The Washington herald., 1913-06-09
Ccourieht, 1913, b. A. D. J,con.on.,

The Civil Tribune OF the Seine has
granted a divorce to Baroness Vaughan,
the morganatic wife of the late King
Leopold of the Belgians. who married
NJ. Emil Durrieux in August. 1910. She
started divorce proceedings in 1911, but
after some time withdrew her suit Re-
Gently she lodged new suit.
Baroness Vaughan is only thirty-one
years of age. and is described as wom-
an of unusual beauty. She is of humble
origin and at one time studied with
view to going upon the stage. Her first
husband is said to have been a gar
dener in the service of King Leopold.
II was in 1900 that the King first met
her, and she accompanied him, at his
invitation, to Germany and to the South
of France. He created her Baroness
| in 1905.
There have been strange stories of her
marriage to King Leopold. one being
that the couple were driven in a motor
car to a little Franciscan chapel near
the Italian frontier and that the cere-
mony took place there. The general be-
! lief, however, Is that II took place at
| Iaeken, the Kings summer palace, near
Brussels. during his last illness.
King Leopold supplied her with a
| sumptuous villa on the Riviera. and left
her an enormous fortune, consisting for
the most part of Congo securities and the
famous Niederfuldbach foundation. all OF
which led to protracted litigation. The
rea son assigned by the baroness for mar
rying Durrieux was that he had con-
| scented to be a legal father to her two
sons by the late King.
The late Mr.. Pierpont Morgan left
among his vast collection of unique arti-
cles the only perfect copy in existence
OF Cations "Morte d'Arthur." 1t Is one
Of the rarest books in the world. and fell
to the late millionaire at public sale
in London for the tremendous price OF
ss,560. That is to say. that every page
is worth about ESQ. Some years ago,
when the Antwerp Collection was sold at
auction. an American collector coveted
the First Folio Shakespeare. which was
included in the sale. His agent Travelled
5000 miles to secure the treasure, and
returned to the States with the great
book. But he left behind him the record
price, E3.600. In 1872 this book had
fetched eli les.
There is a story of the unearthing of
Caxton at Thorneck Hall, Lincolnshire,
The butler was intrusted with the work
of wedding out superfuous books. A per-
feet COPY of Dame Juliana Berner's
and sold to a peddler for ninepence. The
latter believed himself lucky when he
sold it to a Gainsborough chemist for
three shillings. II was soon sold to
bookseller for CO. and he sold il to
competitor for Ct. II was subsequently
acquired by Sir Thomas Granville for ESQ.
At the time of this transaction the work
was valued at eco and in 1852 perfect
copy changed hands for esq.
The most valuable r,rinted hook in the
world is the first ever issued from the
press-a Gutenberg Bible. But even in
those early days there were editions de
luxe" An ordinary paper copy, with
three leaves restored fetched S2,960
the last time II appeared on the market.
but at a recent sale a sensation was
caused by the inclusion OF a fine copy
on vellum printed by the first printer.
Dealers hurried like homing pigeons
from all quarters of the globe to view
this treasure, and also to bid for II. 1t
was finally secured by Sir Henry F.
Huntington. the greatest bookseller on
earth. for the record price OF $1,000.
] see that Mr. Winston Churchill has
become an elder brother of the Trim
ty House. Apparently there is no age
qualification for this dignity. A young
elder brother, with a restless and in
quiring mind like Mr.. Churchill might
find some useful openings for the re-
forming hand in this venerable institu-
ton. There are eleven honorary and
thirteen salaried elder brethren. Their
duties appear to be to take trips in their
official yacht: to empty their plates at
city banquets, and to make occasional
speeches.
The real work of Trinity House. which
consists of administering the coast bea-
cons, licensing the pilots, and looking
after certain marine charities. is carried
officials. The small dues collected from
shipowners maintain the ancient corpO-
ration, which explains the prolongation
of its anomalous existence. II its reve-
nue. had to be found by general taxa
ton. as in the case of other analogous
public services. the functions of Trinity
House would have long since passed into
the hands of the Board of Trade, and
the last elder brother would have long
since crossed the bar
The death of Dowager Lady Lichfield
leaves Lady Lansdowne and Lady Bland
ford as the only survivors of the numer-
Gus daughters of the first Duke and
Duchess of Abercorn. Lady Lichfleld.
who was the eldest child, was married in
1855 to the second Earl of Lichfield, whom
she survived more than twenty years.
She was a familiar figure among the
elite Of society during many seasons.
She was very popular in Staffordshire.
Snugborough was a most hospitable and