St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-11-05
FREAKS OF A DUKE.
Queer DeinEs Of = NobleAan WAs
Lived Under Guard and Never
spoke 10 Anyone.

In view of the general state Of thing
by which the present duke Of Portlane
is made 10 sit unsteadily in his cor
oneted chair, some facts concerning
the dukedom Of Portland may not b,
uniEteresting to you. The presen
duke is a man as other men are, with
out any of the peculiarities and eccen
tricities which the name Of the lat,
owner of the Protland estate calls t
mind.
Among these peculiar fancies which
inhabited the brain Of the late duke
one was to have an underground tun
mel passing to various parts OF thu
park. In this passage there were
rooms and banqueting halls, SO that
for weeks at time the strange owner
would never be seen in the light oil
day. Hundreds Of laborers were EN-
ployed on the estate. They were paid
good wages to do their work. and
their lot was an easy one. But one
thing was imposed on them.
Any man who spoke to the duke q
even touched his hat to him was in.
stantly discharged. The village doc.
tor and the village parson were under
the same orders. Any Of his tenants
who met his grace while out were to
"pass him as they would a tree" &C.
cording to the old record of the life
Of one of England's richest men of his
time. He took great interest in the
work carried out on the estate, and
there always was something new on
hand. If anything displeased him his
measures were prompt and severe. A
house that did not meet with his ap-
proval when it had been built was
pulled down in night, and fresh plans
prepared.
His mode of living was BETTING the
curious mental state of the man. a
few rooms Of the magnificent abbey
only were furnished, and these sparse
~ and poorly. There were no carpets
on the floors, which were all covered
with mating.
The dress of this curious duke was
as odd as his mode of life. He al
ways bought his clothes in sets, three
coats, 12 pairs of trousers, so sets of
underlinen. The three coats had to
be of different sizes, the first to fit
him, the next to be little larger than
the first, and the third to be larger
than the second. This was to accord
with the changes Of temperature. On
a hot day he wore one coat, in spring
and autumn he wore two, and in win
ter he wore three. In exceedingly cold
weather he came to his overcoats.
There were three Of these, too, and
he wore them in the same peculiar
manner. The dukes frock coats were
of merino, and in the manufacture
they had not to differ in the slightest
degree save by the color Of the tabs
by which they were hung up.
His clothes never fitted, but the
tailor's business was not to fit the
duke, but to make his clothes the same
as they were before. He once sent
back ~ pairs Of trousers because they
weighed an ounce and a half more
than the trousers of the years before
Another popularity was, he would
never carry dirty money. Every morn
ing the under butler had to polish the
dukes money SO that it should be as
new from the mint. He once fancied
a peculiar shade of cloth, and after
weary searching his tailor confessed
he had none. Thereupon the duke or.
dercd him to 60 to a manufacturer an6
have the correct shade -made.-Phila-
delphia Ledger.