The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1911-06-07

A good many people are wondering
whether Queen Mary is going to merit
the sobriquet Of Mary the Tactless.
allied that her pet diversions, the
American dollar p~rincesses, were quite
capable of taking offense and packing
of with their money to some more
h%ospitable capitals, court circles have
made every effort to contradict the
persistent rumor that the queen is
anti-American. The belief, however,
has by no e a been shaken by the
appointments made in the readjust-
ment of the court and the distribution
Of social prizes in the shape Of coro-
nation appointments.
For instance, Queen Alexandra had
as n Of her coronation canopy bear
ers the young and charming Duchess
Of Marlborough, formerly Miss Con-
suelo Vanderbilt Of New York. Even
the dukes relations uphold her in her
differences with her husband. The
charities Of the duchess are such as
should commend her to a queen ap-
preciative of good works, yet Queen
Mary seemingly put a slight on Amer
leans by emitting the Marlborough
name from the list of her four canopy
bearers and reappointing the three
other duchesses who had oflciated at
Queen A~lexandra's coronation. In
| place of the Duchess Of Marlborough
the queen named the Duchess of Ham
ilton, a selection that has caused Eng
lish society to gasp with surprise, for
one of the other canopy bearers Is
also the Duchess Of Montrose. and the
ancient feud Of Hamilton and Mont
rose has been renewed. 1t came
about in this way: The late Duke of
Hamilton had only one child, a daugh-
ter, Lady Mary Douglas-H Hamilton, to
whom he was devoted. The heir to
the title, the present duke, vas a dis
tant kinsman. 1t was possible for the
duke to ALLEVIATE much of the Ham
ilton wealth from the estate, and when
he died he willed everything he could
to his daughter.
One of the Hamiltons' richest pos
sessions was the island Of Arran,
where they reigned as sovereigns.
Houses and lands, securities, art treas
ures. everything not enta1led was will
ed to Lady Mary by her father. so that
when the present, the thirteenth, duke
moved into Hamilton palace It's walls
were almost bare. The duke was un-
able to appear in society or even keep
up appearances until he married Miss
Nina Poore, an English heiress.
Neither the duke nor the duchess
have ever forgiven this alienation Of
the estate. and when Lady Mary Ham
ilton married the Marquis of Graham,
heir Of the Duke Of Montrose, the an
cient feud seemed to be about to be
revived. English society is large, and
hitherto the two proud Scottish Ouch
esses have been able to move like
stars, each in her separate orbit, but
their joint appointment as canopy bear
ers to the queen is drawing them to-
gether and in a II that cannot
fail to provoke questions of precedence,
in which neither is likely to yield.
The Hamiltons are the direct de-
scendants of the Douglas famous in
the days of Bruce, while the Montroses
descend from that Montrose who fell q
victim to the ~treachery Of the ''false
Argyll" The Argyll Of today happens
to be the queens uncle-in-law, husband
Of the kings aunt, Princess Louise
The house of Hamilton holds itself ir
no way inferior to royalty, having Of
ten intermarried with it and being
lineal descendants of the house OF
Stuart.