The San Francisco call., 1904-07-10
RTILD PALACE
ON SAND BED
Dixie and Duchess of Marl-
borough Find That a River
Runs Under Their Mansion
DISAPPOINTMENT GREAT
Trouble Might Have Been
avoided Had Not the Exca-
yatiOns Been Made So Deep
SPECIAL Dispatch to rhe Can.


LONDON. July s.-Despair has set
tz uQon the Duke ana Duchess OF
Thorough. Their beautiful London
home the ducal palace upon which
rney have spent 5000 coo and no end OF
ual-s. IS the source of their bitter dis
appointment. II is finished. the ma
tecrc pile occupying the whole OF one
small block, is absolutely completed
and to the smallest detail its furnish
.-es are perfection. Within a large re-
-l1ue of The most capable servants add
re last word OF comfort 10 the wealth
az luxury 10 be found there; but TO the
Mar.boroUghs all this is as nothing.
Pleasure IN their London home has de-
pa--ed. for they have just discovered
rhar hey built not upon & rock, but
.-s-za5-upOn the bed Of e river.
And INTO their home now that all is
finished. day by day and hour by hour,
cre5ps water. so persistenuy, so IN
lsaslngly that a pump must always be
used 10 stem its encrOaehments-
Eow bitter IS the disappointment OF
-re NarlborOughs none can really i'm
acne, for weeks and months were spent
securing the fashionable quarters In
London FOR a suitable site whereon
they could build their ducal palace.
last they obtained permission, backed
5y many thousands Of pounds. 10 pull
down the famous and fashionable
church in Curzon street so that they
u CHI erect under their own super
vision g modern mansion OF stupendous
luxury. There were drawbacks 10 the
ste from many points Of view; but
E hat could they do? II was the best
available. and no one ever thought Of
looking up the old physical Biographies
u the place
Nor was this startling discovery
made in time 10 save the palace or
when plans could have been altered.
The bitterest pill Of al comes in the
fact that this monsrrous trouble could
have al been avoided When a chapel
stood on the very spot where the MARI
borough palace is now erected no one
ever dreamt that & subterranean river
had once run its course beneath its
crypt and az its deepest foundations
there vas no sign II such a resistless
element. Had the same depth Of foun-
Gz-ion satisfied the MarlborOughs all
would have been we'll But il did not
TO economic space, 10 give greater
area OF state rooms, receptions, bed
rooms. etc. not one inch Of the pail
ace that appeared above the surface
o. The ground was % be given up for
tle accommodation Of servants Re
tai1ers there would be in plenty. but
these were 10 be accommodated else
where. AS il many another London
house the basement Of this ducal pal
ace in CErz0n street Is given over to
kitchens, etc. And then below these,
stil farther removed from the light
II day, comes another flOor. which is
divided up 10 form the bedrooms and
sittng-rOcms Of the dOmestics. Where
ordinary people have their cellars. in
their London home, the Marlboroughs
lodge their servants. And having dug
50 deeply into the earth. they have
touched not the bedrock, but an ever
moving stratum washed by the ebb and
fgw Of the rivers tide.
The free use OF the pump keeps the
water from rising, but the necessity
for The everlasting presence Of this use
ful instrument worries the American
Duchess and her Duke bitterly. for it
makes the house damp, threatens TO
weaken the foundations and is likely
70 introduce germs into the place.
Why they should have had the mis-
fortune 10 have pitched their tent upon
this very spot is beyond their cOmpre-
henslCn. for the site is not the most
desirable IN Mayfair.
The only really good outlook-that
upon the grounds OF the Wharncliffe
House Opposite-has perhaps suficed
for much. AS Wharncliffe House
stands well back from the road. the
gardens are only separated from the
Marlboroughs' palace by the width OF
CurzOn street itself. so il might almost
be their own. Last year, too, on the
death OF the owner, the house WAS
bought by no less a parsonage than
The Earl OF Crewe, so that the Duke
and Duchess Of Marlborough had for
opposite neighbors the Earl and Coun-
tess of Crewe, the latter being the
daughter OF the Earl Of Rosebery. But
now yet another disappointment for
the Aarlborougas. Within a year Of
their purchase Lord Crewe has put
nothcstion in the proper quarter that
ne VIII be glad TO dispose Of Wharn-
cline House Folks are asking Why"
Is IL that the deep foundations which
nave brought about such disaster 10
me Marlboroughs' house have upset
any others IN the neighborhOod?
II ls py no means a novel thing to
come upon the beds OF old rivers IN
LONDON for nowhere did SO many
sueafns, large and small, meet the
man rTer on its course TO the sea as
round and about where London now is
suDtefranean rivers now flowing under
me metropolis are utilized as sewers,
ana lhe EcgeEsre. which was a stream
q considerable dimensions, watcred
paris u Mayfair on its way to Join