POST FOR WEALTH

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22198, 7 December 1946, Page 7

POST FOR WEALTH

U.S. AMBASSADORSHIP NEW ENVOY TO LONDON DEMANDS ON RESOURCES (Special Correspondent.) (10 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. 6. The recently appointed American Ambassador to London, Mr. Oliver Gardner, is expected to be the first Ambassador to occupy 'the new Embassy, Winfield House, in Regent’s Park. Winfield House was formerly the London home of the Woolworth heiress, Miss Barbara Hutton, who gave it to the American Government for use as an Embassy. It is estimated that £40,000 will be required to put the house in order and, for this reason, the previous Ambassador, Mr. Averill Harriman, did not ask the British authorities for labour and materials during the war years. The post of American Ambassador in London is one which must, of necessity, be filled by a wealthy man, for although the salary is £12,500 annually, experience has shown that the Ambassador must contribute another £20.000 from his own resources. Unlike Mr. Harriman. who inherited his wealth, Mr. Gardner, who is the son of a North Carolina doctor, made his money in lav/ and later as a cotton mill owner.