The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-09-02
LAn0IfISE DIE EONTENOY.

|
| putting TO the Duke OF the
| Abruzzi decentralization to wed
! Miss Elkins, and alleging that
| he has been pursuing her all over
| Europe, is extremely amusing TO those
who are aware that lie mas not seen
Miss Elkins or her mother since they
sailed for Europe In the early summer,
and that his attentions have been
bestowed, not in one, but In two en-
| tirely different quarters. Both of
| them are well known. One OF them is
| a lady of the Venetian aristocracy. the
other a woman connected with the
stage. and he has been so much
wrapped up in one or the other OF
these fair ones, and 50 much in their
company. that he has had no time
TO think of or to see. any one else
There is no more likelihood or pos
sibility of a marriage between Miss
than there was before he made his
ascension of the Himalayas, nor is
there word of truth In the fantastic
tales OF the duke leaving Venice at
midnight three times a week. by au-
tomobile, for Toblach. in Austria, TO
spend an hour with Miss Elkins there,
returning to Venice by O'Clock IN
the morning. To begin With, the the t feai
a motorist as the duke; for Ioplach,
over 100 miles distant from Venice,
is 1000 feet up in the mountains addeh
TO which the Elkinses We're not any
Austria; moreover, Senator Elklns httn-
self has strenuously denied that any
meeting between his daughter and the
duke has taken place this summer.
while semi official denial has also
been issued by the Quirinal. OF any
project OF marriage.
Under the circumstances 1t seems q
pity that Miss Elkins's name should
fashion by every unscrupulous for
eign newspaper scribe who. In search
OF material for copy, draws upon his
Imagination.
Lady Guendoren Ramsden's death
for her sake. and for that of her
two sisters, the Ladies Jane Graham
and ulrica Thyme, that the twelfth
Duke Of Somerset, ponulariy known wv "a as
marriage to the lovely daughter OF
Thomas Sheridan. son Of Richard
Brinsley Sheridan), alienated all the UNI
eniailed property Of M, his r. hsi9rllS
dukedom leaving merely me , re,%1,srasd
entailed estates to his brothers ana
successors. That is why today the
Dukedom of Somerset is one or tne
| most impoverished of British. peerases.
The thirteenth duke was so Indignant
at this conduct on the part OF ms
elder brother, that he caused the con-
struction of what is known as tine
Somerset stone" consisting Of a tall
gether with a ponderous slab of the
same material on 1t are engraved
his name, titles. and armorial bearings.
along With the following extraordinary
| lines:
| THE twelfth was the Sheridan Duke.
,He defrauded and nearly ruined the
| Seymour family. This stone was pre-
pared by the thirteenth duke IN his
lifetime, and was erected here IN
pursuance of his express directions.
The rector of Berry Pomeroy Church a.
in the graveyard of which most OF the
Dukes and Duchesses of Somerset are
buried, however, refused to grant au
mission to the monument, although the
thirteenth duke had left fund Tor
its maintenance in perpetuity;. ana az &c,
| cordinGly the executors of his VIII
caused its erection in corner OF
field belonging to the entailed estates :.
near Tetnes, in Devonshire, where II
Is an object of numerous pilgrtmages.
| may add that the wife of the Sheri.
dan Duke figured as the queen OF
beauty in the historic tournament at
II gR he re eas If 9ut ths S saeS
II Lady Guendolen Ramsden and her
two sisters inherited all the unentailed
property Of the Dukedom Of Somerset: i:
sake, It was because their brother;
Lord Edward st. Maur, disappeared
|mysteriously during a shooting expe-
| dttton IN the limalayas, This TOOK
place in 1865, shortly after his return
|. from this country, where he had spent
!more than two years, first as an
,attache of the English Legation, then
HEADED by Lord Lyons, through whom
| he obtained q few months after his
arrival permission to go to the front
When he felt that he had seen, enough
OF the Union side. he managed, Mt a
| considerable risk, to get past !. the
Federal. and into the Confederate fines
by what was then known as "the
underground railroad" and to reach
| Richmond, Va. Where he was most
| courteously received by Jefferson
Davis. The latter gave q warm letter
| Of recommendation for. Lieutenant- Gem
eral Dick Taylor, who at first re-
ceived him with a good. deal OF sus-
p5'i IT'S sp ps his name as Ssf Maui
augurated by his father, the Sheridan
| Duke, but which led. the general to
regard him as an tmpostor ~.
Lord Edward was REPORTED 70 have
succIInbed to wounds sustained while
bear hunting In some remote portion
Of the HinaIayas in 1865. and to have
been buried near the scev or MS
death, 1t having been found lmpos-
sible TO bring his remains back 10
! Ilnglantl--hllt his only companions on
4 this shooting GXpedltion We're NATIVES,
| whose evidence is never resarded ~
laltpgether gelia nn4 w