An Extravagant Swindle.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 75, 8 May 1903, Page 7

An Extravagant Swindle.

Mr Whitaker AVright is one of those men at whom a passer-by instinctively looks twice. He is a personality who is commonly called magnetic. With inches little, short of sev-enty-two, with avoirdupois approaching eighteen stone. He is a massive man, an impressive man. Yet there is nothing assertive in his appearance. Jie abhors that glitter of diamond ring and gleam of golden watch-chain whereby the self-made man is apt to advertise his worldly success. lMv Whitaker Wright dresses plainly in black, and is unadorned by a speck of jewellery. The only thing in his Composition ne::i; his bulkiness which impresses the casual beholder' is his American accent. One finds it diliieult to reconcile that nasal twang with his appearance, until one remembers that he spent a great deal of his lire-millionaire days :n America, and that he married a very charming American lady. Unassuming in dress and manner though he in. IUV Whitaker Wright iias proclaimed himself a millionaire' in more- substantial ways. .His racing yacht, which was the craft of its season three, years ago, heat the German Emperor's Meteor four races in'succession : he purchased a steam yacht, one of the trimmest and daintiest that ever entered the Mediterranean—in short, he has had most things a man could wish for.

But <ho glory find pride of Mr Whi Inker Vv'i-ifrht has for. Ion;;- been Hie beiuitiful house. Lea Park, near j Cioldal.'iiiiit;, Surrey. Lea Park almost touches the unattainable, oven i"or a millionaire. It is an Aladdin's palace—a palace that is estimated to have cost something like. £250,000. When Mr Wright acquired the estate some, seven years ago, he gave liis architects and contractors or- , ders to employ f>oo workmen at ■ one time, and entered upon a sell- ! cine oi' building- and beautifieation which would have'required twelve years to complete. A favourite past me of his was to take Ions;- walks on the estate and select positions ' lor artificial lakes, hand-made lulls, imitation chasms, and realistic grottoes. With a, wave of the hand lie ordered the removal of an existing lake. With a nod of the head he brought about the disappearance of a hill which he deemed an obstruction to the view. "We will j have the hill there." he .said in effect, and a miniature mountain sprang up in a, more approved position. ?.Ir Wright was sedulous in his work of transforming the face of nature. He dispensed with one lake and constructed two. Under the surface of the larger lie built a kind of conservatory with a roof of glass so that in summer lie and his guests could bask under the lake and keep cool. There is an air -of romance about this lake. Entering one of the boats, a visitor is rowed through a chasm, and eventually arrives at a fairy-]ike cavern. Steps hewn out of the living rock load to hidden galleries, whoso wealth of Oriental decoration are rare statuary burst upon the view with pleasur. able surprise. jli' Whitaker Wright has a uredilec.tion for marble fountains. Lea Park is studded with them. One. represents a gigantic dolphin. It is carved out of a single block of marble and weighs over thirty tons. No railway could carry such a niasj sive piece of sculpture, and it was hauled to the estate by traction engines. Another beautiful fountain was found by l\ir Wright in an ancient Italian palace, lie made a bid for it, which was accepted, and he had the fountain carried piecemeal to his yacht. He also brought back with him several Italian sculptors to lix the fountain up at Lea' Park.

As for the treasures in the ( house, only ;m auctioneer's catalogue could do then) justice. A striking feature ;.s (he oi).scrviitory fitted up with the latest in.struinent.s. Mr Wright is something oi" an amateur astronomer. There is also a char, mini.- little theatre, the decorations of which cost .tin,o(lo. The drop curtain represents an expenditure or £1,1)00.

Stables were built to accommodate fifty hor:;es. The fittings arc of polishfd g-uii-nictal, ap.cl cost about £:5,5()0. A row of oak settees is arrang-ed behind the stalls for the convenience of visitors who wish to sit and wonder. By the way, Mr Whilnker Wright would probably not have lived to experience his present notoriety had he not durina; his prospecting'days in America made friends with an old Red Indian .squaw by presenting her with a "quid" of tobacco. In return for his generosity 1 lady Redskin informed him that her tribe was on the warpath, with the object of exterminating every "white f;;ce" in th.it locality. .She hid him beneath some skins in her tent, and -when' the sanguinary "braves" appeared and asked if •she had Even him the grateful squaw prevaricated, and said that he had passed on in another-direction.

Of all the flowers tTmt bloom in the spnnfr, those of (he -'bulb family" are the most br.r.itiFul and most popular, ilie cullivation or bulbs has become quite a Jipc art and it is not uncommon to hear that extravagant prices even up «o .-tiOO l.iivo bef-n p.-ud for a specially choice variety. The "U.P.C. A. tatinp ad-vant-igo oi the expert Irnowledge of severa membevp of then- staff have sucrjcedecl in securing one o{: the choicest assortments of Navcissi. Hyacinths, Crocus Tulips, Preosias, Ixms, etc. ever offered \n the colony. Gardcncvs who desire to replenish tlowcv beds ctuinoi; do better than inspect t-liu slock on hand at the United l?AUinn?s' Co-Op. Associatiox Pfilmerston JN ror(li. Assortments made up from os and upwards, and scut post free to any address