Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1899-03-18
THE LUCK OF HOUSE
A SUPERSTITION WHICH SEEMS TO
BE BUILT ON FACT.

well known man refusing for super
stitious reasons to live in a beautiful
house he had built until some one else
a perfect stranger, had occupied it for
some little time
If ever there has been superstition
that appears justified by solid fact and
precedent it is that which prevails
about the building of a house. Few
who erect costly mansions for their
own use ever live to occupy them. An
i'll fate seems to bar the doors of these
abodes upon which has been lavished so
much thought and money and hope.
Sometimes it is death and sometimes it
Is ruin that overtakes the owner.
So widespread and so powerful is this
strange superstition that one finds even
an intellectual man like Lord Salisbury
insisting on leasing to strangers for sew
eral months the beautiful home which
he has had erected for himself at Beau
lieu. on the Riviera. before he will con-
sent to occupy it himself or to permit
any member of his family to Cross it's
threshold.
Lord Salisbury, however, has only to
look raund him in London to find ample
grounds for the adoption of such ex
traordinary and at first sight unneces-
sary precautions The complexion of
Lord Revelstoke's palace in Charles
street conceded with the bankruptcy of
the great firm of Barring Bros, of
~-1Soh Lo v,-.,. Ara rrN;->pv;r,o7 OWL ~ l.,o
remained ever since an exquisite mona
nent to the futihty of human hopes and
ambition
Mr.. Sanford had hardly finished re
building the exterior Of his magnificent
mansion ia Carlton House terrace when
the collapse Of Argentine securities oc
CURED, involving him in ruin and COM
pe1ling him to dispose Of it to Mrs
Mackay, of ''Bonanza" farne.
The Marquis DE Santurce, having
purchased the neighboring house from
Lady Granville, spent fortune upon
the reconstruction and adjournment Of
the interior But before the work was
completed he in turn was overtaken by
the terrible disaster which befe9l the
well known Anglo Spanish banking
house Of Murrieta, of which he WAS the
chief director, and he had DO alterna-
tive but to sch the house to Mr, w "
Astor t',.....;..e 81,
The downfall of Hudson. the railway
king, occurred at the same time as the
completion Of the great house he was
having built for himself at the Albert
gate entrance to Hyde park, while in
the same manner Baron Albert Grant
witnessed the piecemeal sale Of the gor-
geous palace he had erected at Kensing-
ton, but was never destined to OCCUPY.
This is why there are, comparatively.
so few new mansions of palatial char
acter either in London OF the country.
Persons possessed OF adequate means
and in need Of either town or country
residence prefer as rule to purchase |
homes that have been lived in to build |
ing new ones, If they do any building |
at all they, in general, cause it to take |
the form of additions to or alterations !
IF edifices no longer new.
Even then the owners endeavor to |
safeguard themselves from the POSSIBLE |
ty Of danger by letting their residences
for the express purpose, as they say in
France, Of ''wiping the dust from off
the plastered walls.
Nowhere is this superstition more
powerful than in Bavaria, where many |
# the most picturesque spots, especial
Y in the mountainous districts, are
adorned with fairylike palaces. None Of
hem has been entirely completed, for
insanity and violent death overlook the
brilliant and accomplished King Lud-
Wig. who conceived their design, but
persisted before their
Nor even have the builders of many
f the splendid structures that adorn
he French metropolis been more fortu
tate. Thus M. jules Grevy had scarce
= completed the construction of his
ordly mansion in the Avenue d'Iena
when the scandaIous behavior of his
n-in-law Daniel Wilson, overwhelm-
d him with disgrace and compelled
i'm to resign the presidency Of the re-
'ub1ic amid perfect hurricane of pub
ic obloQuy.
The Empress Eugenie's only sister, j
he late Duchess of Alba, had not occu-
led the lovely palace erected for her
n the Champs Elysees more than few
months before she was seized with a
adden illness and died there in man
er so mysterious as to give rise to ru-
nors of foul play. The building was
ubsequently pulled down.
Another equally unlucky house is
hat now owned by the widow of the |
ate Baron Hirsch. Situated at the COZ
er of the Rue de 'Elysee and of the
venue Gabriel. it was erected by the
,uc de Mouchy. He had not occupied
he house more than few weeks before
was the scene of d daring burglary
hat covered its noble owner with ridi
ule Two months after, his daughter
led there SO suddenly and under such
TRANCE circumstances that the duchess
vould not consent to remain longer in
1ch an i'll omened house London
lail
Birds That Play.