The herald., 1896-05-17

disposal of King Leopold of Belgium.
but the sum must have been a very large
one, since otherwise a man so delicate.
elegant and refined in his tastes and
manners could never have put up with
the Vulgarity and the boiSterouS famil-
iarity of such a person as Colonel
North. Thus, not content with receiving
the colonel with hOnOrS which can only
be described as royal, at his palace at
Brussels and at his marine residence at
Ostend, his majesty actually went to
the length some time ago of placing al
the disposal of his English friend his
most beautiful castle in the Ardennes
mountains, where the colonel was per-
mitted to entertain at the kings expense
a succession of shooting parties of his
city friends, men as vulgar and as noisy
as himself. OF course, it flattered Colo
mel North greatly to be able to show
his acquaintances in London that he was
on terms of sufficient intimacy with
full-fledged king to be able to use his
majesty's palaces as his own.
1t is stated that the colonel gave no
less than two million dollars for a sandy
beach extending several miles beyond
the royal residence at OStend, and which
at present lies waste, and only a few
weeks ago the Belgian papers contained
the record of the transfer of a large sec
ton of royal forest land in the Ardennes
mountains to Colonel North for a sum
of 100000. These purchases of land
had one reSult-namely, that of bringing
King Leopold to England as frequent
guest at his country house. In fact, the
colonel has acted during the last seven
months very much as if he owned the
king, who will be much embarrassed to
repay all the money advanced if called
upon by the executors? of the colonel to
do so.
A year ago Colonel North was invited
to Sandringham to stay with the prince
Of a1n h hainO NJ
William Waldorf Aston and Mr.. J. Rob-
inson, one of the South African million
aires. London society was considerably
staggered by this queer selection of
guests, since although the prince is very
liberal minded as regards his acquaint-
ances in town, he like most fast men, is
exceedingly particular as to the people
he invites to stay at Sandringham,
which is the home par excellence of the
princess and of her daughters. But So
ciety recovered from it's shock when its
attention was called to the fact that the
visit of Colonel North. of Mr. Aston and
of Mr.. Robinson was so timed as to hap
pen simultaneously with the annual sale
of the horses raised on the Sandrngham
stud farm, which is one of the princes
pet hobbies. The guests responded
properly, and the horses purchased by
the trio were bought at prices which
were declared by experts to be absolute
real value of the nags
1t most have been, however, a some-
what severe shock for the prince to
learn, as he did few weeks later, that
Colonel North attributed to his royal
highness his defeat as candidate for par
lament for the city of Leeds. In a
speech made from a platform in London,
and which was reported in all the pa
pers, he spoke as follows: L had an in
vite from the prince of Wales to go to
Sandrinsham during the two most i'm
portant days of the campaign. OF course
| had to go. | couldn't help myself.
Worse luck 1t made a big difference. J.
am certain that l should have got into
parliament if it hadn't been for that"
There is every reason to believe, how
ever, that ii the colonel had been elected
he would have been quickly unseated
for the electoral offense of treating
The amount of beer consumed in Leeds
at his expense during the three days
that interviewed between the commence
ment of the election and the final dec
laration of the result. surpassed even
that of ante-reform days, wine and spir-
it's and beer flowing like water. Hale
the city was intoxicated, the colonel
more so that any one else, and his con-
duct as we'll as his utterances We're of
such an eXtravagant character that his
opponent Mr.. Herbert Gladstone, after
the decision had been announced, felt
himself justified in declining to pay his
defeated opponent the customary cour-
tesies, or to honor him with any kind of
notice.
AS in the case Of Baron Hirsch, the
principal weakness of an otherwise
strong and remarkable character was
the craving for distinction in a socia!
way and for recognition by a society
which, blind to his very numerous mer-
it's. would not have him at any price
whatsoever. 1t was this weakness that
was played upon by many titled black
leg in London, and it is probable that
there have been few millionaires who
have ever been surrounded with a more
contemplate and unblushing crowd OF
aristocratic parasites than those who
helped to make up the court of the red
haired. red whiskered. red mustached
and redfaced nitrate king.-N. Y. Jour-
nal.
The Worlds Oldest Obeiisk
The oldest of all the obelisks, says
the Pail Mall Gazette, is the beautiful
one of rosy granite which stands alone
among the green fields on the banks