The sun., 1890-09-21
TaE GREAT SEARLES WALL.
rT sUUTs OUT THE WORLD FROM OWE
nv the GREAT sEIRLEs MANSIONS.

oI the GREAT sEIRLEs MANSIONS.
.,.,s,,.IIhe wonders AeeouPnsheA with
,hc Marx Hopkins AGIiIIous-The vlnSge
At Sroat Rarrtngtop Fained. Pleased ana
overpowersd ~ Mr.. ssArles's DoinEs.
onE.r HARRINGTON. Sept lathe young
,.otlsn,an Of tho Arabian Nights who carried
.vonderful lamp and coniured up palaces In
IN. desert at n moments notice was n very
..rable young fellow, out there is an American
millionaire who can give him n point or two
and worst him at his own trick The Amer
tan enchanter carries no woodworking
lamp and does not need one, for he has, what
i. more potent than any wand or genie OF East
arm fairy tale, an inexhaustble check book.
The summer visitor at Block Island. pnus-
ing at the rckety wharf at the Basin" and
looking across the bay due north to Clay Hend.
h.holds blue ediflce. grand and massive-
looking as an Egyptian tomb, towering among
tha sand hills and above the rank sea grass
ant far from Crescent Beach. 1t 10 two and q
half miles away. but one can distinguish Its
vinnt pillars and colonnade. and mark its ap-
parent soliditJ, its soaring pinaclea, and jut-
ding gables. If reply to q question q native
aays; why. thets Searles's mansion-sum-
nor house. he calls It; cost 100000 Ben
building for moro'n year. and it'll be done
some time this fall" II the same tourist visits
Methuen. Mass, strollnE along the wide.
shady street, another splendid mansion will
sttract his attention. which is at once the
pride and envy OF the village people. Accost
villager and ask him who is the owner OF the
remarkable DWELLING and he replies in half
surly tone: 4" oh. that's Searless house; got EN-
nj, over the country; that's only one Of EN-"
Crossing the country. the traveller is con-
fronted In California with yet an other dwelling
otMrSearies's, q, massive. grand. and OF strikinRly
original design. like all the others. That is
mansion No. 8. In Paris he will behold palace
No L. and among the blue hills OF the quaint
old Berkshire town is Mr.. Searless 6fth homo,
which is grander. greater. moro massive. and
bluer than all the other Searles mansions put
together. How many homes has he all told. is
# Questioned Well. no one seems to know pos
iHvely. some persons of lively imagination say
there are seven OF them altogether. including a
splendid edifice in New York but others affirm
that that estimate is doubtful, that the New
York house Is q myth. II is possible that Mr..
6earles doesn't know himself Just how many
palaces he owns for he may have mislaid one
or two OF them. like the singular gentleman in
Mr. O'Brien's hasheesh story OF The Lost
Room" At any rate, this Is sure. that Mr..
Bearles and his wife would have to multiply
themselves into five distinct couples in order
10 be altogether at homo to all their friends at
enc and the same time
Every one knows Mr.. E +. Searles OF
Nethuen. Mass Block Island. R. l.. San Fran
eisoo Cal. Paris France: New York. and Great
Darlington. Mass; how when he was de-
sgner In great furnishing house. the widow
OF Mark Hopkins fell In love with him while he
was decorating one OF her homes and married
him; and o year or more ago thousands read
In TIE SUN about the castles the couple were
building on great estate In the elm-embow-
ered street Of this mountain village. The cas-
tle was not done at the time that article
was published: 1t is not entirely completed
now. but Mr.. and Mrs Searles dwell in 1t.
The corner rooms OF the mansion are finished.
and it will not be long before work on the rest
Of II will DO ended. For the first time in
many years the couple spent the summer in
Great Darlington. They are now at Block
Island. Just before setting out for the island
mansion MI Searles said to one or two Of his
intimate friends: If you can spare the time
Just take a run down to my little four room
cottage at the island" As matter Of TACT. the
100000 summer house at Block Island has just
four rooms on It's ground floor. but they are
very sizable rooms: and 1t is doubtful II any
body els than Mr.. Searles or Aladdin would
\, ever have spoken of 1t slightlngly.
!" Sun reporter. sauntering under spreading
elms along the broad. hard street of this an
duu0 NlildR0 u udJ VI tNO SuuueuIg uhtt0u
in the aristocratic suburbs before an object
that excited at once more than transient curl
Q ity. interest and astonishmept. Stretching
on before him and towering above the curb
stone. he saw a ponderous blue wall OF chipped
paIi1 Wills % The ws ala and nS sast Visible @
above q thick plantation OF trees and shrub
peaks. and pinaeles OF an intensely blue castle.
The wall was ABOUT as massive as. though
and Il Was eonsidera5iy Shorter short T:i yet It It was
massive enough ior fortified city In matne-
0 S Ssh housS Is paees efs ns as
away to little more than half that height,
but there the formidable iron palinR springs
emIle long Compared with 1t the famous wall
q the Ophir farm in Westchester county is lit
rated. like the battlements Of a feudal castle
intervals g narroH little blind door. olive In
aknob and lock IN the frame of II, with
!psI mere slit Of keyhole: One stroils along
eeeEhat Is beyond il but at every point he is
has the foliage within the enclosure been ar
ranged and trained. he can see nothing OF the
Ss ponfs a8d eS
there must bo break al the driveway on
11Son oEs and Ss foo%s the
SS,Erisads thlther. and -, 2 fresh dsep,
there. It is true. but with maryeIlous
inRenuity IL Is made to curve inward
IN Q quarter circle. with a Iwo-story porters
lodge at the end; 50 that the tail iron pnled
gate hangs at right angles with tho street
wall The passer Razes merely into the thick
ehrubbery Of that part OF the park adjoining
!he street The wall at the gate rises eight
ieet, solid masonry. In the face OF the curved
With shining brass knob and keyhole slit IN
brass 'scutcheon. Electric Jets spring ABOVE
the stone gate posts In the heavy foliage
black metal gritflns stat out on stony
pe[elies on each side OF the gate. from the
driveway the wall gooS nearly 100 yards
and ends In allow iron fence on stone en-.
bAnkment wall Is or 20 feet above q sunken
meadow. whose velvet turf, on which choice
cattle craze. extends. as level as a moor. half a
mile TO the ioot OF lofty Prospect Mountain
9 the rear Of the, castle; beautiful row
o. slim. shapely poDlaTs skirt the street mar
gin OF the meadow and It's further border.
Standing 10 twos like column OF soldiers. and
!heir slender boughs serve 10 whet the singu-
Ar desire for self-seIuestration that mani
testify Is the ruling motive in the plue-stone
castle. Through leafy lonpholes in the 20 d ars
the world is atliPerty to look across the sunken
meadow, which Is u part OF the lOJ-acre de-
mesne. to the dark wooded slope Of the noun