1 1
COMPLETE INVASION OF BRITAIN
Complete by Purchase of Historic Mansions Along Tnames-Nearly a Million Spent by New Owners in Entertaining During This Season Alone-British Nobles Very Sore Over Events
AMERICANS
vS- f f ; J
COTT AGErt
v By Hayden Chureh. papers over the acquisition of the fa-Espectnlly coniiiderlnK that many names
rnnvrlcht hv riirtia Rmwn Bious "III versdale' by George Keasier, are left out because the writer lias not
(lpyrignt ojr curtw Brown. . made ,overa of the fashionable been able to ascertain definitely from
LONDON. The river has been "reachei" of the river begin to look what American cities thtlr respective
AmerlcanUed." That Is the cry about them. And lo! on every side were bearers "hall." Significant enough,
thut now In raine un In Eneland the latest variety of American "In- however. In all conscience, and, as I
that now is going up in England, v(jdert Jn posBeaaloIl of tn0 moBt de. have said. Intensely exasperating to the
and an uncommonly doleful one It Brable houses and the most pretentious Britishers who hold that the Thames
Is. For the "river" referred to "bungalows." v at least might be left an English pos-
1s the Thames, and the Thames, or at Now. ' e river season at its e' terJ !inhv0HX"'of , ex- promises to become one of the foremost The abbey Itself was built a matter of extensive grounds. Tenant after ten-
least the faahlonable part of It which S,'e h "i nrthuSr ke. fulllW cJuslve reaches of the upper Thames of Liberal hostesses, must have taken seven hundred years ago and housed ant suddenly threw up the ease and
Ilea between Richmond anH Oxford and nt thS AmSlraM who have houses In that onseTvat"v English folk resent a lot of pride In showing the king over for several centuries the Cistercian left saying they could not live there,
lies between Richmond and Oxford, and of the Americans hYe Ohfou"" MghU "but the faf that with the her river home one of the fairest monks. In the days of the Georges the Vacant for years the house was Anally
includes Henley and royal Windsor, ever the vicinity of Maidenhead of U""ie .'j ..,, places" on the 'demesnes" In Britain. Hawthorne, former monastery had become a real, ordered to be pulled down. So soon as
has been regarded as a sort of English n,2 Situated- H will be sufficient river have fallen Into the possession of who visited Nuneham park in 1857 de- dence and was owned by Sir Francis excavations were-made, ten years ago.
"holv of holies " 80 now that wealthy Fn indicatj f a few of th best known of the enemy. scribed it as "perfect as anything earth- Dashwood, who gathered around him the workmen came upon grave after
noiy ornoiies bo now mat weaitny to indicate a lew or ine Dest Known 01 me enemy. alwayg wni be Clleve- lv can be," echoing the sentiments of some of the wildest blades of London grave. The skeletons were all of
Americans practically have taken pos- tnem-. .th ,. fh , .7 , hmi t ilk. a Horace Wnlpole. who found It "worthy town. He established a mock order of women. The mystery of Bolney Court
jonn whs soivea. ruiy years previously 1110
fame, owner or tenant, a giant of a man, re-
was the purea crazy, uvea mere aione in son-
e order tary grandeur but for female servants,
the ah- These servants gradually disappeared
the Hell and new ones took their places as fast
nanct river district before, of course. " ;-.. ,. .:. . uX-i... ,- k. k uvi.h .m.H.in. not and point out that Lord Desbor- Fire club. Though now In American as the old ones left. No local women
, . ,1 WllCr-lII-lttW llic i 1 " 11 1 v r , nun I'M ' 1 " ' " ' - ' , . , , . A. al- I, ,. ,J A11 I - 1 l wV.I wsi.ilrt taVa unrvin on on
uui vniy hb single spies in ins per- ni..,n. . .heir nnr nlirhhnr Th inir at f'l eveden recently than at anV "UK", wno uwi.b i.uuii, bii '"J.""
fons of William Waldorf Astor. Mrs. Th" f.miv sr estflhlisherf at "The time since the stately seat passed Into George Young, proprietor of thefamed tues ny this lively name. When royal
cession of It lovers of the old order or , Cottage," one of the cosiest" and pearl among the emerald woods, but, of or the bold pencil or Kubens. or to De rranci scans uiere. or wriicn
Ihlnn itlirnn.nl.it nnH h tnn- r.L.n.ni rlv.r rnti.ra in tho hand, course. Its sale bv the Duke of West- the subject of the tranquil sunshine of Wilkes, of Wilkes and Liberty
in it . m ' - , j. nf Tvi.r Vnr. nt tin-m Vnrlr Mrn minster to William Waldorf Astor is Claude Lorraine. was a member, sir Irancis
Atlantic conques of England 1. re- of lotldat what the mwtnclVnt . rf a t history' A- Will all the other -reat "show" grand prior The ofth
ffnrrlorl Ail nmn ntji . j ... , . 4 a i rtlnpPM alnnsr th Tnnm hfl Amprlcnn. became SO rlOtOUS that it ann
" A.rrcn; hVve "tnvsned'- thl. sacro- " T,,1'" ceJ,." ? L Vl.f cl".,cL" "V"'""""' Wed In tmm'k ThameV f enthusiast, if Arm bey finally became known as
rown Potter and one or two others. tiermitage." "Bourne End. which has been transatlantic hands. Young Waldorf
jnow nowever. tne Daitauons nave ar taken , the name of tne Countess of Astor and his beautiful Kentucky wife
rived, and this summer, for the flrsj. Yarmouth. The Fosters, of Boston, are have been having a succession of brll-
tlme, the pick of the residences which t ..Thfl Arrhes," Henley, while Mrs. llant house parties there, prominent
fringe the banks of the classic stream Brown potters former home. Bray among the guests having been Mrs.
from the point where It practically van- IO(1g0 has DPPn BOl( t0 the Baroness John Jacob Astor and Mrs. Charles Dana
Ishes to that at which It becomes merely Mny de paliandt. formerly of Cleveland, Gibson,
commercial are in tho hands of wealthy 0h)- -Downe Place." Ascott. which
ioik rrom across tne pona. it is tne hplmilr. to Colonel Harford. Is occupied lfinr VUit Mnneham Parlr
l . i.iL I" i 1 j T U.m Ka S
iy inin. Ariiminy ui mei, hiiu i iicnr turn
for one week of the Ascot races the
rental of this beautiful house was $1,600.
would take service there and so the
girls were recruited from London or
Formosa at Cookham, and the Earl of ties and distinguished visitors to the distant parts of the country.
Raglun, whose Thames seat is called country are taken for a river trip it
OHkley Court, all are ardent river has been usual to visit Medmenhnm as Murdered Score Of Maids.
lovers and would not sell or lease for a stopping place ror rerreshments on
tale of Mayfair, of the English country
nouses and or the Scottish grou.se
jnoors over again but the Americanl-
satlon of its beloved 'river is the blt-
trainload of American dollars.
Americanizing Old Palaces.
One would not care to bet on it. how
ever, especially with such places as
the way up, the occupants of the old
place acting as the hdsts.
terest pill which the English fashionable t . i ol, ti. t.ii
world yet has had to swallow. Principal Show Places Taken.
Abbey the. Last Straw. 'N
Haunted House of the Thames.
Bolney Court, whfch the American
Hbr Clleveden there is perhaps no M,,mpnhBm Ahhpv HnH Rninv Court bacons are occupying this season.
nner seat on tne oanKs or tne Thames aireaf)y under the stars and stripes Blnce llme immemorial nas iaicen pre-
The discovered skeletons told their
own story. The master of the house
had unquestionably murdered a full
score of his maids.
Bolney court was built up again and
the skeletons properly burled. Ths
ghosts have now disappeared and the
than Nuneham park and here again we Tne former or these, which is situated mler POB,tlon as the haunted house par new tenants probably never even heard
find an American chatelaine, in the per- x, Tornni 't.u h excellence of the river. Of course every ,lir;, ,, -n..i
So the list might be continued for a son of Mrs. Lewis Harcourt. I am not 8criheti without exaggeration as one old nouso on the rlver ,s haunted or at has hoisted the stirs and stripes, was
good part of a newspaper column, did It 8Ure If I am right In saying that this of the most Interestinsr niles in Ensr- least has the reputation of possessing a built by Earl Russell, prime minister of
And the capture of Medmenham abbey seem desirable. It would Include the Is Mrs. Harcourt's first season as a land. The best known of its recent ghost of sorts. In olden days as now England, known best to fame as Lord
was the last straw. Until it was an- names of A. H. Mellon, of Pittsburg. "r?.at",Jlvr, ""i18,8' ihHfm,um',,Jam ?wnf,ra, wfl5 Herbert Oakley, whd .when the river mansions were owned by the i"" JfU88e"- f v,"6,,8 Zl0?
. i. . m . . , . . . j. . m . , park s former owner, Sir William Har- he died a few years ago, left It to h a nob lltv. and It freouentlv happened Amberley at the time of the American
nounced. recently, that most historic of who is established at Sunninghill park; ourt( dled only two years ago, but beautiful young widow She later mar- that when some noble ' wanted I to get clv11 war and so christened his river
all the Thames-side residences had been Dr. Abbott Anderson, who has Bray Rise, certainly It had a brilliant beginning ried Colonel Sir Douglas Dawson. King rid of a friend an lnvitatl on was ex- house. The house though called a cot
taken over by Henry Marsh of New ttn(j J- - Clarke, who Is resident at the when King Edward himself expressed Edward's master of ceremonies, who tended to visit the river Here In the tage Is a big place with a score or
r. ,t jllKri it o ' k ( ,v. Clock house. Maidenhead. Not to men- a wish to see the wonders of the seven- lately has taken up the appointment house standing by the murmuring more bedrooms and large grounds. It
I or, u is aououui n any out tno tlon pauline Chase, one of the luckiest teenth century mansion and incidentally of controller of the lord chamberlain's stream the visitor was done to death lssltuated Just above Boulter's Lock
"house agents," as thoy are called here, of American actresses, who is chatelaine get better acquainted with Its mistress, department, and it is Sir Douglas who and the body easily got rid of by throw- and opposite to Clioveden Woods,
realized how complete had become the of Littlecroft, near Maidenhead, and and passed the week end with the first has leased Medmenham Abbey to Mr. lng it In the river "The Arches" which a Boston fam
American domination of the upper Camille Clifford, who one day will be commissioner of works and his Amerl- Marsh, the New Yorker. But Bolney Court formerly had more Hy are occupying this summer, has a
Thames. But the sight of the Stars and Lady Aberdare, and who is entertaining can wife. She, of course, is a daughter On the site of Medmenham the Danes than one ghost. Years ago there were historic ghost supposed to be Lady
Btrlpes floating over the ancient head- with her husband, at a bungalow Just of the late Walter BurnB, brother-in- established one of their camps and people who declared they saw nightly Elizabeth, daughtor of the Lord of
quarters of the "Hell Fire club," adriei across the river. law of J. Plerpont Morgan. Incidental- In the neighborhood tho remains of a procession of white-robed women Wargrave who lived In the manor
to the noise that was made In the news- Rather a striking showing, Is it not? ly the former New York girl, who other ancient encampments- can be seen, wandering through the big house and house lose by. At the Arches lived her
lover and many were the stolen meet,
lngs of the twain beside the river ban'
i"" v i'Biiv' iiu vinir jyv
for his daughter and had forblddrany
meetings. Lady Elisabeth's wibaenca
being suspected, one dark night she
was followed, and seenv to meet her
lover. Her father and brothers rushed
the man and killed him before her eyes
The Lady Elisabeth went mad and years
later her body was found In the river
Since then her ghost wanders through)
the grounds seeking to meet the lover
of 300 years ago.
Tradesmen Rejoice.
Regarding "Rlversdale," the beauti
ful place at Bourne End which George
Kessler recently bought and has re
named "New York Lodge" many de.
tails have been published, so they need
not be reprinted here. I am told, how
ever, that this, one of the few river
places that have been bought outright
by Americans, cost the champagne man
156,000, and he Is said to be spending
1100,000 In remodelling, enlarging and
furnishing It. It has anly 20 Bedrooms
and la not quite large enough for its
new owner's requirements. Incidentally
British Journalistic pens have been
dipped In gall to write of the renaming
of "Rlversdale," and comment on the
announcement that 2,000 electric light
will illuminate the grounds at night.
However, all this means business for
British "tradesmen" by whom, and by
the Thames watermen, the invasion of
the river by Americans Is welcomed.
mougn it do gall ana wormwoo&asjfclhc
exclusive Ens-lien set. For whYTiT
lK ... i i
nun iiu icii, yvt Ajuvi ii are spend
ing more money. It will easily ap
proach 11,000,000. the sum that the
newcomers will spend there . this sea
eon. Each bungalow or house Is com
pletely furnished when rented by the
season. And this furnishing on the
river means a proper equipment of
boats such as canoe or punt, skiff and
launch. The latter may be a steam,
gasoline, electric or motor launch, but
every house of decent slse has on of
all sorts as well as the Other boats.
The cheapest kind of bungalow costs
$50 per week and the cheapest kind of
house is $100 per week. In a bungalow
one needs three indoor servants and)
one outdoor who attends to the garden,
la engineer of the launch and perhaps
chauffeur of the motor car. The houses
need from half a dosen to two dozen
servants or more, depending on their
size. This, of course, runs Into a lot
of money.
Demand for River Homes.
The other day I went to see the head
of a well-known firm of real estate
agents at Matdonhead. They have
branches everywhere along the river
and handle most of the property -so that
It is to them that Americans rush If
they want a house. It was this Arm
that sold George Kessler his house, that
sold Mrs. Brown Potter's house, secured
a tenant for Amberley and practically
all the other houses mentioned.
"The Invasion of the river by Amer
icans," said this authority, "Is sudden.
They have come with a rush. I have
had more requests for river places than
are on the market. It Is the first sea
son that the Americans have come on
the river In such numbers. July is Just
the middle of the season for we have
scores of applications for houses and
house-boats from August 1. We are
finding already that many Americans
who have Just rented places for the
season are so much In love with the
gay river life that they have Instructed
us to buy tho property for them If
possible. Others again have already
given us Instructions to rent places
for them the same place if possible
next year.
"The Americans will spend an Im
mense amount of money on the river.
Many who cannot get houses are tak
ing apartments at the river hotels.
How Money Is Spent
"Roughly I should estimate the money
which will be spent this year by Amer
icans here as follows:
Rents $ 260.000
Upkeep and living expenses .. 400,000
Fetes, extra hotels, upriver ex
penses 80,000
Spent at hotels, apartments,
houseboats 100,000
Outlay of day by day visitors . 50,000
Rough total $ 880,000
"Should one Include what Americans
spent at Ascot and Henley on special
entertainments and special clothes, the
rought figures might go well over the
million mark."
Now that glorious Henley Regatta
is over several Americans will be spend
ing the August weeks In houseboats.
Before Henley the owners of these
palatial floating homes would not hear
of renting and oven now they want an
enormous figure.
Beside the hundreds of American
families domiciled for " the season on
the Thames one must figure In the in
vasion the 2.000 or 3,000, perhaps more,
who spend week-ends and weeks at the
old-world river inns, or the newer ho
tels, ot who motor down from London,
under the hour, and spend the day
along the beautiful river stretches.
AMERICAN PRISONERS BUILT CHURCH
Captured in War of Caroline Prescott Says TLat Doing the Best O
1812 and Confined at Dartmoor CKurck Gone to Decay Money Needed to Repair It Rector Appeals to Americans to Contribute Can Is Better After All L han Being a Genius
nc
LONDON. Most of the American
prisoners captured by England In
the war of 1812 were confined in
what was then a military prison
on the big bleak moore of Dart
moor, In Devon. Some of those prison
ers helped build a church there. On
that account the church possesses some
claim to interest Americans. It has
fallen into decay, and an effort is being
made to raise the funds neressnrv to re
pair it. The rector, the Rev. George S.
Thorpe of Brldestowe. Devon, thinks the
fact that American prisoners of war
Were engaged on the construction of the
church may move some Americans to
contribute to its restoration. I don't
know whether any of them will feel like
"shelling out" on that account. But
there Is no doubt that they will be inter
ested in the following account of tho
church which I have received from Mr
Thorpe.
Upon the rugged heights of Dartmoor,
exposed to the blasts of every sound
that blows, there stands the unique
church of St. Michael and All Angels,
Prlncetown; unique in being the church
of the highest inhabited village in Eng
land, 1,400 feet above the level of the
sea; unique In its position in the parish
of Lydford, the largest parish in Eng
land, of 60.000 acres of moor and heath
and streams; but unique most of all,rh
Begun by Frenchmen.
Th manner of Its building is proba
bly unparalleled, certainly so in Eng-
land, it was In the early days of the
nineteenth century, when the whole
world was convulsed with war and
bloodshed and England was solely
pressea cy JU iwo wars wun iapoieon
and with America. The history of those
wars concerns us only in Its relation to
the building, of this church. Many of
the French prisoners of war were re
moved frr safety to a military prison
formed at Prlncetown. To supply spir
itual, needs, these French prisoners were
allowed build a church themselves.
' i -. horn n In tnA
French prisoner working at slxpense
lt cent) per day. They were paid
quarterly, but If anr of them escaped
while employed on thl church outside
th prUon the whole
ray for all the gang wa forfeited. The
reason for thl I bytous. It made
each man pr uoon hi neighbor, few
- - -"7 v 7 -r" WSj?
' - life V-' - r St -
' MPti-'i $? iS$gML tit&
The Church of St. Michael and -All Angels, ;Dartmoor, Which Was Partly Built by American Prisoners
Captured bir England In the War of 1812. "
their wanes and thereby their power of peace of Pafls in" 1S14 found the church war confined at Prlncetown, were al-
v"11""1 naauionai comfort in rooa na
una luxuries.
additional comfort in food half finished.- it was at this Juncture lowed to take the place of the released
i. that the connection of the church with French nrlsoners and on the same condi-
The fall of Pari .n' tv Khemtinn innrluTii besins. A month after the tlona as to nav. etc. These Americans
of th French prisoners after the first peace of Paris. 60 American prisoner of continued to labor on the church until
some time after the war between Amer
ica and England had been ended by the
treaty of Ghent in Belgium. In Decem
ber 1814. The work of building was
actually stopped in April, 1816. when the
discharges began. By that time the
church was practically completed.
It appears from the records that to
American hands were due the roof and
higher parts of walls and tower.
Neglect, Fire and Tempest.
Though thus unique In Its origin, yet
bravely for nigh on a hundred years
has It borne the rigor of tho Dartmoor
climate, looking out unceasingly with its
dark storm-beaten tower to the graves
of those stranger exiles, but escaping
not scatheless. Neglect and fire and
tempest successively Impaired Its
strength. Fallen into ruin and forsaken
by the government In the late fifties,
it was adopted by the parish of Lydford
and reverently restored in the early
sixties, only to feel the devastating In
fluences of fire in 1868. ! Again re
stored, it gradually began to crumble
and decay, till the hand of the spoiler
fell on It in 1899, ostensibly to restore,
but in reality to mutilate and mar.
Better davs have since dawned for the
historic building; little by little the
ravages of the restoration are being re
paired, the obliterated porch replaced.
The restoration scheme now In hand
will cost 860, and even then much more
could be spent upon beautifying the In
terior. Of this 850 not more than 260
la In hand. And this account Is written
in the hope that each American who
reads It will be willing to send a dona
tion, however small or large, "to help to
restore and beautify a church which
w:is partly built by their ancestors,
when they. In love of their' country,
were- suffering the rigors of exile and
captivity, and many of whom lie buried
almotft under the shade of Us tower.
This donation mav be sent to the Rev.
George S. Thorpe, M. A.', .Lydfprd rec
tory, Brldestowe, Devon, England, and
will be. gratefully acknowledged by him.-
The trade agreement between the
United Brotherhood of Carnenters and
Joiners and the Amalgamated Society of
Carpenter and Joiners has again been
extended to September 1. This exten
sion was made to afford the general
council at Its next meeting time to fur
ther deliberate on the - propositions of
amalgamation. ,
By Carolyn Prescott.
THEY say that all geniuses are con
ceited; that modesty, one of the
greatest of the virtues, is la
mentably absent in the breasts
of the tgreat men and women who
have achieved prominence.
Gluck, Meyerbeer, Handel, Beethoven
nearly all musicians were conceited,
if not to say egotistical. Nearly every
writer, actor, lecturer and public man,
we are told, carries about with him an
exaggerated opinion of his own im
portance. How refreshing, then, U is to see
some one who is perfectly content to
be a "violet by the mossy brink," mod
est, unassumfng, willing to keep on
with the work that life points out.
without exclaiming of their greatness
to the whole world.
Down in New Orleans not long ago
died Madame Begue, 76 years old, who
until six month before her death had
been a cook. Just -a plain, ordinary
cook no, not ordinary, either; but a
cook.
Just a square from -the statue of
Jackson In the quaint old picturesque
part of New Orleans stands a plain
two-story dwelling, which was Madame
Begue's home for the 76 years she lived
upon this earth. On a corner near her
home stand groups of Indians, who sell
curios, and who for a copper penny will
direct visitors to Madame Begue s es
tablishment. Here, with the chimes of the old
Cathedral of St, Louis chiming in their
ears night and morning, Madame
Begue and her husband kept a cook
shop for 40 years or "more, and for 40
years past the country's most famous
men and women have breakfasted at.
Intervals at Madame Begue's wonderful
place. Just breakfast, that is all; for
the old woman knew how to do but one
thing; but this she did well. She could
cook a good breakfast a breakfast
that, once, tasted, would never be for
gottei; a breakfast that had power to
call' men and women back from foreign
lands breakfast that waa an ounce of
poem and comforter. '
j jlo uiiuug I win u ii, uliiliieh aujuiireu.
and always standing upon the threshold
to bid one welcome, stood Madame
Begue, plainly dressed In black alpaca
frock, her laee collar fastened with an
old-fashlotted rold "breastpin." her black
hair plainly parted and oralded In o
neatcoll on the top of her head, a quaint"
sair of earrings to match the "breast
pin." And this Is a picture of
Begue.
Her table was not laid with a glitter
ing array of silver" and cut glass; there
were no softly shaded lights and satiny
texturea napmns ana taoiecloths, and
liveried waiters and water boys. Mad
ame Begue and her husband waited
upon the table themselves, and the room
was Just large enough to hold 30 persons.
And If one wanted to eat breakfast
at Madame Begue's. one had to engage
a meal two -reeks in advance.
The quaint windows were filled with
gay flowers, and curtained with chintz.
The old-fashioned round table was cov
ered with , snow white linen. Heavy
delft plates and horn-handled knlveif
and forks, a queer old castor and plated
spoons went to make up the table fur
nlshment. "Nothing very attractive in this," on
says. Oh, perhaps not. It was the
breakfast and Madame Begue that
formed the attraction. In the old vis
itors' register sonv of the best-known
names In the Unite States, the owners
of which, during their stay in New Or- '
leans, sought Madame Begue's tabid
are contained.
Every noted actor, lecturer, traveler,
politician that has' thrilled the oquntry
for 40 years past has, at one time or
another, had breakfast there If he
could.
Madame Begue has gone, and with
her has faded the memory of those
breakfasts. This plain, modest little
French woman, who laid no claim to
being a genius, did the one thing she
knew how to do, and did it Just as well
as she could, so well that people came
from hundreds of miles to eat at that
plain table In her old-fashioned dining
room. If she had been a genius she
might also have died famous, but I
dare say there are more people who
were really and truW grieved to hear
of Madame Begue's death than would
have been were she a conceited genius.
Doing the best one can, even if it U
but to serve the best breakfast in the
country, is better, after all, than being
a conceited genius.
ine lniioriHi women s iraoe unnm
league, the bromoters of which (NUiIrn
to. have over 100,000 workers enrG?
In membershle. held a convention
New Tork recentlv and elected officers.
The delegates also mapped out work
for the coming year and formulated
plans for a national convention.
The French unit of horse-power, i
one-seventh less than the .English.
4
'i U
;. : V , f Si -r 4 n 1 '.,
; 1 . . - . . . At. j . j
.
if