The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 15, 1904, Page 17

l Pages SRR 17t020 —_— Pages 171020 g et SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, MAY 15, 1904. - LONDON HAS THREE DAMES WHO ARE SO EXCLUSIVE THAT THEY EVEN BAR SOME OF High Lineage and an Undefiled Char- acter Only Recognized in the Upper Circle. LC Son = YON, May 14 —Society in Lon- ¥ be mixed, but there are some of the British aristocracy b the man of millions, no matter might be able to has never A plutocrat of ques- ble origin may succeed in securing vitation to be received by Dukes and Duchesses, even to dine with them. He may meet the King, perhaps be one King Edward VII's most intimate s, and yet have not the remotest ance of entering this most select cir- cle of English society. hostesses so exclusive that consider for a moment £ a mere bow from scores Edward’s constant friends, or e who are intimately Queen Alexandra. most particular of these es is Lady Leconfield, an- s of Buccleuch, and r husbar quite impossible for y exclusive as she wish, the latter's of Lansdowne. the daughter of of Cleveland of it histo: and she is s Her father the ses into influence he command e entree vet is e me the position many d at they might be replied st of those N An earin out 3attle Abbey, gus r he has now < nty ne years serican wh other da and whose untess of IS BOLD AND HAUGHTY. she Leconfield Most rigorously set her face against_the f socie nd against the She is fiercely opposed s not refuse to time could Lady ced to receive Tom, T 1 and much less likely cknowledge the wives r Harry ~confield practices ex: At ery phase of her life h at Petworth the Lecon- A gallery pew, a sort of E hey not mingle t hipers, and there fe ost unblem- ooded aristrocracy d by an invitation . e rmed circle at home. it 4s » ss by the way, that his x have thing to do th s natches which have 3 o b Leconfield’s chi family, however censor- ems to lack its own n the cupboard—the hich might d ly’s hauteur, nfield’s father-in-law is the illegitimate son of the gremont < plation of ¥ be ex- ted to lessen was a ye of the F great man in the gency, when the Prince f England made Brighton a watering place and built there. Lord Egremont, of his boon companions, iter, & hard drinker and and although he had ldren he was never married. bhis son, whom he adopted, the BEarl gave the name of Wyndham, and Percy who was one v iham M. P, who is broth- er-in-law to Lady Leconfield, is one of grandsons. To Lady Leconfield’s » Lord Egremont, who was e to leave him his name and title, all his estates, all his money he beautiful London house, No. 9 ield Gardens, where Lady Le- now lives, which is built ens of Chesterfield House, d the famous Lord Chester- { the “Letters.” PEERESS SELLS OREAM. I'ine stately Duchess of Buccleuch, nay be described as second only Leconfield in exclusiveness, known outside of soclety as s of the Robes to Queen Alex- a post which she also held un- late Queen Victoria. By no TN der the power could this gentlewoman be in- duced to mingle with what she would describe as the “riff-raff” of smart so- She disdains even to live either in Mayfair or Belgravia, but makes ciety. her home in exclusive grandeur at Montague House, Whitehall, where the windows look on the embank- ment and the River Thames. Yet the Duchess is quite up-to-date and pro- gressive in other ways, for she has organized a dairy to sell fresh cream to London customers. It is sometimes hinted that, in her exclusiveness, her Grace makes a virtus of necessity, her family being so large thet when all its aristocratic members have assembled at a ball or house party there is room for only a few out- siders. The Duchess of Buccleuch is, of course, a daughter of the Dowager Duchess of Abercorn, who was born in 1812, and who, in all probability has more descendants Ifving than any other woman in the world. During the war in South Africa, this remarkable old lady, who lives at Coates Castle, Sus- — e sex, had no less than thirty-two male descendants at the front. The brilliant marriages of the daugh- ters of the first Duke and Duchess of Abercorn are often commented upon in society, for one married the Earl of Lichfield, another the Duke of Buec- cleuch, another the Earl of Winterton, another the Marquis of Lansdowne, and another the Marquis of Blandford. The Marchioness of Blandford, however, got — DUCHESST S PUCCLEUCH s, e a divorce from her husband, who after- ward became Duke of Marlborough and remarried, and so this daughter of the Abercorns is the mother-in-law of the present Duchess of Marlborough, formerly Consuelo Vanderbilt. But there comes with the comment always a warning note against double weddings, it being an old superstition that one at least of the marriages will turn out unhappily and the double wed- ding of the Marchioness of Lansdowne and the Marchioness of Blandford fur- nishes a case in point. While Lady Lansdowne’s wedding proved to be the stepping stone to great happiness, that of her sister, Lady Blandford, led to fourteen years of such terrible misery that it induced Queen Victoria to with- draw one of the most rigid rules of her reign. Before 1883 no one who had ever TWO MEMBERS OF MOST =T RN T LMPOME. ~ ~ = THE KING'S FRIENDS Y King Edward to Establish a Home for the Royal Court Among His Irish Subjects. LONDON, April 14.—English soclety is all agog at present over the pros- pect of a royal residence in Ireland. King Edward feels that the proper way to concillate the Irish people is to make them happy and prosperous in their own country and he believes much can be accomplished in this direction by the court taking up its residence there for a portion of each year. Ireland is not rich in aristocratic mansions, so that those who follow royalty about are somewhat anxious -~ 1 EXCLUSIVE OF LONDON’S ARISTOCRATIC CIRCL e < been through the divorcs court, either /as plaintift or defendent, was ever al- lowed to go to court again, but when the Marchioness of Blandford divorced her husband, so moved to pity was Queen Victoria on learning what the soclety woman had endured so long that she made in her case the exception that she was afterward to be welcomed at court. This exception has since been made for every one who goes through the divorce court as the injured party. LANSDOWNES MORE LIBERAL. Though, on account of her husband’s officlal position (he is now Secretary for Foreign' Affairs), Lady Lansdowne 1Is hardly able to cut down her visiting list as-she might otherwise wish. She is quite an exclusive hostess and de- bars all but those whose blood is bluest or whose diplomatic and official posi- tions demand her acknowledgment. Her town house is a stately mansion, standing in its own grounds surrounded by a high wall and bounded on one side by Berkeley Square and on another by the gardens of Devonshire House, from which it is divided by one of the quaintest of the surviving passages of old London, a passage with a flight of stone steps at one end, running from Curzon street to Hay Hill, and known as Lansdowne Passage. In these days when folks are pushing and anxious to “get there,” the diffi- culty of maintaining an exclusiveness such as is practiced by these excep- tional hostesses of London is almost beyond comprehension. There is great difficulty in defeating the tactics of “undesirables,” as the following inci- dent shows: A Duchess who was glv- ing a large reception was assailed by a man on behalf of a woman friend who was most anxious to obtain a card of invitation. The Duchess answered that she was sorry, but that she really could not. On hearing this the ambi- ticus one sent for her friend and ex- plained that if she did not receive an invitation it would mean social ruin to her. “It is not ‘that I want to go,” she explained; “I am too ill to move. I could not go if T wanted to, but if only Yyou can get an invitation for me I shall be satisfied.” The man went the second time to the Duchess and explained the circumstances, so that the Duchess, on the promise that it was to be a mere invitation and not to be accepted, sent the card. On the eventful evening, however, at the moment when the man was thanking his hostess for having been so kind as to grant his request, they both turned round to meet the re- ceiver of the invitation face to face. KING IS A TACTICIAN. As King Edward. occasionally re- quests that his hotesses receive certain of his friends, matters would be very difficult of adjustment did he ask any one of these exclusive dames’ for an invitation she did not wish to grant. But the King is very tactful and does not seek to disturb what he may prob- ably secretly admire. One such rebuff may have been sufficient, for when as Prince of Wales he was once going to Austria to visit Count Festetics, in the list of the friends who would be with him figured the name of Baron Hirsch, whereupon the Count (not being a sub- ject) wrote back immediately that he was greatly grieved but he would be away from home and unable to receive the Prince of Wales. There are other friends of the King who not ‘only are not received by the exclusive hostesses, but who are expelled from bowing ac- quaintance with financiers of position and reputation. \ Queen Alexandra also receives.those who are not acknowledged by others less high in rank, the current excuse of the Queen’s liberality on this subject being that as she is deaf she does not hear all that might be told and so in perfect ignorance welcomes those whom she would otherwise nof wish to see. as to where they can obtain suitable estates if Ireland is to have a royal residence. Strangely enough, the first to anticipate—after the Duchess of Manchester—a royal residence in Ire- land is the Duchess of Roxburghe. Her recent visit to Ireland was mainly dl- rected toward that object. She had an interview with a firm of estate agents in Dublin, who have a monopoly of negotiating the leasing and sale of the finest ‘residences in Ireland. As a re- sult Tanderagee Castle, which at pres- ent belongs to the Duke and Duchess of Manchester, is likely to be the fu- ture Irish home of the Duchess of Rox- burghe. The Manchesters have decid- ed that Kylemore is to be their per- manent residence in Ireland and that therefore their occupation of Tander- agee would be unnecessary extrava- gance. The Duchess of Roxburghe has been over the castle and it is under- stood that she is satisfied with its size, equipment and general surroundings. It cannot compare with Kylemore, but it is the best place available in Ireland at the moment. ROXBURGHES HOUSE HUNTING. Meantime the Duke and Duchess are looking out for a favorable spot in the fashionable quarters of London upon which to erect a town residence. A site in Mayfalr, close to where the new residence of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough nds, was submitted to them, but the ce asked was so ex- crbitant in the estimation of the Duke that it was “declined with thanks.” Fashionable real estate agents know that they are looking out for a site and as there is not much competition in this particular direction the Duke and Duchess are bound to pay dearly for the luxury of a town residence. It is not generally known that the great London landlords, such as the Duke of*Westminster, who owns nearly all the fashionable part of the West End, the Duke of Bedford, Earl Cado- gan, etc., are also the agents. They not on rents, but receive com sales of their own prop ports of the enormous Duchess and the her mother to se thing had prepared agents and land- lords to expect a very good time Imme- dlately she set out spending money the fact that she leads an 2 iIs no In spite of exceedingly qu American woman age who has a greater conmtrolling fluence on her husband’s actions than Lady Barrymore. When she married Lord Barrymore (then Arthur Smith- Barry) in 1889 this lady the wid w of Arthur Post of New York. By birth, however, she was abeth Wads- worth, a daughter eral Wads- worth of reseo, New York, and sister of Craig W the Con- gressman. Her t husband, who was made a Baron | 2, 1s a great Irish landlo r to his marriage with the former Mrs. Post the name of arry was held in execration throughout Ireland so cordially was its owner hated f he had not been a typical landlp spending all his time and money out Ireland. it is whether & would have y hiselevation to the peerage. All this bad feeling has now been removed, however, and Lad Barrymore is responsible for the new condition of thin LADY BARRYMORE IS CLEVER. In fact, she has accomplished exactly what the American heroine of Richard Whiti novel, “The Ye p tried to do but without succe Barryr sted rable portion o her hu and’s tenants, much time to movin them in a et, unos studying their arities and sympathizing with them in all their troubles and misfortunes. The ag who had hitherto bee r of he yed.” mno longer ed o etiting & ’ and imposir th Tipperary tena ed to retain his pesition, but Lady Bar T became practically h agent Lord Barrymore, in spite his reputation for being a harsh man, sub- mitt almly s ideas, and to-day la tenants are best of t The family resic sequence’ of Lord Barrymore's de her in England or some place in FEurope. H ladyship set it cannot compare with other lordiy expected “ ed by her ladys herself and her a portion of the of creatins ployment for 2 hose them a source « management of they will e me a part of to s the purpos P- The presence « yand there durir r will be the me: ain amount of a hitherto nuch tre ans to it will be paid w earn at least > rent a murr Another th is to encourag the est are provided with m ting, sewing and emt which the: portion amon, Old womer don and CONSUELO A PHILANTHROPIST, 1 learn that the Duc borough is on the point strong far philanthropy. the Duchess of Sutherland has known as the “Charity” Duchess, she is said to haye grown tired playing Lady Bountiful and to be quite of Up to willing to resign in favor of daughter of the Vanderbilts. H Grace of Marlborougsh had herseif taken over the Samaritan Hospifal— the free Institution for women only— the other day, and she is to take quite a prominent part in a novel sort of benefit which has been arranged to provide funds therefor. This will take the form of a leap year dinner, which is to be held at Prince’s, the ultra- fashionable restaurant, on the evening of May 5. Quite a number of prom- inent society women are interested in the affair, and each of them will have two seats at the restaurant om the evening in question. Meantime th are to canvass their men friends, who are to bid for the privilege of dining with each fair one, and in every case he who undertakes to contribute m liberally to the hospital fund will find himself “elected.” At the dinner there will be a special “American” table, with seats for eight, and here the honors will be done to four fortunate males by the Duchess of Marlborough, Mrs. George Cornwallis-West (former- ly Lady Randolph Churchill), the Countess of Essex and Mrs. Ronald: It Is believed that this dinner will ph duce $30,000 or more for the coffers of the “Samaritan.” : Mrs. Frederick Harrison's suggestion that the sort of a character book which is used on the comtinent for recording the services and credentials of domes- tic servants should be adopted in Eng- land has called forth much comment, for here, as in America, the servant girl question is always a live onme. In continental countries every servant is required to keep such a character book and an authoritative nature is given to the entries made in it by the exer- cise of police supervision and the im- position of penalties for false stats ments. A