Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-09-05

guished families, somewhat down at the
heel, to reassert their dignity. In other
cases, where they have not remade these
properties, they have added greatly to
their strength, and insured them against
u future dissolution. Large sums have,
less decently, financed meteoric careers of
dissipation.
The Letter fortune established Lord
Curzon's political standing, and made pos
sible his appointment as Viceroy of India.
The Prince of Monaco is one of the reign
ing potentates who has married an Amer
lean wife-Miss Alice fIeine of Louisiana.
Clara Ward, of Detroit, married into the
regning house of Chimay. Mrs. Huger
Pratt of New York married Prince Arsene
Karageorgevitch, of the reigning dynasty
of Servia.
Probably the most striking recent in
stance of the kind is the marriage of
Prince Miguel de Braganza to Miss Anita
Stewart of New York. His grandfather
was King of Portugal from 1928 to 1894,
and he himself is the pretender to the
Portuguese throne. This American prin-
cess is one of the heirs of the Rhinelanders,
a large land-holdng family of New York,
whose aggregate wealth is estimated at
from $5O,OOO,OOO to $lOO,OOO,OOO. Her
stepfather, James Henry Smith, provided
her with little extra pin-money in the
shape of a life income of $4,000.
Prince Miguel's royal relations evil
IDENTIFY regarded this marriage as settling
difficult problem, for they welcomed his
bride with extreme cordiality. Even
Emperor Francis Joseph, upholder of
the most antiquated etiquette in Europe,
unbent on this occasion. The royal
character of the marriage was evidenced
by the fact that the announcement was
made, not in the usual American way,
by the young woman's family. but by
the Austrian embassy in London. The
Emperor created Miss Stewart a princess
of the Austrian Empire, and was repre-
scented at the wedding.
Reports that have found their way
across the Atlantic in the past two years
Indicate that Miss Stewards fortune
is finding its appointed destiny. The
troubled situation in republican Portugal
gives rare opportunities for royalist
plotting, and already, the stories say,
American dollars are being used in at
tempts to establish once more the Bra
ganza regime. 1t is not impossible that,
by virtue of her American millions. this
American girl may some day be a queen.
However, we do not hear much in
this country of these royal marriages.
The great American fortunes that have
gone to prop up decaying baronial families
have attracted more attention. The Van
derbilt family has furnished two of the
most striking instances. When the Duke
of Marlborough married Miss Consuelo
Vanderbilt in 1895, o dowry of Sic, 0OO,O
crossed the ocean. Blenheim, the great
estate which the English people gave John
Churchill for his victories over the armies
of Louis XIV, easily absorbed this.
About fifty years ago, certain spend
thrift Marlborough had begun the task
of dissipating the family properties. By
1895 they had made remarkable Roadway.
Year by year the famous Blenheim paint
ings and art objects vanished into the
hands of the auctioneers; its tapestries
went, one by one, to money-lenders, until
the rooms stood gaunt and half furnished.
Large chunks of adjoining properties
were converted into cash. Blenheim itself