Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-09-05
A CITY OF INVALIDS.
Edgar L. Wakeman's Third Letter on
English Summer Resorts.
.BoURNEMoUTH'S HUMID CLIMATE.
Its Building Characterized by Yankee
Spirit of Booming.
A COMMUNITY OF BEAUTIFUL VILLAS

| CORRESPONDENTS OF THE DISPATCH.1
BoURNEMoUTH, ENG, Aug. M.-Re-
garded from almost any standpoint, Bourne
mouth is unique among the great seaside
resorts of England. 1t is truly athealth-
giving spot without certifcation. Its
scenic outlook is grandly beautiful without
appeal to guidebook, which it does not
possess, or to the imagination, which it
lovingly prompts. 1t is rich without being
vulgar; aristocratic, though not insuffer-
ably SO; popular, and yet dreamfully quiet.
The omnipresent AIRY, 'Arriet and
Tommy Atkins" of every other known
resort in England are here unknown. And,
more noticeable than all else to the Ameri-
can loiterer, it is in England and yet glows
with newness and progress.
While it ever recalls the brightness and
sunny gaiety of our own best resorts, we
have not any one to which it can properly
be likened Take the almost matchless
toreshore of Old Orchard Beach, put behind
it the picturesque and rugged surroundings
of Bar Harbor, add million pines from the
trackless forests of Maine, give these the
tender somnolence of dear old Newport, and
then permeate the whole with that breezy
spirit of endless unrest which has wrought
the magic In such places as Chicago, st.
Paul, Minneapolis, Denver, Spokane,
Seattle and Tacoma, and you will have
something like the delicious composite that
wins your steadfast affection here.
WHERE THE BOOM IS KNOWN.
There is something in the very dash and
|svigor of Bournemouth that lays hold of the
American heart. 1t gives one tingle and
glow to know that our hearty Western word
''boom," is known and applied here with
pride. To find anywhere in England such
radiant activities is feast of delight in
desert of conservatism, inertia and an
tiquity. They say that but triffe over 30
years ago the beautiful situation of Bourne
mouth was still undiscovered, although
some years before George Ill held his
court at Weymouth, but little distance
away, and tbs military band played ''God
Save the King" whenever His Majesty
dulge in a sea bath.
1t was in 1886 that Sir G. W. Tapps Ger
Wis plunged in the pine forest and made q
clearing. He built house here and there,
leaving the pines with their saffron colored
cones standing between. The interlacing
valleys lent themselves to the formation of
roads, which were maze fr-fringed and
pine -plumed. Other builders extended the
settlement and dotted their villas among
the pines, until grandly beautiful and
widespread city Of nearly $4,000 inhabit-
ants, the greater portion being members of
the English aristooracy and nobility, has
been planted in pine forest, sloping down
to the "chines," or tiny canyons, which open
out to the circling cliffs of sand for the wash
of the mighty sea.
A LESSON LEARNED IN CHICAGO.
Many romances of sudden wealth have
been written in Bournemouth's growing.
Sidney Brown, one of the men. who helped
rebuild Chicago after the flames had swept
that CITY into world-heart fame, learned
there his lesson of opportunity so we'll that
lin building here he is now become one Of
the millionaires of this paradise of Pines"
The great Durant estate, comprising the
entire Bourne valley, three miles long, run
ming through the center of Bournemouth,
and covered by its most princely buildings
sand lovely pleasure gardens, is owned by
one marriageable maiden, Miss Durant
This lady's father came into possession of
the property after years of litigation and
discouragement SO great that he finally of
fered his solicitor, one Fox, an attorney at
Norwich, e3, 900 to accept his equities in
the property, pay the costs and rid him of
responsibility. The honest or hesitant Fox
refused, but has made in fees and commits
sions hundred times that amount out of
the estate, while the lonely heiress is worth
millions The Shelley estate, formerly
few hundred acres of sand dunes and pines,
now owned by Lady Shelley, widow of the
late Baron Percy Bysshe Shelley, the poets
son, is valued at 81, 900, 000 andis receiving
$50 annual ground rents for countless half
acre lots It lies between Bournemouth
pier and Christchurch Head, on what is
known as East Cliff.
The present Lord Malvern, one of the
Bank of England directors, though always
a man of great wealth, added millions to
his properties through the peculiar infu-
ence he exercised over two old ladies-Lady
Talbot and sister-who both died within
few months period at above 80 years of age
some seven years since
LORD MALVERN GETS THE ESTATE
They owned 800 acres of this once pine
wilderness. Lord Malvern accommo-
datingly became their business ''adviser"
"a sort of financial lady's maid to the
eccentric old couple. On their death the
iota of the vast estate had been bequeathed
to Lord Malvern, who Immediately made
short shrift of all the old servants and other
dependents.
Pages of similar romances and tradgedies
in the marvellous increase Of values in
Bournemouth, though the city's history is a
brief one, could be related. The practical
side of this development is also curious and
entertaining. The city has no streets"
All its thoroughfares are "roads, - save
nues," "crescents" and ''quadrants. They
are all winding and there are no
squares" The splendid improvements
have been almost exclusively made by |
speculative architects and builders. AS !
values advanced, parcels or tracts were ap-
portioned them by the agents of various
estates, the latter providing improvements
in adjoining thoroughfares. These sites
are all acres or half acre lots, and with the |
exception of those of one estate they are |
leaseholds of 80 or SO years duration, on
annual ground rentals Of from $50 to 5000
per lot, payable half yearly, and with what
is known here as 'peppercorn,. or free
ground rent for the first year, in Difference
to the builders risk
The curious thing about Bournemouth
residence property from first to last is, that
no sooner Is anv villa erected and ready for