Evening star., 1908-01-18

nave remarked Wflen OlSfTlSSlHS the pc
tition, Il have made, the judges lords,
but will not make the jades ladies'"
1t is good news. if it is true, as has
been stated in more than one quarter.
that the late Mr.. Alfred Belts house in
Park Lane is, like Hertford house in Man
chester Square, to be bestowed upon Lon
don, and. through London. upon the coun-
try, for the purposes of an art gallery.
The house is one of the most magnifi-
cent of the many magnificent residences
which adorn Park Lane and its immediate
neighborhood, and cost Mr. Belt what. to
anybody else than ti-millionaire
would have seemed a fabulous sum.
story which found its way into print at
the time of the South African magnate's
death Will serve as an indication of the
money which he lavished on the house.
The ground landlord was the late Duke
of Westminster whose agent. in the
course of the negotiations with Mr.. Belt.
1ntfmated that his grace expected that
sum of at least e1OOOo would be scent
on the house. Tell his grace was the
brief reply. that / intend to spend more
than that on the stables" This was not
a boast for Mr.. Belt never made vul-
gar parade of his great wealth, but a
mere statement of fact
The nation is already the richer through
Mr.. Belts generosity. Some years ago
1Hc -NdtloIldl Idllert received beGueSt
from lady which included Lady Cock
burn and Her Children. :" one of the mas
terpieces of Sir Joshua Reynolds. It was
discovered subsequently, that the lady had
no power to beoueath these pictures as
she had only a life interest in them The
trustees of the gallery had to yield them
up. and the Lady Cockburn' was bought
privately by Mr.. Belt for 922OOO. But
under the terms of his will this particu-
lar picture was returned to the Nationa'
ia
gems OF the English school of painting
It would be quite in harmony with Mr.
Belts generous traits If his trustees now
handed over his residence to the COM
munity, to be put to artistic uses.
X
Another mansion of the aristocracy has
found n new owner This is Iwerne Min
ster, the quantity albeit prettily named
seat of Lord WoIverton in Wessex
Inverness new owner is Mr.. Ismay of the
White Star line. On 1werne Lord VOL
verton's family have spent enormous
sums. and though it is one of the finest
places in the west country Lord and
Lady Wolverton have never cared much
TOR It, preferring the neighborhood of
Newmarket Lord Wolverton is enor-
mously rich. He is the chief partner In
Glyn. Mills, Currie & Co, the biggest pr-
vate bank in the world, and where the
clerks are said to receive better salaries
than In any other bank in the city
The present peers grandfather was a
great friend of Mr.. Gladstone the Glyns
1ord Wolverton's family name) being
connected with the Glynnes Mrs Glad
stones family This Lord Wolverton was
also great liberal He served as post
master general. Signalling his reign at
st. Martin s-la-Grand by devoting his sal
airy of 92,JOO year to charities and in
stitutions connected with the post office.
When he died he left an enormous for
tune which showed that he at least was
superior to the enoluments of office The
present Lord Woiverton is an ardent turf
tie. His horses are trained in the king:
stable. but SO far he has not had royal
luck on the turf.
X
If Mr.. II. G. Folger of the Standard
Oil Company turns out to be the pur-
chaser of the twenty-eight Shakespeare
uuartos belonging to Earl Howe. at
f2.O25. he will add to already consid-
cradle achievements of this kind /
understand that during the last few
years Mr.. Folger has acquired no fewer
than eight copies of the first folio,
which is a record number for any pri-
vate collector. He secured the Lacey
copy. which made G3S5 in 1903; that
which belonged to the Rev r. II Rob-
erts. sold in 1903 for ESQ: that from
the library of w. G.. Thorpe of Middle
Temple, which made f1S1 in 1904 and
two examples from Scottish libraries
One is the folio that belonged to Sir
Thomas Dawson Brodie, which IN 1904
made e455. or nearly five times as
much as it cost Sir Thomas: the other
is that of the late Mr.. John Scott of
Halkshill. which made E25j in April
1906 In addition. Nos. 112 and 40 are
in Mr.. Folger's possession. 1t will be
seen how swiftly the first folios are
passing across the Atlantic.
A Gentleman Servants club figures
In Thackeray Whether any institution
of the kind ever really existed 1 am
not sure, but it has now come into
actual being. The Hope Club" ex-
clusively for men servants has just
been opened. It. as well as the Con-
naught Club, is located in fine block
of buildings at Connaught House. near
the marble arch. It owes it's existence
to Lady Hope, who first started it in a
small way; but it now possesses all the
conveniences of great club, with 200
bedrooms attached. When "Jeames."
therefore. Is out of work. or wants to
have a little social enjoyment he has
fine club to go to. The Connaught
Club is mainly intended for the young
men in business who want decent
place to live at moderate prices.
L. H. MOORE.