| Show 0 TI p r w wA wV wn A n t How on n His Deathbed He V Unselfishly i A Aa Aj AI j ih h e f y Provided for the Happiness of f a j I I d the Wife Whose t Heart Is Thought aiM vr i t to Have m 1 it tr j- j t ls 1 n y r r rii ii 4 Ceased p r rd d t I t a N r I t y yI yI I U UI I l lI I I I I ri q loBe 14 y 3 J I Iri Nw ut His wI 1 I i tt LONDON May 11 11 F tenth one-tenth of ot one one per pen percent per cent of the J j IF gossip with which all England Ingland JS is I buzzing is ii to be and believed believed nd un undoubtedly much more than that IS worthy of being credited It credited it was as a most unusual drama that as aas enacted a few months ago in the room where here Lord Northcliffe the th millionaire newspaper and magazine publisher lay dying Other husbands have forgiven wives wi on their deathbeds Still others have steadfastly refused to forgive fore p and have gone pone to their graves gra busily plotting was waa of depriving their wives of the theother theother theother other 10 lovo loo e that stood waiting on deaths death's cord ord But pro probably ably never be before fort did hus husband band behave as Lord Northcliffe did He treated his wife Ife and the rival who IS believed to have long lone since won WOl her heart aitha with ith a tender love lov and c carity anty that seem almost beyond the power pO of any human h heart art u In his last hours of he h not only forgave forga whatever there may have been to forgive in the 1 cars ears of close Intimacy between his wife an and the tho other man but gave cave liberally o ot his a wealth to safe safeguard guard their happiness and made them solemnly promise that they would be married as soon coon as liS possible after he be was gone cone This promise made at Lord North North- cliffe's cliffe's bedside when hen the tir wings pings of the angel angelof of death were already brushing his thinned pain face was redeemed the theother theother other diy by the marriage marriage mamae of Lady Lady Northcliffe to Sir Robert Hudson That wedding set loose loos the tongues of the gossips and brought to light many facts concerning the conditions in inthe inthe the Northcliffe family that were ero care care- carefully carefully fully hidden ludden from view as long as the great publisher lived And from this till mass of facts and rumors the public can now get what is probably a fairly truthful idea of the th amazing treatment Lord Northcliff Northcliffe gave the love triangle In which he formed what bat is JS usually the unhappy and bitterly revengeful re corner Sir Robert lbert a widower since 1896 1895 and Lady Northcliffe ale aie said to have hava been In love since sine 1908 He lie is a n weal weal- wealthy wealthy wealthy thy man the th former chief agent of the Liberal party and as knighted for his services during the war in the British Brit Brit- British British ish Red Cross Crots Lord tord Northcliffe is i believed to ha have hae hn e been fully aware of the new romance that had claimed his Ius wife's heart since shortly after it began But ho behaved not at allas all as most husbands do under such circumstances On the contrary lie he repeatedly of offered to permit himself to be b divorced so Lady Northcliffe could marry Sir 7 Robert but his wife refused because of I her social ambitions and fear ot of scandal So Lord Northcliffe with apparently not the th slightest lIghtest bitterness in his heart did the tho th next bast b st thing Ho He effaced himself from the situation as far as ho he could and did everything to keep bel the theother theother th other two t corners of the triangle con continually together It had long been a matter of at com con comment ment that Sir Robert was practically a permanent member of the Northcliffe family and that wherever Lord and Lady Northcliff Northcliffe went he was sure lure to togo togo go 10 along too 4 When the publisher was wa stricken with his last illness and felt sure his Ius days were numbered the th future happiness V of his wife wito and the other man seems to have been a matter of graver con con- concern concern cern to him than hiS own serious con con- condition condition or the tb disposition of his vast 4 estate r n I e Lr L r rI I a at t A r rI I 0 d i isi x r si six Sir Robert Hudson who shares with his new bride Lord Northcliffe's amazing legacy of love aid for for- forgiveness forgiveness Ills His wife was waa already through hn his generosity a wealthy woman but b by outright gi gifts ts he Increased her fortune by several million lie Ile was as de- de de Sir Robert and she should never lack laek for comforts or luxuries If ho he could help It While handing out these millions he drew a will providing that if his wife married again agun she should be deprived of ofa a large share of the estate But this is as behe believed ed to have hav been only II a ruse ruso to conceal the true facts in the matter With all his passion for pub pub- publicity Lord Northcliffe seems to have hae ha e shrunk from bringing his own wrecked love life into the tha worlds world's view When he had arranged his wife's financial future to his satisfaction he apparently became haunted b by the fear that she and Sir Robert would out f respect for his memory postpone their marriage foi for tn Ln unduly long time He did not want ant them to do this lie He wished them to taste at once one the hap hap- happiness happiness to which his death opened thew the thew 1 w ay ny One day when his death seemed lia- lia liable ha lia-bl lia ble to occur at any minute he aston aston- astonished astonished the tho nur nurse e by insisting that he be propped up in bed and that his wife and Sir Robert Hud Hudson on be summoned to the room When they had come Lord Northcliffe North North- Northcliffe cliffe commanded them to take each others other's hands As they obeyed he pointed a o tremulous hand at Sir Robert and said Mid in tones surprisingly clear for a dying man Promise me on your word of honor that you'll marry her her-at her at once once-as once soon Boon as Iam I am gone Sir Robert is said to have given his promise and then Lord Northcliff demanded de- de demanded de demanded and received ed a similar promise from his sobbing wife As he heard her pledge a little smile of satisfaction lit hI up his struck death face and he sank back on the pillows exhausted Not many hours later he was dead Viscount Northcliffe was as always ays avery a very strange man almost as eccentric a fig fig- figure figure ur ure as Napoleon Bonaparte and no one over ever knew what strange thing he was going to say say or do next nest Publisher of at least a hundred newspapers including The London Times Tames which used to be called The Thunder r and n a most reo re- resourceful re resourceful and influential unofficial citi- citi citiZen citi citizen zen of Great Britain he h seemed to pre pre- pre pr rl I Lord Northcliffe pointed a tremulous hand 1 a at Sir Ro and said in tones c j clear for a dying man Promise me that you'll marry her her-at once once-as soon r am gone Sir has is said to i iv v e n his f 1 4 f- f fV fm ff V m f promise and then R the Viscount de and andre re- re received a similar t r promise from his sobbing wife N I y f r k Y 44 r y Sir a t 7 V i f j ja u 4 t 1 R r rye a ry I Ir r h p b r r rt 4 c h ha f fr I t tr a s 4 w we e f iw v vi i ae sn l it A d N Nn n I IThe The Lady Northcliffe who kept her promise to her dying husband kY y marrying Sir Robert Hudson the man who for fifteen years yeats had been her almost constant fr 1 i 11 1 1 r l lLady f ry G a l M Lady Northcliffe in Red Cros Cross uni- uni uniform uni uniform form during durins the war sent t two 0 distinct personalities to those who knew knew him well Everyone Every one seems to agree that he had great breadth of vision and that his sense bense of oC humor was as one of his outstanding outstanding ing mg characteristics The popular impression Impression sion of him lum is JS a II sort of human machine II a man of iron and end a czar I Jt Jt t is quite true that he was an auto autocrat crat Brat for he intended to be that and an announced pounced the fact Ile H 11 believed in one pun one 11 1 power and said frequently that a newspaper publisher should be a II czar re- re re only to himself Despite the terror with which ho he In in- in inspired In his employees especially those who knew their work was not up to the tho mark he seems to have hav hada had a kindly human side His family life and af- af affections affections af affections were never allowed with his work however and he made madeno madeno no secret of his first and foremost inter interest est eat being in that work lIe Ho was heard to say once one A mans man's career comes ahead of ever ever else And he h practiced what hat he h preached living h mg every cry moment as it were ere with his finger finger- on the tho pulse of events vents Yet affection had its place In the up mak make up up of the czar of The London Times It is kno known knon n that his affection for his mother was one of the most Im- Im Important important im important mil influences on his life ICe and those with whom ho he came camo in contact I alwis a insisted that however hard a figure hI he his loyalty to friends was a per cent Northcliffe h hid hod id many sides Pcr o s who knew him had learned to look 1001 for jor forthe forthe the ur UT expected in his attitude and uti rud den ui den flashes of humor What could one not e expect from a man who ho always ore II a large red necktie with big white spots on it who oho told wid the British people what was good for them tutored and kings and removed Cabinet oili cers cers from office This map mall man whose step tep mado the reporters on The London Times turn pale often tooka took wok n II freak on and asked them out to dine with him Sometimes he would call can down all his editors in turn and then send them m l invitations to a garden l party arty He Ho was bored With interviewers but always found time timeto timeto to hold a woman reporters reporter's hand hand and call her My dear although I 1 f e didn't ap- ap approve approve ap approve prove of women in the th news field What Whatever ever his attitude was either on the th ma- ma maneuvers ma maneuvers in France Franco or the subject of short skirts it was something unexpected Ins Ills habits and freaks were so odd u uto uto asto to actually overshadow his greatness In Inthe Inthe the public mine mind mind Northcliff Northcliffe who kept himself in touch with Ith the th French and English generals over the wires wares every everyday everyday everyday day in the critical periods of the war does not stand out so de definitely in the th worlds world's mind as Northcliffe who insisted on going to bedat bed at nt about 9 o'clock and arising at 5 ti or G 6 o'clock in m the morning It I is an actual fact that this peculiar lender of Englishmen liked to call cal up his friends in m London at 7 o'clock in the morning and after arousing them from sound slumbers upbraid them for being sluggards Interviews with in m Amerl Ameri iea Ameri-iea lea ica under rapid for fire fire for he seldom gave eav a reporter reporter orter more than a few minutes minutes- minutes show a keen sense of humor based on abroad a abroad abroad broad kno knowledge ledge of human nature and human affairs Reporters who talked to him said that he hadn hada had a n mind hung in the tho mIddle and working at both ends When asked why there were so many divorces since the th war he replied Im- Im Immediately im immediately mediately Because there were ere so BO many marriages during the war Its war its it's obvious Also because in wartime the women women got used to liv 11 living Ing without their husbands and found out how v pleasant it was One On of Ins his czari caprices was to have havo every man sn woman and child In Great Britain taught to swim He H said they must roust learn to ti swim and that de de- de decided d it An offer of was made for any person pel son on who ho could emulate tho the late Captain Webb and SHIM rains the English Channel from Dover to Calais All AI kinds of so-called so champions offered to do it and gave exhibitions of their prowess mostly on the tho cellar flaps of the th adja adja- adjacent adja- adja adjacent adjacent cent T Twenty four lr fo professional professional slona I vers were ere engaged to see that the champions were not drowned After laying siege ties to Dover for a week week f JA 4 1 f Jr fAJr fA s sI tf I t- t x Iii RW v I A Id I'd 1 z Y i AM ft ri rill ll i l 1 1 The late Ite Viscount Northcliffe which the inhabitants will never forget the competition was held One champion stayed in the water nine hours bours and nearly landed in Tunce Two i others made a fair attempt and nd three other alleged champion swimmers were ere hauled into Dover harbor by the th life Ide savers life savers to make mae mak pictures for the th news news- newspapers newspapers papers It wa was at t tho the newspaper offices that he did the most astonishing things There seemed to bo be two tao One was the th dynamic publisher a fiam flam flaming ing furnace turnac of energy who thrived cd on attack and reveled in exposure This was as the samo Northcliff who used sar- sar sarcasm sar sarcasm and satire satira like lik a lash The Th other Northcliffe was a companionable human being being-a sort of Peter Pan who would never grow up and in this rolo rol no one could ha have hae e performed more mor kindly 1 acts toward his employees It was as in 11 1899 whIle he was struggling struggling gling desperately to build up his first newspaper ne that Lord Northcliffe or AlFred Al- Al Alfred Al Alfred fred Harmsworth as he ho was then mar married reed fled the woman to whom hu ho has now left such an amazing legacy of love lov and Milner l Her lIer name wa was Mary Elizabeth Ilizabeth and she was as a typical English beauty of nineteen highly talented and broadly educated Her lIer father while not a mil mil- millionaire millionaire had extensive e and very profits profitable ble business interests in the West Indies Until the tb success of Harmsworth's struggling first publication was assured his wife took an active hand in helping him She went to the office offic e every ery day dayto dayto dayto to assist in reading manuscripts type type- typewriting typewriting correspondence clipping news news- newspapers newspapers newspapers writing papers and correcting proofs Mrs Harmsworth proved to w have un- un unusually un unusually usually good augment in literary mat mat- matters matters matters and was as of great assistance in giving giving ing hints concerning stories and articles that would have a special appeal for women Long before Harmsworth had gained his title and nd become Viscount NorthclifFe of Elmwood his wife was known as one of the most Int interesting and attractIVe women in English society Until Sir Robert Hudson came into her li life e every every- everybody everybody everybody body used to remark how exceptionally e well suited she sh seemed to her distin distinguished husband What What impressed their friends most of all was the fact that after Lord North cliffo became many times a he and his wife Ife remained as charm charm- charmingly charmingly democratic in their ways ys as they had been when his bis income was a bare baro 60 50 a x week The had no children This was a great disappointment to them and is believed to have hs had a great deal to do with the formation of the tho love triangle that was broken by the tho Viscounts Viscount's death To make up for Ills his own belof lack bel- of little vT ones Lord Northcliffe devoted himself unceasingly to charities Also ho h tooka took a deep interest in the tho families of his brothers and nd sisters and was practical practical- practically ly father by adoption to n R host host of the th sons and daughters daughter of members rs of his lus staff taff 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