Arizona republican., 1921-11-03

historic estates which have changed hands since the war: Pembroke. the cradle of the Tudors' where the first Tudor was born; Mineshade Abbey, in Northamptonshire, but partly of stone taken from the hall where Mary Queen of Scots were executed: St. Asyth's priory. in Essex, erected in the early part of the twelfth century: Abbey House, Abingdon. and the Sutton Courtenay Manor, where the first rent kick against profiteer- ing landlords was voiced by tenants; Quenby House in Leicestershire, where Stilton cheese was first made; the Stoke Park estate, home of John Penn, where the monument to the poet Gray was erected: Snowre Hall. where Charles I found asylum for a few days, probably the place de- scribed by Dumas in his D'Artang- nan romances; oldham Castle where David Bruce was taken prisoner in 1346; and the old Castle of Sken- firth.
 The Duke of Devonshire recently sold Devonshire House in the very fashionable Park Lane. London. and it is reported that the old place will be torn down to make way for a modern hotel. Equally historic town and country places have been aban doned Cat high price) by the Dukes of Westminster, Ruthlanj, Marl borough, Grafton and Buccleuth. Lords Leconfield, Londesborough. Portman and Camden. the Earls of Denbigh and Harrington. and many other noblemen. In 1920 one firm of auctioneers alone sold 349.695 acres of country property, and this year thousands of acres of old estates are being sold weekly.
 The reason for this widesread par tition of the huge country estates Is best explained by a speech made re- gently by the Duke of Portland to his tenants, in which he said:
 A Dukes Farewell.
 '"The war has entirely altered the outlook of myself, as it must have done that of other large land own CTS in this country. For centuries past landed estates have in many in stances been handed down from gem eration to generation in one family. and the landlords and tenants have grown up together and have lived. as we have done, on terms of mutual trust and affection.
 q fear, however, that this state of things is passing away. for, with the present enormous weight of taxa tiOn and the extremely onerous weight of death duties( inheretance taXes) the future has become un certain for all landed proprietors.
 with regard to my own case it may or 1t may not be possible for ne and my family to reside at Well beck. But I fear that there can be little dopbt-I hope I am wrong. but l do not think that I am-that those who come after me will not be able to do so.
 Tt is of use whatever blinking the fact. however disagreeable it may be-that there must, and inevitably will be wholesale closing down of the larger country houses; if not now, at all events when the present genera ton has passed away
 Welbeck Abbey is literally supplied with ghosts and is particularly fam ous for it's underground passages and secret apartments, on which the Fifth Duke of Portland is said to have spent 3,000,000 pounds. It contains an underground riding academy, 400 feet long. 106 feet wide and 90 feet high; beyond that there is an un- derground ballroom, 15S feet long, 63 feet wide, and 21 feet high, and still further on are subterranean Ii. braries. In fact the underground part of the estate is said to extend for 15 miles.
 It is estimated that there are very nearly 1000 huge country estates in Great Britain each requiring 50 or more employees to work for them. There are 70 big places, each em- ploying more than 200 workers, while some of the largest estates have as many as 500 employees each on their payrolls. Before the war, for in stance. Welbeck Abbey alone em- ployed 70 gardeners. The total ope- rating expenses of the estate were 17,0O0 pounds. Today the Abbey has fewer gardeners but it's operating ex- penses are nearly trebled.
 The passing of the great English estate means the last and final tri- urnph of the new industrial age over the preceding agricultural one. Eng land mourns it on the whole. but realizes that it is inevitable. Some even feel that the change will be beneficial
 "The Dukeries scarcely dovetail in to the sentiment of a more demo- cratic age" says the Pail Mall Ga zette, for instance. and while the picturesqueness of the patriarchal regime will be missed, it is health fer life that is beginning to over spread the shircs with it's more equal distribution and initiative"
 None of this, however. sheds any light on what is to become of the manor ghosts so dear to the hear of