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Show bjbjbjf .j'ni 'i.i' H LED A DOUBLE LIFEr H A CURIOUS CASE WHICH IB BX- H CITINO ENGLAND. IV.. Hi. Make of rotlUn.l Alas T. fl BBBJB llrar? Uric llwml.m la lr H Claim In Ihe llabedom The ! BBBBl l-AM.., fNB of the moat In-Itreetlng In-Itreetlng lawaulte (hat Kngllth eourta have ever hid to deal with U new In progrre In HnK t.n.l and will in n probability b fought from court to rourl, coneum-I coneum-I nit pflip yeare of lime end mil- B Horn of money The great dukedom BJ of Portland, with an Income of ll.f.00,- H 000 a rur. la the aubject of dltpule, nnd B (he atlegatlona made by the plaintiff. If BBB luttalned. will reveal the moit extra- BBBBJj ordinary Dr. Jrkrll and Mr. Hyde ex- BBBBl latenc that lias em come to light BBBBj The duke of IMrlland. whnte alleged BBBBJj double life It now to he Inveatlgatcd, BBBBl waa the aeeond rleheal peer In ling- BBBBJj land, and It l claimed that beldr BBBBJj hit life aa an eccentric unmarried no- BBBBJj Lleinan. ht alao had an exlatence aa a BBBBl fondon ahopkeeper, with a wife and BBBBJ family BBBBJ Thomaa Charlea Druce waa the nam BBBH of the ahopkeeper who la declared to BBBBJ hare been none other than the duke of BBBH I'ortland, and It la hla daughter-in-law, BBBBJ Mr. Anna Maria Druce, who haa In- BBBBJ tlgatcd the preaent action. Mra. BBBBJ Druce haa made an application BBBBJ to exhume the alleged body of BBBBJ her late father-in-law from a vault BBBBJ In Illghgate cemetrey. and thli appll- BBBBJ cation la a flrat atep In her attempt to BBBBJ ITOie that Ihe aald Thomaa Charlea BBBBJ Druce. the well-known linker alrret BBBBJ furniture man, waa no other than the BBBBJ fifth duke of I'ortland BBBBJ Mra. Dntce'a atory. of which the haa V!j already produred a remarkable con K! flrniatlon, la that the duke led a double H life, each part nt which wai trangely BBBBJ and almoat Incredibly dlallnrt Hlte BBBB aaya he lived In London aa a ahopkep- BBBB er named Druce, and a married man BBS He lived on hla rait eatalea aa a duke BBBB and a bachelor He pretended In die BBBB aa Druce In ISM. Hla daughler-ln- BJBfll law allegea that only a roll of lead BJBJfl will be found In hla coffin He died aa BBBJ the duke In 1179. There la no doubt BBBH that the duke died then The remit Baa of prorlng that Charlea Thomaa Druce BBBJ waa the fifth duke of I'ortland would BBBfl be to Iramfer the dukedom and the BBBJ enormoua eatatta to the aon of Mra, BBBJj Druce. Sidney (leorge Druce, n poor BBBJ tailor of :), now In Auttralla. The BBfl preeent duke of Portland, who would BBBJ be ouated from hit poalllon, la one of BBBJ the moat rontplcunua noblemen In BBBJ England. He holde IhVnfflce qf mae- BBt. t ot the horae, lhe"greateet In the BBBJj ' queen'e houiehnld Jfe haa won Ihe BBBJ Derby twice He waa a direct coualn BBBJ of the fifth duke whom he auccecded BBBJ Moat ettraordlnary poind of rearm- BBBJ blance have been proved between the BBBJ late Thomaa Charlea Druce and the BBB fifth duke ot I'ortland Druce had a BBB eecret entrance to hla ahop, the linker BBB atreet baiaar nnd n eyilem ot aub BBB ' terranwui pataagc under It, The lalo BBB duke undermined hla ealate, Welbeck BBB abbey, with mllee ot aubterranean pae- BBB age. having many elite, by meant ot BBB which he could hide hla movement. BBB With vaat wealth and great power and BBB no InllmalM. the late duke of I'ortland BBB waa In a petition to conceal hla move- BBB menta and aurround hlniaelf with ray. BBB tery. Nobody on tho flute or In the BBB houao waa permltlrd to apeak to him BBBJ without flrat helm: tpoken to. He had BBBJ Itaued ordera that nobody waa to ree- BBBJ ognlie hla presence by a courlvay, a H Tin: iiuki: av 1-outi.and. EBt. talute or even by a glance. If the duke BBJR , of I'ortland were walklog about the BBJ ' tountry and he met one of hla tanauta MB or employee the latter would be In. Bfl ttantly dltmlaaed from tlio netnliWr- H hood It he manlfetted any knuwled"ge BE ot the pretence of the duke Since the BJB openlnc of the trUI It line been dl BJB covered that the premltea In Maker BJBj etrect contain many of the feature! BJBl which the duke of Portland Introduo- BJH ed Into Wtlbeck Abbey The duke BEJ waa chiefly known for what waa called BJB hla "mama for underground tunntji, BJB One or two membera of hla family hat) BJB aeen an enormoua underground dining BBJJ room which he bad built at Welbeck JBB Abbey, aa well aa a drawing room, tlt- BJBJ ting room, and huge act gallerlea, the BBJ decoration nt which, be laid, oocupled BJBJ nearly all hla time It haa now bttn Jf discovered that tbe duke of I'ortland BJBJ bad a rule In hla houtehold to the BJBJ effect that when he dlaippeared under. ground Into theeo enormoua chamber!, upon which he had apent over a nil lion and a half dollara, no acrvant waa under any clrcumatanere allowed to follow him. More eitraordlnary even than theae aubterranean rooma waa a walk or road over alx mllea Ionic, all underground, and built by the duke of I'ortland underneath hie ealate Thli amailnR tunnel, which alone coat nearly near-ly a million dollara, waa long regarded aa a fad or, amuaement ot hit grace Hut now that It la claimed that the duke of I'ortland waa In reality leading a double life. It la aeen that thla underground under-ground pataage lending from Welback Abbey may have been In fact an In-gentoua In-gentoua device to enable him to dla-appear dla-appear from'the country where he waa known na the duke of I'ortland, nnd come up to Indon aa Druce, the ahop-keepcr ahop-keepcr The tunnel runt con pletcJy under Ihe eatale, and with Ita varlout branchea opena on aevrral country roada widely aeparaled. All theee op-enlnge, op-enlnge, It hat now been found, are dote to railway atatlnna, affording eaay acceea to tandon, about two hnun away. In thla way It would have been quite potalble for the duke ot I'ortland to deacend Into one of the aubterranean aubterrane-an chambera of Welbeck Abbey aftef having had hit brenkfaat there, and to have come up lo Iindon without pan-Ing pan-Ing ovef hla ealate, and without being aetn to leave the home Old eervnnle who have now been eiamlned aay thai It waa a very frequent occurrenco for the duke of I'ortland thui to dliappenr and atay away tor twenty-four or thlr- THOMAS CHAIH.Kfl DllOCa ty-eli houra. While tho duke waa commonly regarded aa being craiy up on thla one particular point of jindcrr ground conttructlon and eilatence, he waa a notoriously good builneee man In all thai related to the management, of hla vnat nryprrtlra. Tile Torllafid revenue cnnrnuiutty' Increaard under hla ahrewd managcmrnt.-aml he left Ihe ealate In aplemlld condition, yielding yield-ing a revenue nf over tl.UIO.000 a year The other aide of the duke'a life, according ac-cording to the allegatlona, waa aeen In the Dakar atreet baiaar, the ahop founded by Thomaa Chprlca Druce, now aald to bo the fifth, duke' or I'ort land It la atlll In exIitrfUVJ It It an eitentlve and valuab p&prrty.'wltli a well-eetahllahed palroiyigo among the wealthy reeldtnla of iftWeat !n,d,i At the preeent timer It UJdonea to a wealthy politician of aomKirpmlpcnce. Rlnce the litigation bcicnljalwMch now thrratena tbe title and wtaloa of the pretent duke of rortlind.ali examination examina-tion haa been made of th dnderground reglona of the linker alrort baiaar TlUa baa dltcloted the ifitraordlnary fart that -the place la honoycombed with tunnela and trap door nnd mya-terlpua mya-terlpua pattagee. Here haro been found every meant to nable a man having control ot the premltea to leave and enter without anybody knowing It-One It-One former ntalttnnt manager at the llaker atreet Itniaar haa told how Drure rarely entered the ahop during the buay hour ot Ihe iluy when fail). lunabl peupht weiw ItVely to be preeent pree-ent He kept himself accreted In a room nt the luck, havtifadoubjo doora with a iHiaeage lending Into Die cellar. No employe of the ahnp waa allowed to enter thla room unlee Invited tn do aobyUruce Nobody In tho ahop could tell whether Drure Aa In tho room or not and had no mean nf finding out, and would have' been. dltmlHed for knocking nt Ihe door or dlaturblng, him. Theae rnlea were rlgoroualy enforced en-forced lilt In order that butlneta matter ahould be tettliM authoritatively authoritative-ly Druce would from time to tlmo notify hla chief manager ot tho hour and day when he might be expected, and they had to wait far him In an ,ol!ilS.I89DUA .- - ' ; 'the eoinn In the Hlnhguto cemetery, which wilt probably- be opencVI III" a f'uw vieeka to aee whethuf It contain n roll -tif lead or a akeltton, la-lhat of-Druft, of-Druft, the ahopkeeir who Iheil at M11IT1III. Hendon, and died Dec 1. Xi(i. lh coffin plate 'aaya, 'In llt aavvnty-flnt Jeer.'' Amdng tlitfrciuf-VrblcVilr tlitfrciuf-VrblcVilr Druce will produce Id etiurt In order to- lfniort her clnli(n nr MocufiTrrrtlt tfttlng to ahow thaDrjire, when preparUiH for hit alleged denlh. turned over to hlmiett aa the duke ot I'ortland a certain piece of properly valued at f 110 ooo It waa na a reault ot year ot labor on the part ot Mra. Drure to penetrate the myetery of the dltappeatance of thla 'property that ahe dltcovereilaa aba claimed, that he huaband' father waa the duke of Portland. Port-land. A period of fifteen ear Intervened between Ihe alleged death of Druce, the ahopkeeper, and the genuine death of the flftn duke of I'ortland. During thla time Mra Druce la "prepared tn ahow thit Druee the abopkeeper waa teveral tlmc.ajecnarul"Tlf T (Mfc former emplote:" p-, ' ... "" It I Juat nere tbaf'thn re'markab. atory told by.thta. weman -mveta Wfj teveral aUrtllng proof wlilch hxU already made a derided Impresaton u on the Judicial mind In England1, In,-wall In,-wall known that one of the moat dlf fleult thlnga to aecure In Jhe Unlled Kingdom la authorliallon from a coifrt to open n grave or roffln.'vUpon file mere atatement of Mr. Druce that the coffin In the Hlghgale cemetery -did not enclote the body It waa alleged to contain, the never could have eecured the authorisation which wa granted laat week by the chancellor ot the dlocete of London to open It. Mra Druce applied through-her rtf-lorney rtf-lorney lo the blahop of Indnn.'foi' liermlatlnn. to open thli coffin, alleging that It did not contain the body of, Druce, but Inttend a roll of lead.' Thel' blthop nf tendon turned the matter, over 16 Dr. Trlatam, tbe chancellor of the dlocete. who, alttlng In the conilt. lory court In the Wellington chapel ot Ht Paul' cathedral, heard the argu-. mrnt Dr Trlitam elated that permlaalon to open the coflln could not be granted without the written conaent qf the owner ot the tomh Thla Mra. Druce'a attorneya admitted, had not-been te-.cured te-.cured Three attorney, however. pointed our to tho chancellor tht4on-tnrry tht4on-tnrry to trie law nf England aml.Ur all rutlnm and practice, no phyalclan had ever certlried to Ihe death of Druce Iht ahopkeeper Tho death certificate produced In court ahowed thatlhe law had not been compiled with, the apace provided for the algnaturo of the attending at-tending phyalclan nevcr-hnvlltg.ibren filled In Dr Trltlam at on,ce.ni'inlF led that thli wa an ettraordlnary, f not a auaplcloua elrrumatnnce. It waa ahown by the attorneya of Mr' DruA that many other atranco facta Attended the alrange burial Updrt theae ficta Ihe chancellor of the dlocete granted pcrtntMlon lo open tho mftln. -Thereupon a wholly tiAoipected and quite remarkable re-markable feature of thla cniewnt.de-, velopeif The Druce lomB tn,Hlghitaff' cemetery belong. It aome, trr Herbert Drure n dn of the Itakcr atreet ahop. keeper and hla prlnclpaljrgntee. TtUi Herbert Druce la a wcaUharnan, Hi-, Ing near tondon. Althouf It might appear that hla (ntereet wfldld be te open tho grave and In every way to atrengthen the qiee of Mr. Dnire fo ' ahow that hla father wfia:haduke at i I'ortland, yet he laat the present tlmo cihauatlng every effort In an attempt to prevent examination ot tho coflln. Under Engllili Jaw ho la Illegitimate, and there It nothing for him to gain by II. Tho plan ot Mra, Drure la flrat to t-cure t-cure tho digging open tit tbfuDruco. grave before attempting td make gpcJ the clatma of her ion to the title of the duke of Portland. At tho preaent tliie Mr i, Druce, through her a(toineri, hai been aulliorlied to make an, examination examina-tion ot tti coffin, but eh tiaa been teew I pornrlly topped from doing to tr.. technical objection ou the part of the other aide. Thl reuulred the content of her ton That content waa aeenred by cable Hut Ihe nppoalng counttl at once objected lo a cabled content 11 Pg accepted In court, and Intlated that lite young man hlmtelf ahotrifl either p-r.'ar p-r.'ar In court In perton or tend hit written content duly certified from Auttralla. The aon Mill arrive l.a few week with all hla docum"Kle.Jn the rneanwhlle the grave la ' tlM'e watched, add lawyer on behalf ol i&y Drure are making every effort to tkit' the grave may be opened a toorl U poaalble. ' j |
