Omaha daily bee., 1895-05-19
HE WASTED HIS LIFE
Career Of the Late Duke Of Hamilton One
of Unremitting Indulgence.
HAD GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR GOOD
Contracted Immense Estates with Thousands
of Tenants to Look Up to Him.
THOROUGHLY NEGLECTED HIS AFFAIRS
Agent Allowed to Run the Estate While tn d.
Duke Lived Loose.
-
BRITISH PUBLIC IGNORES THE TRUTH
Death of the Dissolute Peer Brings Only u
Brief Encomium from the Press,
While the Accession of His sue
cessor Goes Unnoticed.
THOROUGHLY NEGLECTED. HIS AFFAIRS
Agent Allowed to Run the Estate While tn
Duke Lived Loose.
RITlSH PUBLIC IGNORES THE TRUTH

copyrighted, 1895, by Press Publishing Company !
LONDON, May 1S.-(New York World Ca
blegram-Special Teegram.)-The late duke |
OF Hamilton had estates in four Scottish |
and English counties, comprising perhaps |
hundreds OF thousands Of acres and with a |
tenantry of probably 10000 souls or more. |
The power for good or i'll of a great country |
landlord over the happiness moral and physi- |
cal progress, and, in fact, almost every de- |
tail Of the daily life Of his tenants, is almost |
ilmitabe. To this vast responsibility there
succeeds today young man of 33, remote
cousin of the late nobleman. What are his
habits, his character his antecedents, his
views of life and of this responsibility and
the probable use he will make Of 1t, not only
In respect to his tenantry, but in his success
sion, also to his hereditary legislative duties,
are questions of obviously momentous i'm
portance to this realm. Yet not a single
London newspaper Of this morning tells us
anything more of this young man than
that he was born In 1862 and was once lieu
tenant In the royal navy. The great Times
gives two lines to him, the Telegraph four
Imagine an event Of this character occurring
with us, and how instantly and adequately
the New York World, for instance, would re-
spond to it's great Importance l have now
been reading carefully for nearly two years
all the leading English newspapers and can
Justly say that no newspaper in any town OF
10000 people in America is not, in point of
its character a mere news agent, better
than the best of the English dailies. l am
sure moreover, that the court reports Of
English journals do not more unclean scandal
than the worst of our newspapers. Filthy de-
tails are frequently given, which would never
be permitted in a newspaper with us.
ANYTHING BUT LOVABLE.
The character and habits of the late duke,
who for reasons given above, was as much
a publican as any politician Of the empire,
are certainly as proper subjects for legiti-
mate comment as of Rosebery or Balfour or
Gladstone, but, yet again, English news
paper Of this morning tells us anything more
of him than the details Of his titles and his
racing career. In fact, the story of his
wretched and useless life should be used to
point moral of the most Importance. He
seems to have had comprehension of his
duties or responsibilities. His reckless life
once brought him to the verge of bankruptcy.
which was averted only by the shrewdness
of his business agent, and his tenantry were
probably therefore the severest sufferers. He
had for years almost abandoned English So
ciety, stunned London and was only seen
occasionally at the Newmarket races or on
his yacht at Cowes. He was big, fat man
with the German strain of his mother
strongly in evidence, both in his manner
and dress Among many wild exploits of his
youth | am told he was concerned in a night
brol in the London Haymarket, which re-
suited in the death of policeman, Some
time since he developed symptoms of hear
disease and placed himself under a noted
specialist for the treatment OF corpulency, a!
no had chanPp a
prolonging his life was to reduce his weight
The doctor ordered him to stop all drinl
beyond a half pint of wine, whereas the duk,
had bsen accustomed to take seven eigh
bottles of the finest claret daily. He coulC
not stand the specialists regimen and re
verted, after few weeks OF abstinence, to hi
former habits, resulting in a renewed acut
attack OF gout which went to the heart anC
killed him. He lived of late years almos
wholly on board his steam yacht, the Thistle
In his young days he created considerable
scandal by taking Cora Pearl, one OF tn
most notorious cocottes of the century, on
yachting cruise around the world. He name
one OF his race horses for another noted co
cote.
ONE CLAIM ON HISTORY.
His chief claim for history, indeed, is tina
Marie Bashkertseff fell in love with. him a
Nice and frequently mentioned her passio
In her famous diary, He was married
daughter Of the present duchess Of Devon
shire, but it is common knowledge that tn
union was an unhappy one. When the duk
of Manchester, his father-in-aw, died. tn
duchess arrived just as he had breathed hi
sast, and her daughter the duchess of Ham
ilton, has now had the same unhappy expert
ence and she had only time to join her hus
band before his death. The duke of Hamil
ton was a noted gourmand and the stor
goes in London society that he and Mr.. Wi
son, the husband of a sister Of the duke
Fife, who was divorced from her husband
Mr. Adrian Hopes, were wont to sit dow
together to a roast sucking pig and larg
suet pudding, both Of which they invarabl
finished. The duke of Hamilton was a mis-
cradle man and was given to lamenting tina
though he had six palaces, he had no hom
His sister was married in 1869 to the prime
OF Monaco, but in 1880 the pope annulled th
marriage on the ground that it was procure
by duress by the agency of the Empires
Eugene. The duke of Hamilton had squar
der5d as much Of his fortune as he coul
control, and some years ago disposed OF II
Hamilton palace collection, one of the mo,
magnificent private collections in the wor
to meet his extravagant expenditures TT
famous Breckford library indeed, went
Germany Such is the career Of this ma
of vast responsibilities, of which even the rad
cal journals Of this morning tell none Of 4
upsavory details and of whom leading new
papers speak as this amiable and Il
mented nobleman."
CHAMBERLAIN MADE A MESS OF L
The English political situation at this M
ment is peculiar. The government majorit
by the loss Of Walworth is reduced to min
and under ordinary circumstances II would
the obvious policy of the opposition to briI
forward vote OF censure and thus enforce
dissolution. but the opposition is paralyz,
by acute differences in its own ranks b
tween Chamberlain and the old tories. al
they eabnot face. a general election in Il
present condition CT things. Chamberlain