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Show P fV-y 1 hir Ancestral Castles and Other Precious w I 'Possessions Pawned or Sold, and Now the Proud x I Lords and Ladies f Must Go to Work I P "Castlw. yachts, historic jewels, paintings by the old masters, even k precious relics as the armor in which some ancestor fought d have long since been pawned or sold in the effort to make J both ends meet" NOT to long ago people would have regarded a picture of a European nobleman in coronet grebes of state vainly attempting to L the wolf of poverty from his door ul ridiculous piece of exaggeration. er- t) 'sr. to-day this very situation is a bfttW a ail tie countries of Europe, lire jj uJj ud titled ladies of every rank stsjq g. io ?hoo the wolf from the lodaij Uff wiifa all desperation of man fffeoln who never owned any proud L in jome cases they oven have sold t r, fcwlf the door and raised mone on Jetigu .jc coronets and robes to appease tteb M" 5tl11 he not leavc U j yl rt of the wolf is taken by the jryj" u collector and the high cost of living. if J. there seems to be no escape from : . ,vcn f'-'i' r a. 1 1 y itself. Kings ct firuig up their yachts, not being t io afford the expense of keeping fBup. Queens are leading the way in tatfboi'i economies. Dukes and duch- aa, ta:!i, counts and lords are pawn- ' y er selling outright their ancestral " - and other of then dearest pos- lUPLI KM J ft rt ewhl?hed order of things which at Bow: for centuries is being over-VJi over-VJi The upheaval is being even r Sim ret thorough than the French Revolu-Hfl Revolu-Hfl Meacd though it has left the nobility d ati live and titles, it seems prepared Tt d wipue them little c:?e. He problem of no small proportion i tie peerage of mrm nations has ) ?0 ktcto raise money to meet their taxes )( J tii little left over for .living ex-jei ex-jei It recalls the days of the Middle Vstw the feudal nobles, hard up Hi. Sctoa, in that time of scarce money. or tiM powerful Medici family of bankers and money lenders. FVom the crest of the Medici, by the way, is derived that sign of the three golden bails which marks tho pawnshop. Those who hold proud titles are In line to-day at the door of the money lender and the auction room, carrying precious possessions to be pledged or sold. Hard pressed by the heavy burdens bur-dens which descended after the war. those of blue blood, duko and duchess, knight and lady, bring treasures and heirlooms which have come down in their families for centuries. One offers his castle for sale, another relinquishes historic jewels. Still others part with paintings by the old masters, or with such precious relics as the armor in which somo ancestor fought. Yachts, motor cars and other modern luxuries have long since been sacrificed in tho effort to make both ends meet. Those Americans who trroan about the Weight of taxation need only make a comparison with that of the European nations more heavily hit by the war to feel a great deal eased. In many nations of Europe the taxation amounts practically prac-tically to confiscation. Large incomes have shrank amazingly. When the tax offices are through trimming a legacy the result is a great shock to the heirs. The Duke of Portland was one of the first prominent Englishmen Eng-lishmen to make public pub-lic admission of the straits to which the nobility have been reduced. Possibly some day may sec .y under the ham- ' .: mtv his famous ( v t estate- of Wei- j beck Abbey in jL" Nottinghamshire, jT renowned for Its Ifcl r , fifteen miles of :MfX" ' . .. W subterranean B p passages built at J j oT?' Maidttone, the former Marghcretta Drexel. In spite ' all the wealth this American heiress brought her husband vcral members of his family have lately been forced to hunt up ways of earning a living who has been earning her living as a mannequin and is now running a fashionable dressmaking establishment of her own The Hon. Gabrielle Borlhvick (on the left) explaining details of automobile auto-mobile construction to a cla-s of English society women in the school which she conducts in connection with her large garage business a cost of $10,000,000 by a previous duke who desired seclusion. Speaking t. a large group of his loyal tenants, the duke declared: "It is no use whatever blinking blink-ing at the fact, however disagreeable dis-agreeable it may be, and it is of no use deceiving oneself or the fcv. j countr th;it if the present high y-f:'; ' ri.tc of t;. .cation continues, and if the present scale of high death duties is maintained, there must H& be, and there inevitably will be, V, . a wholesale closing' down of the 1 lamer country house?- -if not 0fP now, at all events when the present generation passes away The burdens on land are now so oxces-sive oxces-sive that many landed proprietors cannot can-not maintain their old family residences in a habitable state." Among those whose actions soon fulfilled ful-filled this gloomy prophecy was the Duke of Devonshire, who sold Devonshire Devon-shire House in London. Others who hae sold their homei include the Duke of Bedford, the Duke of Westminster, the Duke of Rutland, the Duke of Marlborough, Marl-borough, the Duke of Grafton, Lord Camdeno and Lord Port Kiii); George himself is believed to be in the same position as many other large owners Like them he finds economic eco-nomic conditions so altered that he is forced to take the advice of financial advisers and realize on detached properties. prop-erties. The depleted state of the royal trea.-uiy trea.-uiy is frequently the subject of grave discussion in Parliament. The king and queen are doing their best to adapt themsleves t otheir sadly reduced income. in-come. They have given up their yacht, they are dressing more modestly and trying to cut down the number and costliness of tho court's social affairs. As for other countries, the ruin which has come upon the Russian nobility is too well known to require comment. An indication of the situation in Germany is the news that former royal castles in Saxony, which became the property of th state after the revolution, may be bought at as low a figure as X'2,000. The state, lacking the funds to maintain the ca.stles longer as museums, has put them up for sale. But castles and paintiags and jewels will go only so far toward meeting the rising costs which beset the once l The Countes? of Clonmell, popular in court circles and now making a great success suc-cess as proprietor and manager of a London laundry I wealthy and powerful peerage Once all posxsessions of market value have been disposed of, only one thing remains to do. And that is to go to work. So the world is being treated to the amazing spectacle of the scions of titled aristocracy leaving the luxury to which they have always been accustomed and engaging in occupations that range all the way from vulgar trado to rough manual labor. Among the noblewomen who have plunged into business with a will is Lady Clonmell, wife of the Earl of ClonmeUi whose family was ennobled 200 years ago. Ladv Clonmell is the active head of a modern laundry plant in London. Princess Troubetzkoy, who once was an ornament of the court of the late Czar of Russia, has taken up the painting paint-ing of glassware and hats and has enjoyed en-joyed great success. Capitalizing an idea of convenience, the Hon. Mrs. John Fortesque, wife of the fifth son of Earl Fortesque, has organized an establishment which designs de-signs gowns that slip on and require to fasten them only one pail" of the bothersome hooks and eyes. When Lady Hnneywood laid down war work she took up the management of hotels, and now she has four in her string The Honorable Gabrielle Borthwick is the head of a large garage, and in connection con-nection with it she conducts a school where fashionable women are taught the practical fundamentals of motor car operation, construction and repair. The second Duchess of Marlborough, who was Gludys Deacon of .Boston, is ving her personal attention to the larms on her husband's Blenheim estate. Another noblewoman who has been forced to '.ike up farjnjng is Iady Marcia Black, sitftei of the Earl of Koden. Lady Susan Townley. sister of the Earl of Albemarle, is making money OUt of a stock and poultry farm Lady Egerton an4 Lady Bingham are partners In a fashionable dressmaking busncss, while Lady Marjorie Dalrymple, sister of the Earl of Stair, is sue-cessful sue-cessful with a suede shop. Lady Henry Bentinck is n much sought after interior decorator. Lady Limerick has a shop which deals in valuable antiques. When Margheretta Drexel became the bride of Viscount Maidstone; :-he brought him a generous share of one of Amer-ica's Amer-ica's greatest fortunes. Yet. in spite of this windfall, several numbers of the proud Maidstone family find themselv. s so hard hit financially that they have been forced to hunt up ways of earning a living. The Baroness de Reuter, a well known French society woman who has been working as a mannequin, is now opening a dressmaking establishment in Pari-. .M Princess Ifagaloff, sister-in-law of the Qrand Duke Michael and once worth ' H millions, and a number of other Russian H noblewomen are earning the'r living as H mannequins. Several Russian princesses have become stenographers and chorus girls; two Hungarian women of royal birth recently took positions as gov-ernesses. gov-ernesses. And many men of the nobility are H grubbing just as hard for a living too. al- H though less prominently Their efforts run rather to retrenchment and to strict economy in their estates. But many H noblemen, particularly the Russians, H have gone to work. Prince Olinow is employed as a butler in New York. Gen- H eral Lodijensky runs a millinery shop. H Prince Sergius worked for a time as 3 street sweeper in a Western city, and so In the meanwhile the United States, H which forswore all titles when it be- aim a nation, is providing the market H for many of the possessions which the H European nobility are being forced to H irive up. And Americans are htepping in with their wealth and reviving the social life of London In fact, most of the H brilliant balls and entertainment- of last season were given by Americans. |
