Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-05
Grim Old Storehouse of Money and
Romance.
TIE ECCENTRICITIES OF ITS FOUNDER
His Granddaughter is Now the
Baroness Burdett-Coutts.
HER HUSBAND 4 YOUNG NJ AN
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence Of Inc Evening Slaf
LONDON. December %. 1899.
No. 10 Strand is from the outside.
blank. gloomy and insignificant building.
perhaps the most ordinary in the whole
length of that undignihed thoroughfare.
The bare grimy bricks of the three upper
stories are broken only by small plain
windows, while stone faCingS around the
arched doorway and windows of the ground
floor do not tighten the general effect or pre-
tend to even the slightest architectural
merit. The building stands back a few
inches within iron railing. and the four
distinct rOOf-!evelS suggest that it once
consisted of four ordinary terrace houses.
No outer sign marks this as one of the
worlds greatest treasures. NJ pilgrims
eyes rests upon this grave of old romance.
Cold, mysteriously dull, unapprOachable
amid the light ana bustle Of Lnndons CEN
ira, thoruughfare Il baronial castle in
the shires, probably not one passer-hy in a
thousand knows what or whose it is; and
not one in a hundred thousand knows that
its records are exceptional even among the
most romantic records of British family
history. Some times Il grand carriage draws
up at the single entrance. and commits
sicnaire helps Il yelled lady or a bowed
gentleman-evidently of the haut monde
across the narrow pavement: the tiny hall
swallows them up. and again there is no
sign of life. The wind of the desert is no
less to the Sphinx than the perturbations
of the street to CGutts' Bank.
Inside the building however. impressions
are corrected and enlarged. Though IT
does not compare with great modern cree
lions ii has a distinct dignity of its OWL.
The oldest part of the house. of which
Lord Salisbury is ground landlord. runs
only short way back from the Strand
frontage; but many structurally irregular
additions have been made tone building
taken in being chapel. so that the whole
of a peninsula. bounded by the Adelphi al
the rear and by William street and God
dard street on the sides. is occupied. a
bridge. fer the making of which IA special
act of parliament had to be obtained. runs
across Goddard street to an annex. These
approaches give easy access to the
long range of strong rooms of the bank,
which are nearly all the ground Level.
Some curious stories are atioat as to tne
contents of these Strong rooms. According
to one. there is nailed up million-pcund
note; according to another. there are still
boarded there quantities of jewels and
other trca sures sent over by French noble
families during the revolutionary times.
and now never likely TO be claimed. The
courteous manager throws cut skepticai
warnings about all such stories: but pre-
else informa lion is not obiainable.
The original entrance to the bank. now
closed. is tiny hall, like thai of small
villa. leading on to d narrow staircase. This
stands just ii has done for we'll over
century past. and the guide points out that
the stone steps are much worn on the under
side so that they must have had history
even before they echoed To the feet OF
Thomas CouttS. Getty Sparkey and then
aristOcratic visitors. The iron ard TahoS-
any banisters are now very quaint. The
rear room on the first floor was the draw
ing room in these dashing days, and the
fine Chinese paper. still In excellent condi-
ton was given to Thomas COutts in 1880 by
Lord MacCartney on his return from the
first European embassy to China. The
1yi,,,r h. .,,,I ROC
the family dining room. Both rooms have
handsome marble mantelpieceS.
The Underground Premises.
Even more curious are the underground
extensions IF the premises. The cellars ruI
far back toward the Thames by lower ant
lower levels. till depth of about thirty V,
feet below the Strand-or Il trifie below tn
level of the Thames embankment-is reach
ed. What a place for conspiraces in tn
olden time! regiment might be hiddel
safely in these grim vaults. which mus
sometimes have been flooded before TIL
embankment was built. The lowest celia
Of all seems t. have been used as la I'm
dry and domestic brew house. In the mex
above this Thomas COutts original mansi
is preserved as a precious relic. Then. nigh
er still. and just below the Strand 'eve
there is the old kitchen. Somewhere nea
there is the mouth Of an ancient well, whicl
is said To- have drawn its supplies fror
strata on the other side of the river.
But it Is the personal associa ions o
Coutts' Bank which make its chief inter
est The Cuutts ancestry runs into he far
back annals of Celtic Scotland having con
nections in many noble families TnTuGS
the seventeenth and eighteenth ccntUri2
they stand out prominently as merchants
John Coutts. the founder of the banhn
house-it was the first private bank il
Scotland-became lord provost of Edin
burgh. His first partner was Thomas Hall