The Saint Paul globe., 1904-06-05

n
tied upon the Duke and Duchess
of Marlborough. Their beautiful Lon
don home, the dueal palace upon which
they have spent $4,000, 900 and no end
of pains, is the source of their bitter
disappointment. 1t is finished. the ma
jestic pile occupying the whole of one
small block is absolutely completed,
and to the smallest detail its furnish
ings are perfection. Within, a large
retinue Of the most capable servants
add the last word of comfort to the
wealth of luxury there to be found,
but to the Mariboroughs all this is as
nothing. Pleasure In their London
home has departed, for they have just
discovered that they built not upon a
rock, but instead-upon the bed of q
river.
And into their home, now that all is
finished, day by day and hour by
hour, creeps water, so persistently, so
increasingly, that pump must always
be used to stem its encroachments.
How bitter is the disappointment of
the Marlboroughs none can really i'm
ag1le, for weeks and months were
spent securing the fashionable quarters
In London for a suitable site whereupon
they could build their ducal palace.
And it was no easy victory, when at
last they obtained permission, backed
by many thousands of pounds, to pull.
down the famous and fashionable
church in Curzon street SO that they
might erect, under their own super
vision, modern mansion Of stupen-
dous luxury There were drawbacks
to the site from many points of view,
Dut what could they do? 1t was the
best available, and no one ever thought
of looking UP the old physical geogra-
phies of the place.
Nor was this startling discovery
made in time to save the palace or
when the plans could have been alter
ed. The bitterest pill of all comes in
the fact that this monstrous trouble
could all have been avoided. When a
chapel stood on the very spot where
the Marlborough's palace is now erect
ed no one ever dreamt that a subter-
ranean river had once run its course
beneath It's crypt, and at its deepest
foundation there was no sign of such a
res1StIeSs element. Had the same depth
OF foundation satisfied the Maribor-
oughS all would have been we'll But 1T
did not. To economic space. 10 give
greater area to state rooms, receptions.
bedrooms, etc., not one inch Of the pal
ace that appeared above the surface
or the ground was to be given up for
the accommodation of servants. Re-
ta1ners there would be in plenty, but
these were to be accommodated else
where. AS in many another London
house, the basement of this ducal pal
ace IN CurZOn street is given over to
kitchens, etc. And then below these,
still further removed from the light of
Gay comes another floor, which is di-
Ir7 7nH krNtE 4 4
ting rooms of the domeStcS. Where
ordinary people have their cellars. in
their London home, the Marlboroughs
lodge their servants. And having dug
so deeply into the earth, they have
touched not the bedrock, but an ever
moving strata washed by the ebb and
flow of a rivers tide
The free use of the pump keeps the
water from rising, but the necessity
Tor the everlasting presence Of this
uSefW instrument worries the Ameri-
can duchess and her duke bitterly, for
1t makes the house damp, threatens to
weaken the foundations and is likely to
introduce germs into the place.
Why they should have had the mis-
fortune to have pitched their tent upon
this very spot is beyond their COM
prehenSion, for the site is not the most
desirable in Mayfair
The only really good outlook-that
upon the gardens Of Wharncliffe house
opposite, has perhaps sufficed for
much. As Wharncliffe house stands
we'll back from the road, the gardens
are only separated from the Marlbor=
ough palace by the width of Curzon
street itself, SO it might almost be their
own. Last year, too, on the death Of
the owner the house was bought by
no less parsonage than the Earl Of
Crewe so that the Duke and Duchess
I, Il
bors the Earl and Countess of Crewe
the latter being the daughter of the
Earl of Rosebery. But now yet an
other disappointment for Marlbor-
oughS. Within a year of their pur-
chase, Lord Crewe has put a notifica-
ton in the proper quarter that he will
be glad to dispose of Wharncliffe
that the deep foundations which have
brought about such disaster to the
Marlborough house have upset any
others in the neighborhood?
1t is by no means a novel thing to
come upon the beds of old rivers in
London, for nowhere did so many
streams, large and small, meet the
main river on its course to the sea as
around and about where London now
is. Subterranean rivers now flowing
under the metropolis are utilized as
sewers, and the Edgware, which was a
stream of considerable dimensions, wa
tered parts of Mayfair on it's way to
join Father Thames.
Lady Curzon is the latest of the
American society women in London to
take to motoring. She has been whiz-
zing about from Deal to the other sea-
side places in the vicinity of Walmer
castle (of which her husband Is now
MASTERY during the past week, and
exploring all the interesting Spots It
was only on the advice Of her physi-
clan that she rejected cycling for mo-
toring. Since the birth of her latest
baby she has been in a delicate state
of health, and it was explained to her
that the exerrion of cycling would have
to be abandoned for some time. She
loved her brougham and horses and
maintained that If the cycle was to
have rest they would supply all she
wanted in the way of outdoor exercise.
But her mother insisted that she must
be in the fashion and straightway pro-
vided her with a car at her own ex-
pense. 1t cost $4,000 and is one Of
the most luxurious vehicles in Lon
don. 1t is capable of maintaining a
speed of twenty-five miles an hour
and can seat four persons comfortably
in addition to a chauffeur Her lady
ship has not yet mastered the intri-
cacies of the machinery sufficiently to
justify her in driving the car herself,
but she is taking lessons and it is pre-
sumed that she will be an accomplished
driver by the time Lord Curzon reaches
L. 49,