The National tribune., 1907-12-05


Druce. a son of the late 7. c. Druce by
q second wife, and George Hollamby
Druce, a grandson OF said Di dee by
a first marriage. The fight is over the
will of the late Mr.. Druce, whose es-
tate included the now famous Baker
Street bazar, and the remarkable story
of the dual personality of this L. {.
Druce has brought into the drama the
present Duke of Portland and the
question of his immense estates. Tes-
timony proving that Druce and the &c
centric Duke were one and the same
is Silly being furnished in the case,
tho it is said that records exist prov
ing that at the time of the Duke of
Portland's birth T. c. Druce was then
a lad of Is, which would seem to settle
that question. The case has brought
Welbeck Abbey prominently before the
public, Who have been told much of
the underground tunnelling done by
the fifth Duke. 1t seems this nth Duke
of Portland spent $15,0O0,OO0 in con-
structing suite of subterranean apart
ments connected with Welbeck Abbey,
which run for Is miles underground
and include drawing rooms, bed rooms,
riding and shooting saloons, besides
one of the finest picture galleries in
Europe. The Duke kept 200 diggers
at work for many years who were led
blindfolded from the house and not
allowed to speak to each other, so the
story goes One of the tunnels is said
to have led to the Baker Street bazar,
run by T. c. Druce, now claimed to
have been no other than the Duke him
self. The present Duke has had these
underground rooms lighted by electrici-
ty and here the other evening, he and
his Duchess entertained the King and
Queen of Spain, and many members of
the nobility. The scheme of the ball
room was red and yellow, the Spanish
colors, and with the hundreds of cleo
tric lights, and the jewels of the
women, presented a fairyland appear
ance.
Dancing is said to be a special weak
ness of Gov. John Johnson, of Min
nesota. and no form of recreation
pleases him SO much as tripping the
light fantastic. He is immensely pop
ular in the ballroom too, for wherever
there is dancing going on, as he al
ways looks out for the wall flowers,
and instead of picking out the young,
pretty girls who have plenty of part
ners, usually selects some quiet, over
looked girl or older woman for his.
This fondness for an amusement,
which is supposed to be the special
property of the frivolous and light
minded rarely pleasurably INDUCED in
by a person of much brains or of seri-
Gus, thoughtful mind, is q very inter
esting side light on the character of
this man. The hard life of his youth,
the sorrows of his nome, would seem
to have been quite sufficient TO take
all lightness from his heels or heart.
Yet in spite of these joy killers, he
appears to have been always an emf
nently social being, developing along
the lines of purely human, homely &C.
tion. From his youth he has been
immensely popular with every one
with whom he has come in contact
and his honest liking for people has
been unmistakable. In appearance he
is far from handsome. Tall. and
slightly STOPPING, long armed and long
r legged, he is not the figure one would
expect to find in ballroom. His hair,
which is rather thin, is light brown
streaked with white. His ears are
large and his head is long and broad
in the back, his. forehead is deeply
lined, his nose long, his cheek bones
high, his jaw clean cut and long.
From out his face shines his deep blue
eyes, a beautiful, clear blue, and his
glance is kind, keen, and observant
Altho he was obliged to leave school
at the age of 13 to support his mother
and her younger children, he has been
an inveterate reader and is remarkably
well Informed on most subjects.
Miss Ellen Terry, the famous Eng
lish actress, who was associated with
Henry Irving on terms of the closes,
intimacy for about % years, says that
while it may not be true, she believes
it a fact that it was never any pleasure
to him to see the acting of other actors
or actresses.
He never betrayed the slightest in.
terest in those who shared with him
the honors of the stage, outside his OWL
company, and very seldom went TO see
anyone act, or if he did, did not speal
of it. AT least, that was Miss Terry:
experience, and it hardly seems posi-.
BILE that he could have avoided talking
over such matters with her had they
been on his mind. This curious in.
difference, or whatever it was. in Iry.
ing'S character was something She
could not understand in the least, hel
own enthusiastic, impulsive, generous
joyous temperament being SO different
OF course it was not jealousy on the
part of the great actor, as his own un.
equivocal successes would have placed
him above that had he been the ordi.
nary type of man and subject to such
very human but petty weaknesses
which he wasn't. Henry Irving was
so Miss Terry says, a great egoist
never a mean one, but an egost on &
big, grand scale. He was so absorbed il
his own achievement, so full of The
working out of his own stage charac
ters that he simply had no interes
left for anything or anybody else, along
the lines of his profession. Nothing
remained for appreciation of other:
after he got thru with himself. AnG
yet he was apparently unconscious o
his own greatness; it wasn't that. !;
was simply his absorbing interest il
his own work which drained him o.
further interest in the work of othel
actors or actresses. Irying's charac
ter was most simple in many respects
and like the great egoist that he was
was incapable of anything petty. III,
was a very grand gentleman of perfec
courtesy and manners always, Twin,
on plane above the majority of hi
fellow creatures and sure of his higf
place. He was not without heart
and had many warm friendships;
was simply toward those of his owl
profession, and toward them as artists
rather than men and women, that ht
selfishness or egoism made itself mos
manifest.
Andrew Carnegie, the well ll-knowl
Scotcl-American millionaire and phil
anthropist, is 20 years of age, and ap
parently quite as much of golf en-
thusiast as John Rockefeller. II
says he has no inner consciousness o
his 20 years, which shows that tn
machinery of his body must be in ex
cellent working order and in this re
spect, if no other, he is easily the env
OF many a young man. Mr.. Carnegi
is naturally an oDtimist as syery ma