The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-03-20

special fOT6lSn service.
LONDON, March 19.-Here is a new
portrait of the Duchess of Bedfo4 i
which is especially interesting as the
first to whose publication she has given
her sanction. The prohibition which
her grace has heretofore placed on the
reproduction of her photograph is due
to her aversion to social notoriety of
almost any sort, though her position
and wealth place her in the first rank
of England's aristocracy
Certainly the duchess has no reason
to be shy of the camera, for she is un-
deniably very handsome woman, and
at thirty eight years of age her beauty
is still unimpaired. When she married
the opulent duke in 1888 her face was
her fortune, her father being the ven
cradle Archdeacon Tribe, late arch
deacon of Lahore, india, and it was in
India they were welded. But the duke,
whose rent roll, derived mainly from
the many acres he owns in the heart
of London, is hardly second to that of
the Duke of Westminster, England's
wealthiest nobleman, could we'll afford
the luxury of a love match.
1t is to her devotion to outdoor life
that the duchess owes her superb
health and the preservation of her
youthful charms. She has been called
England's premier sportswoman. So
cial functions she abhors Although
she has luxurious town house in Bel
grave square, London, it is at Woburn
abbey, in Bedfordshire, or in Scotland
that she prefers to dwell-ridiflg and
driving, hunting. shooting and fishing
remote from the artificial life Of So
ciety's drawing rooms.
She can shoot with the best and ply
her rod with the best, and yet in no
sense is she mannish woman. The
hardy gillie, on the bank of some dis
tant stream in the highlands marvels
at her skill and endurance in catching
the lordly salmon; the keepers and
heaters of game, when the guns are.
firing, are equally astonished at her
accuracy of aim and capacity for with
standing fatigue.
Wild animals are her pet hobby At
the magnificent Woburn estate, miles
In extent, with the aid of her husband,
and more particularly of the ducal
strong. box, her grace has stocked a
zoo that in extent and variety prob
ably exceeds that of any other private
specimens it contains are herd of
kangarooS bred by the duchess herself.
b1sons, buffaloes, zebras, llamas. In
dian blue cows, Manchurian deer,
Moufion sheep from Corsica and wild
asses from Persia. OF deer alone there
are no less than tllirty-five species.
AlligatorS, too, enjoy here a life of
luxurious ease, freed from the neces-
sity of foraging for an existence.
Swans of every known kind abound,
cranes, ibexes, famingoes, and great
variety of birds of brilliant plumage
from various parts of the world. Few
of the animals are confined in cages,
most of them roaming at will in large
Enclosures, where they lead, as far as
can be from their native habitats, a
natural existence. They have a much
better time of it than the animals
whose misfortune it is to be confined
within the cramped and crowded cages
of the London Geological society, of
Which the Duke of Bedford has long
been the presiding officer
Indeed, 1T has often been suggested
that If the duke showed as much de-
vot1on to the welfare of his tenants in
London as the duchess does to the oc-
eupants Of her zoo at Woburn, the sum
total of human happiness in the Me-
tropolis would be considerably increas-
ed. But that is a matter that concerns
the great landlord and not his duchess.
Besides the Woburn estate costs a
mint of money and the bulk of that
must be furnished by the London ten
ants. AT Woburn and Thorney, an
other of the ducal estates, nearly S.
100000 has been expended on what is
termed the reclamation of SOIL And
between them they contribute a mere
bagatelle of 100000 towards the an
nua1 ducal income. The duke shows
no intention of doing anything to "re-
claim his London property.
Of all animals the favorite of the
Duchess of Bedford is the horse, and
In their management good judges have
affirmed that she is without peer
among the English women, and drives