The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1908-02-05

Elsewhere. He appears to have occu-
pied himself, perhaps with view to
insuring concealmant, with those enor.
nous underground works which are
the chief object of interest to all WIS.,
itors at Welbeck abbey,
The suggestion of the present claim
ant is that his grandfather. Thomas
Charles bruce, lived Il life with &C.
centric gaps corresponding with the
most minute fidelity With the Known
vagaries of the duke He attempts to
establish the identity of the two men
by witnesses with whom ! cannot deal
Ia the limits of this article. Old D.suce,
tie claimants grandfather, appeared
first in 1916 as a suitor to an heiress
OF great beauty in Bury ST. Edmunds.
This lady, Miss Crickmer, he married,
and for four years they resided togeth-
er and had a family of two children.
After four years, having dissipated her
fortune and being tired of a diapers
shop, he disappeared, leaving her and
her children in penury.
This is supposed to be the time when
the duke returned to the turf, and in
1885. when he again disappeared. hav-
ing acquired a considerable sum Of
money, |. c. bruce reviveS and appears
in London. He will have nothing to do
with his former wife beyond giving
her an allowance, but he provides for
his son and daughter and starts a new
life of commerce. Having disappeared
without penny in 1920, bruce has
100000, with which he opens the
Baker street bazaar and develops it
into a successful commercial enter
prise.
The years 1854 to 1864 are the most
interesting i'll the history of old bruce,
as they are in that of the duke. There
IS the same tale of his unapproacha-
BILE demeSnor, of mysterious disappear
ances, of elaborate DISCUSSES and very
untradesmaniike luxury. After the
death of his second wife he married
again, this time an Annie May, sup
posed to be the Annie May Berkeley
mentioned above, with whom he had
been living for years. By her he had
one illegitimate and one legitimate son,
Herbert bruce. Finally be died in
1864, leaving his very considerable
property to the second family.
The present claimant, George Hol-
lamby bruce, the eldest son of the ED.
est son of the first marriage. attempts
to prove that the supposed death of I
G. bruce in 1864 was a fictitious cere-
Nv he Jot n,,J-o
Portland to escape from the embar
easements of his double life and &C
quiesced in by his second family ow
ing to the bribe of the large property
devoIying by will in the shape of the
Baker street bazaar. The whole ques-
ton turns on the situation inside the
bruce vault at Highgate as TO whether !
the coffin there contains a body or -
roll of lead
Litigation thus far has been carried |
on by company which speculates on
the value of the bruce claims to prop
erty supposed to be worth E16,000,, |
600. An order was obtained from q !
civil court to search the grave. but this !
order was resisted by Herbert bruce !
as legal heir, and no power exists il |
to compel disturbance of 3
grave except in c2ses where criminal |
issues are involved
This IS the origin of the present pro /
ceedin%; which are carried forward F..
from Friday to Friday and may last
Tor weeks. The plaintiff is bringing a
charge of perjury against Herber!
Druce with the hope that if he can
establish a prina fGcie argument for
further investigation the magistrate
will order the opening Of the vault. II
Is a skfllfCl conversion of 4 civil issue
into criminal one. At present the
fresh evidence brought forward by the
prosecution is not very convincing. but
there seems so much genuine doubt as
to the chief faces in dispute that there
is some considerable part of the public
hoping that the mystery will be finally
settled by an order TO investigate the
condition of the grave. The case for /
the plaintiff has not so far been
during the present pro
ceedings, SO no one knows how 1t may
turn out. But it seems pretty widely i
acknowledged in the clubs that the
Of the present holders
Of the Portland estates, divided be-
tween Lord Howard de Walden and
the present duke, are by no means
free from uneasiness. There remains
a suspicion that, even IL nothing comes
Of the bruce claims, diving into tho
past life Of the fifth duke is a danger.
BUS pastime for his heirs.