The Washington herald., 1914-01-04
London PUZZLED
BY MANS WEALTH
Source Of Mallaby-Deelys
Fortune Is Mystery to
Britishers.
A DEAL OF $15,000,O 900
Nothing Known Of Finaneier Before
Transfer Of Famous Block Of
City Property.
A DEAL OF $4,000, 900
4. "a Tn. yy..n;prtor Herald

Special Gable to The Washington Herald.
London. jan 3.-Mystery seems to en-
velop the personality of Mr.. Mallaby-
Deely, NJ. p, the purchaser of the World
famed London property of the Duke OF
Bedford in anI around Covent Garden.
No one appears to knov anything about
his wealth, its source or whether in the
present instance he is acting for himself
or in conjunction with others.
1t is only in a country like England
where so little curiosity is displayed even
about men Who apparently command mil
lions that such a state Of affairs is pos
sible. Although the papers are flooded
with articles on everything Mr.. Mallaby-
tDeely is known to have done. not one OF
them contains anything of a positive ma
ture concerning what everyone is dying
to know, namely, whence comes his ap-
parent command of literally fabulous
wealth.
Secret in the Family.
A man who can max. the biggest deal
as between two individuals on record is
certainly worth some trouble to place in
the financial world. But Mr.. Mallaby-
Deely is not a man who gives his story
away to the first bidder. and it Is not par
ticularly likely that his brother. Frank
Curzon, the popular theatrical manager.
will be the man from whom to learn the
estimated surl of something like ZOO, 900
and yet, until this last deal was an
nounced. his name was almost unknown.
Another strange phase of the affair Is
Mr.. MalIGbv-Deciy's object in buying so
costly an estate when, according to his
own statement. he has no Interior object
in so doing. He does not want to pull
down anything that exists. The property
was purchased merely as an investment.
81 nsrI-a nf padTa ard Ch
parted with so rich anc certain a rental
is another hard nut to crack The four
theaters on the estate, Covent Garden,
Drury Lane Strand. ant Aldwych, alone
brought him in $4,000 a year, to say
nothing of Covent Garden Market, the
numerous saloons and shops with which
the district is well supplied. The Britisher
is very easily put off and unless these
Questions are probed from some Ameri-
can source IL is more than probable the
world will never learn the true inward
ness of this colossal deal.
Two Historic Theaters.
An immense amount of public interest
centers around the sale of the Bedford
estate in Central London. seeing that the
two most historic theaters the nation pos
sesses are included in the sale. These
are Covent Garden and Drury Lane, re-
spectively rated at $4,000 and s2S,I5S.
Drury Lane. the Older theater Of the
two, was built in 1865 under a patent
granted h. Charles ii, the present build
ing datin~ from 1872. The present lease
was first obtained from the Duke of Bed
ford by that great imp-essario, Sir Au-
gustus Harris.
The names Of world-famed actors have
in the long history of this mammoth
theater been among the many lessees.
These include: Sir Richard Steele, Colly
Cibber, David Garrick, Richard Brinsley
Sheridan. John p. Kemble. w. c. Mac
ready, Edmund Falconer, F. B. Chatter
ton. and the late Sir Augustus Harris.
Arthur Collins is the present managing
director of the theater.
Formerly Monastery There.
1t was not until 1871 that the first Cow
ent Garden Theater was built by John
Rich. This ground and that occupied by
the market had formerly been covered
by a monastery with large gardens at
tached. This accounts for the name SO
long borne by this district which was
probably known as Convent" the French
for convent, in its early days, and was
later changed to "Covent."
Handel the great composer, was one
Of the first who produced opera in the
new house, and though his name has been
handed down to fame, he managed to go
bankrupt afte- a second season in 1743.
Some fifteen years later. Goldsmith's
.'Good-NatIred Man. was first produced,
and in 177S "She Stoops to Conquer" first
saw the light.
An epoch was reached when the in
Mrs Siddons made her first
bow to the public in 17s6, and though the
great theatcr has been burned down on
two or three occasions, 1t remains the
first nationa. opera house in the British
dominions.