Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-11-09
LONDON. October 30.

- HELMA MOkGAN steps into the lime
light to lift the shroud from the immense
ly rich and unhappy life of her former
husband, the British Viscount, Lord Marina
duke Furness
In many ways it is a counterpart Of the
wretched existence of the late Reggie Wander
bt husband of Thelmas sister Gloria but,
on an infinitely grander and more tragic scale.
Both sisters faced the glare of court pub
lefty over an only child. Gloria Vanderbilt
did il in the hope of retaining the custody Of
Gloria Junior Thelma has done it over her
twelve-year-old son, the Hon. William An
thony Furness. heir-presumptive to the title
and some 500 0000 900 but seemingly stripped
of most of his shares by series of somewhat
mysterious codicis.
The new battle is between his Lordship's
second wife, Thelma and his widow, Lady
Enid who was his third wife. The widow must
explain to the Chancery Court what induced
Lord Furness to add the codcis to his will
Like Reggie. Lord Marmaduke was drink
ing himself TO death but, unlike the American
rich man, the Englishman switched in his last
years from the bottle to drugs
One Of the codcils under scrutiny trans
ferred at one clip, a matter of $10,000OOO
from the ultimate possession of little Anthony
to Lady Enid, his stepmother.
On his deathbed, at Cap Ferrat, France
when the dying Viscount so feeble that he
could only manage to scrawl the initial "F,"
there was a codicil transferring another $780,
600 slice Of the great fortune TO the widow,
so she could purchase the villa in which he
was breathing his last
Yet even before he signed, something had
happened which made that and all other
splendid pieces of French real estate almost
valueless- France had fallen.
At the moment of signing, the yacht Sis
ter Ann" last ship TO escape from France, was
waiting TO take the millionaire Britop back
to die on his own beloved soil.
Even this consolation snatched from
him when Lady Enid suddenly vetoed the plan
on the ground that the yacht would surely be
bombed. So the Sister Ann" sailed without
him. making the trip as uneventfully as If the
whole world had been at peace.
The mans bad luck held 70 the bitter end.
His last days were haunted by the deu-
sions common TO drug addicts He exhausted
himself pleading with an invisible presence
not 10 throw herself away on a mere groom.
Everyone in the death-chamber knew the iden-
tity of the visitor. Lord Furness imagined he
was arguing with his long favorite
daughter Averill who broke his heart by
marrying Andrew Rattray. His Lordships
white hunter in Kenya, Africa.
But reality was quite as much a night
mare as the drug dreams. The millionare's
death had been FASTENED by previous attempt
TO escape by land to Spain. This was spon-
sored by alleged Spanish Marquis who
promised TO get them the necessary visas.
But as the partys car approached the
Spanish border, il became evident that there
would be no visas. The Marquis manner
changed from that Of a benevolent friend to
a threatening dictator and when it was seen
that he was surrounding himself with bandit
type spaniards, the party fed convinced that
it escaping from a kidnapping plot.
What have / done 10 deserve this ?"I the
dying sobbed apparently TO the ghost Of
Averin walking out OF the death chamber.
What indeed had this once brilliant, mag
netic handsome man born TO a title and one
of the largest fortunes IN England, done TO