
 ! former as gentleman of her court; MT. Ash ! mead-Bartlett and Sir J. Heron Maxwell, in uniform; Admiral Sir E. A. Engleield, his | breast glittering with medals and orders; MT. | A. M. Broadley, as Louis Seize, MT. Charles | Rothschild, etc. An adjournment took place | to the ball room, which had been specially | decorated with flowers and foliage for the oc- | casion, 8 conspicuous ornament being series
 of large esoutcheons formed of white flowers, with the monogram of Colonel North wrought in colored blossms in their center.
 In the opening quadrille Colonel North had for his partner Mrs. Petrie, the wife of we'll known West African merchant, MT. Petrie dancing with Mrs. North. A second
 ball room received the overflow of guests, ,and | entertainments by well known professionals given at intervals in other parts of the hotel also served to relieve the crush.
 \ The scene presented in the main ball room was kaleidoscope in brillisncy, silk, satin,
 velvet and brocade, heightened by gold and silver lace, sweeping before the eyes of the E spectator in dazzling succession as the \ couples whirled past to the strains of MT. Dan Godfrey's orchestral band.
 MT. Lionel Brough, as Hamlet, and Lord Churchill in court dress, were amongst the later arrivals.