The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-03-02

family came from. a house in Lon
don, an apartment in Paris. a place
in Florida and other residences. They
have a steam yacht and twenty auto
mobiles to help them in travelling
from place to place.
Miss Duke was presented this year
to King Edward at his court in Lon
don. She excited great admiration
and interest, both on account of her
beauty n her fortune. The advent
Of an heiress Of such magnitude is an
interesting event to a number of earls
and a few dukes. who want to keep
up the family dignity. Miss Duke is
a brunette, with a camelia-Iike com
plexion, an abundance of dark hair
and expressive Eyes.
She has made a great social success
in England. and has been invited to
many parties at the houses of the
aristocracy. A fine voice is among
her attractions, and she plays the
piano very we'll. The British are
well aware of the financial importance
Of Miss Duke. because her father and
uncle a spent millions and millions
in the work Of capturing the British
tobacco trade.
Miss Duke will appear long enough
to make her debut in New York. So
ciety this winter. The family has a
new house in the very centre Of the
section of Fifth Avenue now favored
by the. multi-mililonaires. It is on
the corner of Eighty-ninth~street and
Fifth avenu It is six and q half
stories high, Of Italian Renaissance
architecture, and has a facade Of 100
feet. The ground was formerly
owned by William B. Leeds. the tin
plate king who died recently. Among
he near neighbOrs of the Dukes are
Andrew Carnegie, Henry Phipps.
Games A Burden and Felix Mar
burg.
Late in the winter Miss Duke will
go to Egypt, n will also travel in
the southern parts Of Europe. The
Dukes keep separate sets Of French
automobiles of various sizes in Paris.
New York and North Carolina With
the chi kept in Paris they are
able to make an automobile tour. to
any part of Europe.
Motoring has given some unpleas-
ant as Well as pleasant moments to
the Duke family. Young Angler Duke
was shooting on the family estate in
North Carolina. when his gun ex-
ploded, injuring his right hand So
that it had to be amDutated. ttt;t rs
he was getting we'll he took an auto
mobile ride and was thrown out and
dangerously injured. In spite of this
he has not lost his enthusiasm for the
sport.
The growth OF the Duke fortune is
one Of the Aladdin's lamp Wonder Of
American commerce.. Old Washing
ton Duke. the grandfather of tho rich
est ~debutante, owned q 30O-acre farm
near Durham, n. C. At the end Of
the war he had literally not a cent,
and Sherman's army had passed over
his farm. Then he went to work and
grew tobacco. His son James B., had
| great energy as a salesman, and he
sold packets of the family tobacco all
over the country. He was tie first to
perceive that cigarettes We're coming
into favor in America. He was the
first to perceive that cigarettes were
coming into favor in America. He
| was the first to put them in cardboard
boxes. and the first to make them by
machinery. Finally he ~orGan'Zed The
American Tobacco Trust, of which the
Duke family owned so per cent. Of the
stock. It has been engineered through
Wall street by Thomas f. Ryan, and
it's securities and obligations, with
those of it's subsidiary corporations,
are now said to mount to $1,000 00,-.
600.
James 3. Duke recently married as
his second wife the widowed Mrs.
william H. Inman. Of Atlanta, Ga.
considered one OF the most beautiful
women in the South. While James t..
Duke has been the aggressive charac-
Ter in the Tobacco Trust, his brother
Pen'amin has a talent for taking care
Of the money and protecting the fam
lily interests.
What has become of the. calamity
howlers who have been predicting that
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