The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-03-15
the thousands and one questions which

the thousands and one questions which
have to be settled.
First OF all came the question of the
robes to be worn by the king and queen,
as well as by the peers and peeresses. 1t
was matter in which precedent" had to
be followed absolutely and full many a
dusty authority had to be taken down from
the shelf and consulted before 1T could be
said exactly what precedent demanded.
After the duke had decided how lorg
each train should be, and settled every
one of the vexed questions of displays of
ermine and construction of coronets, he
had models made Of all the robes and in
vited fashionable dressmakers in to see
them. He told them they were at liberty
to use measures and pencils and even to
employ artists, to be sure of every detail:
but that If their productions were not IN
accordance with the models. they would
not be approved and could not be worn
in Westminster Abbey. Having thus, per-
haps for the first time in his life. per-
mitted himself to become absorbed by the
pros and cons of matter of raiment, the
duke turned his attention to the arrange
ments in the abbey. With miniature
plan of the venerable building, like that
OF theater, to aid him, the nobleman
is deciding where every peer and mar,
chioness shall be seated where the boxes
for the foreign ambassadors shall be
placed, and, above all, how on earth
every one whose rank entities him to see
the coronation Is to be accommodated and
yet leave sufficient space to admit of the
stately passage Of the coronation process
sion. Meanwhile his secretaries are
struggling with the masses Of applications
for admission to the abbey which every
mail brings. No peer can enter West
minister Abbey without ticket counter
signed by the Duke Of Norfolk, and any
nobleman who finds himself unable to at
tend the coronation must obtain from the
duke license excusing him therefrom.
The Duke Of Norfolk is the richest and
most prominent Roman Catholic in Eng
land, yet he will have to stand by and
hear his religion specifically denounced
by the king in the coronation oath. He
was an efficient postmaster general and
endeared himself to the ''man IN the
street" by resigning that position when
the TraNsvaal war broke out and going
achieve much at the front, but that WASH
his fault
Although he is almost as famous for
his heartiness and good cheer as for ms
shocking bad taste IN clothes, the great
est Of English noblemen has had trouble
enough to make misanthropc or most
men,, He idolized his beautiful wife, who
died! soon after their marriage, and his
only son is so i'll both in body and mind,
that only the most constant care on the
part Of his father and one of his aunts
keeps him alive.
according to wel1-vouched-for stories,
the Duke of Norfolk has been mistaken
On board of his yacht for one of his sail
sors, and times without number, while
tramping over his broad acres, for one OF
his help" but the best of all these vera
cious anecdotes is that which relates his
grace's encounter with one of the sisters
at a convent where he had gone, as re-
quested, to distribute some prizes. Inc
retreat was not a long ways from Arundel,
so the duke, seedy as ever, walked over
and, on entering the grounds, was con-
fronted by the porteress.r The nun, VINO
had never seen the duke before, surveyed
the shabby nobleman from head to foot
and then remarked:
my good man, you ought to know that
we do not distribute relief on such day
as this" 49,.
! "Quite so, sister," replied the duke
| "but you do distribute prizes. and have
come to distribute them for YOU"