The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-27
IN A GRAVE HIDES THE SECRET OF kDUNDOM

watch and walt for his next appear
ance- Where he went and nat he
did. why he chose to hve h life of a
mole n cloak his movements In sub
terranean secrecy. were puzzles that
every one gave up trying to solve.
At his mansion in London the duke
was shut on from the world BY . high
wall that kept the structure from pry-
ing eyes. and made his doings there as
secret and mysterious as the Weibeck
life. -
In appearance the duke was as Pc
culiar as his actions. He sported an
immensely tall hat. n wore his. trou-
sers hitched up with string at the
knees. after the fashion in favor with
London pavvies. who. being accustom-
ed to padding around In mud and clay
during most of their working hours.
had some reason for the shortening OF
the neither garments
The duke. however, had an income
of 81. 500. 900 a year.. n that sum COW
ers a multitude of eccentricities. 20.
beyond an occasional story about some
new freak of fancy. the owner OF. We'll
through life IN comparative quiet.
On Dec. 6. 1879. he died and was bur-
led al Kensal Green. In his stead
there reigned owe WeIbeck Abbey and
the town mansion. and collected the
princely revenues. q young ofhcer OF
old duke.
BY and by the memory OF the dead
mans eccentric habits n UNDER
ground fancies were revived in q man.
ner that made the young duke trem-
bit for his hold on the estates to which
he had so suddenly and unexpected
ly succeeded. 1t came about In this
wise: A woman named Anna Maria
bruce. widow of the legitimate son OF
a T. c. bruce, who had kept a bazaar
in Baker street, London. near to the
Portland mansion. claimed the. estate
OF her father-in-law. which had been
left to an illegitimate son named Her
bert. In the unfolding of her claim
to the estate. Mrs. bruce told the
strange story that electrified England.
The grave of her father-in-law. T. G.
bruce. she said. would be found to
contain a coffin filled with lead pipe.
bruce was not dead. she claimed. at
the time this comm was buried. In
stead. he lived until the family grave
of the Dukedom of Portland opened to
receive him.. Her father-in-law and
the eccentric owner of Welbeck. she
solemnly asserted. were one and the
same person. Therefore. she claimed.
on behalf OF her son. Sidney George
bruce. a sailor boy in Australia. not
only the bruce fortune. due to him as
the son of Druce's legitimate son. but
the proud title OF Duke of Portland.
dE IIIN Dlto,AA Va nv ~
In support of her claim, her lawyers
assert that bruce, the Baker street
bazaar keeper, was seen after his al
legged death: that his place on Baker
street has been found to be honey
combed with underground passages
similar TO those that were constructed
by the duke at Welbeck, and that the
opening of the grave of bruce would
prove the assertion that lead pipe and
not human remains filled the cofin.
1t would be thought that the present
owner OF the bruce estate, Herbert, the
illegitimate son, would make no OPP
position to the opening of the grave IL
he believed that his fathers remains
bitterly fought against this exarnina-
ton OF the alleged domain of the dead.
and only now have the lawyers of Mrs.
bruce succeeded in obtaining an order
of the court allowing them to do so.
Another suspicious feature Is that the
certificate of death of T.. G. bruce
bears no medical signature. Nor has
there been produced a certificate of the
| birth of T. c. bruce. which. as the reg
| istration laws of England are very
| strict. must exist somewhere IL T. c.
bruce was really a separate PERSONAL
| ity and not the eccentric Duke OF Port
land, masuerading as a shopkeeper.
The opening of the bruce grave. a
step in the investigation OF her claims
that Mrs. bruce has desired and her
opponents fought against, will be the
next incident in the story.
Will II be found to contain a crum-
bling skeleton or lead pire?
ON the result of the investigation de-
pends the ownership OF England =
greatest dukedom and two fortunes.