WHEN FORTUNE SMILES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22961, 12 February 1938, Page 10 (Supplement)

WHEN FORTUNE SMILES

*|— IROM a gloomy two-roomed; f"l home in a Glasgow slum to a magnificent mansion,.;.with 13 rooms at Queen's Gate, Dowanhill, the Mayfair of Clydesidel Such is the extraordinary-.transformation in the BUtrovctidingg of a Glasgow bakery employee, Andrew Kellie. his wife, and their four children. Ina, Shena, Jean and Roderick, whose ages range from five to 12 years. The Dofranhill mansion, which cost several thousand pounds, was the ■former home of Mr. Alexander Walker, one-time city assessor of Glasgow.

Mr. Walker endeavoured unsuccessfully to rfell the house, and a case was later heard in which he requested permission to .subdivide the residence into flits. - "Play to their Hearts' Content" The title deeds allow only one family to occupy thp house, and as neighbours opposed the idea of flats because they believed it would lower the amenities of the district?, permission to convert the mansion was refused by Sheriff-Princi-pal Sir Archibald Campbell Black. Recently Mr. and Mrs, Kellie were Among a number of tenants summoned at Glaigow. Central Police Court for failing to obey an order of the sanitary inspector to vacate a condemned building in Shaftesbury Lane, Anderston. When 'Mr. Walker learned of the plight of the Kellie family, lie got in touch with the parents. He offered them the use of the empty mansion at a rental not to exceed that of their former home, which was 5s 9d a wee I:. Interviewed at her now home, Mrs. Kellie-told a= .newspaper representative: "It is all too wonderful. J donot know what to say?' Everything is just mar-

vellous, and my only fear is that I shall shortly wako up and find myself! in the dirt and gloom. of Shaftesbury Lane." > , 1

Mr. and Mrs. Kellie; plan to convert the former billiards room of the mansion into a playroom for the use of thjeir children.' At. the moment, rhowever, their chief, joy is the lawn, where they can play without hindrance, or molestation, to their hearts' content. "Although officially we shall occupy the whole mansion," explained Mrs.' Kellie, "actually we shall live in only two or three frooms, since we havß ;no furniture with which ,to furnish the ■j'ther apartments. "But we have the joy of bathrooms of our own, and of being able to turn on electric light and heat whenever required. House-warming Party "Both my husband and myself are bewildered by our good fortune. We are going to hold a house-warming party. It is understood that for the occasion one of the largest rooms in the mansion will be converted into a ballroom, and that the majority of the invited guests will be the Kellies' former neighbours in Shaftesbury Lane. But while things have a roseate hue for the Kellies at the moment, an unexpected complication may upset things, While the family are paying only {is 91 a week rent, the Dowanhill mansion is assessed at £9O in the Glasgow valuation roll, and in present conditions the occupier will be called upon to pay the city rates, amounting to almost lis a week. Mr. Walker contends that the rating value of the house should be reduced to that of the rent .■ now paid by the Kellies. But it is unlikely that officialdom will accept this argument, as similar cases fought in the past by the city assessors' department hayo .invariably ended in their winning an awardjin their favour.