The Washington herald., 1913-01-17
Foreign Gossip.

The King and Queen of England. who
visited Welbeck Abbey the other day
were the guests of the Duke and Ouch .ss
OF Portland for several days many years
ago, as Prince and Princess OF Wales
Hence their present visit to Welbeck 1.
not their first. They were lodged In the
suite of state apartments in the Oxford
wing of the abbey.
Welbeck Abbey is a handsome battle.
mented house. and though the park
which extends over 900 acres, is not
particularly picturesque. the abbey is
well situated. II contains some good pic
lures, principally portraits, and a val
liable collection OF all kinds OF objects
dart One of the curiosities is a splen-
did metal clock. in which the Bentincks
packed their jewels when they came Ia
England with William of Orange. The
present Duchess of Portland has carried
out many improvements in excellent
taste, including the building of gallery
between the old part Of the house and
the new, which Is hung with superb old
prints. She has also laid out some
charming terrace gardens.
The late Duke OF Portland had an enor-
nous income. and was puzzled to know
how to spend it He wasted about a mil
lion sterling at Welbeck between 1855 and
1878. An underground road through the
park to the abbey, one mile and a half
In length, is said to have cost Es0.0o0:
an immense underground riding school.
400 feet by 1oS feet, ran away with $4,000.
and nearly as much was expended in
spelling the lake by banking il up with
brick walls. The suites of underground
rooms include an immense ballroom. a
billiard-room. picture gallery. and a
very large library. A year before the
dukes death four acres of ground HAD
been eXcavated on which a huge under
ground house was to have been built.
Stables and farm buildings Were erected
on gigantic scale. and there was an eN-
ercising ground under glass nearly a
mile in length. A walled kitchen garden.
thirty acres in extent. was laid out
(Which required fifty-five mem. with a
glazed wall a third OF a mile long. The
duke kept about 100 horses in the stables.
and fifty grooms and helpers were en-
oloyed. while there were eighty keepers.
Friend" from Philadelphia and Read
er" from Wilmington, Del. ask for de-
tailed description of the rulers engaged in
the Balkan-Ottoman war. Here 1t is:
On July I. 1857. the Grand Sobranje
unanimously elected Prince Ferdinand Of
Saxe-CoburgGoths. a grandson Cmater-
nally) of King Louis Philippe, to be their
prince. He was then twenty-six years
old and a Lieutenant in the Austrian
army, and succeeded Prince Alexander Of
Battenberg, who had been deposed. IN
deferred by the difficulties of the inter-
national situation and the distracted con-
dition of the country. he accepted the
crown. and was welcomed by the people
with whom he has since become popular.
In the spring of 1893 Prince Ferdinand
married Princess Marie-Louise OF Bour-
ID NIB ~ h<- III
two daughters. and died in 1899
During the thirty years of its existence
the principality made rapid and striking
progress. A strong sense of nationality
had grown up among the inhabitants. In
1908. when the Turkish army was engaged
elsewhere. Prince Ferdinand publicly pro-
claimed Bulgaria an independent king
dom. This declaration was read aloud
by the King in the Church of the Forty
Martyrs at Tarnovo, the ancient capital
of the Bulgarian Cars, and the follow
ing spring the independence of Bulgaria
was recognized by the powers. Last year
the Sobranje confirmed the title of King"
which Ferdinand had adopted.
Peter Karageorgevich, son Of Black
George, occupies the throne of Servia as
a consequence of the assassination of
King Alexander and Queen Draga on the
eNeHilS VI JUNE IL, lSVo- bOrn IN lSf4.
he was the son of Alexander Karageorge-
vich, and in 1883 he married Princess
Zorka, daughter OF King Nicholas, then
Bishop and Prince OF Montenegro. His
authority at first was nominal; the high
est administrative offices being occupied
by the regicides. All the powers tenn
porarily withdrew their representatives
from Belgrade. as a protest, but at the
of King Peter, in September,
1901. the European courts. except Eng
land, were officially represented II was
not until May, 1906, that diplomatic re.
atoms with Servia were resumed by Great
Britain.
In 1909 the Crown Prince George. who
had been the most outspoken leader of
the anti-Austrian party in 1908, was in
iuced to resign his right of succession
10 the throne. 1t was alleged that his
violence had caused the death of one
of his male servants, and that he was
partially insane. That Is a reputation
also shared by his father. the King, who
s described by his enemies as a coward