The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1899-03-15
THE LUCK OF 4 HOUSE
A SUPERSTITION WHICH SEEMS TO
BE QUILT ON FACT.

Few persOna Who Erect Costly Man.
.ion. For Their own Use Ever Live
% occupy Thcm-If Not Death Then
Disn.tcr NHr~ the Doors.
An instance has recently occurred of
a we'll 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. il 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
| lien. on the Riviera. before he will con-
sent to occupy it himself or to permit
any member Of his family to cross its
threshold.
Lord Salisbury. however. has only to
look round him in London to find ample
grounds for the adoption Of such ex-
,raordinary and at first sight unneces-
sary precautions The completion OF
Lord Revelstokes palace in Charles
street conceded with the bankruptcy OF
the great firm Of Barring Bros. OF
which he was the principal. and it has
remained ever since AN exquisite monu
ment TO the futility Of human hopes and
ambition.
Mr.. Sanford had hardly finished re
building the exterior Of his magnificent
mansion in Carlton House terrace wher
the collapse Of Argentine securities oc
Cured, involving him in ruin and com
pelliny him TO dispose Of it to Mrs
Mackay. Of bonanza fame.
The Marquis de Santurce. having
purchased the neighboring house from
Lady Granville. spent fortune npoi
the reconstruction and adornment Q
the interior But before the work wa
completed he in turn was overtaken b.
the terrible disaster which befell tn
well known Anglo-Spanish banking
house Of Murrieta. Of which he was tn
. chief director. and he had no alterna
tive hut TO sell the house to Mr.. w. w
, Astor.
The downfall of Hudson. the railwa
king, occurred Mt the same time as tn
completion of the great house he WA
having built for himself ut the Alber
, gate entrance to Hyde park. while i
the same manner Baron Albert Gran
, witnessed the piecemeal sale OF the go'
, geous palace he had erected at kensin1
I ton. hut was never destined to occup!
9 This is why there are. comparativel!
50 few new mansions Of Il palatial chal
q acter either in London or the countly
I Persons possessed Of adequate meal
4 md in need of either town or countr
residence prefer AS rule to purcha'
g homes that have been lived in to bniit
= inc new ones. If they do any buildin
. mt all they. in general. cause 1t to tai
q the form Of additions to or alteration
n of editices no longer new.
J.. Even then the owners endeavor
!. safeguard themselves from the possibi
Il ity Of danger by letting their residence
for the express purpose. as they say
. France. Of "wiping the dust from 9
70 the plastered walls.
% Nowhere is this superstition mo
\ nowerful than in Bavaria. where mar
e Of the most picturesque spots especia
|, ~ in the mountainous districts. q
= adorned with fairylike palaces. None
them has been entirely completed, I
r. insanity and violent death overlook I
. militant and accomplished King Lu
wig. who conceived their design. b
! unfortunately perished before the
completion.
n Nor even have the builders OF maj