HERE AND THERE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2849, 21 October 1908, Page 81

HERE AND THERE.

— A Eomantic Precedent. — Earl Poulett, who has made a countess of Miss Sylvia Storey, is not, it is interesting to recall, the first man of his name and kii? to Taise an actress to the gilded j circle of the peerage. It is more than a century and a-half since the startling news flashed Tound London, "The Duke of Bolton has run. away, .vith Polly Peachum" ; -and the report proved to be perfectly true. Charles Paulet, third Duke of Bolton, KG., had in fact lost heart and head to and had eloped with pretty Lavinia Fenton. step-daughter of a coffeehouse keeper near Charing Cross, and the first Polly Peachum of Gay's " Bejggars' Opera,"' "having, as Dean " Swift says, |" settled four hundred a year on her during pleasure." fwenty-three years later he made her hie Duchess, a title which she- bore with dignity for nine years. According to Swift, Lavinia was no beauty ; but she was witty, accomplished, and charming. The curious incident at the j wedding of Earl Poulett and Miss Storey ! of the ring falling on the ground and be- | ing for some time thei subject of a fruit- • less search suggests the query as to what j would have occurred if the missing ring ; had not been- fonnd. In such case any • ring jent temporarily for the- purpose i TrouSd. have been an "-effective- subetito-fce, ! and another wedding ring could afterwards •• have been pieeur-ed. In one difetinI guished and historic Enjgiash family the same ring has been used for several, geneI raticms at the marriage of its members, j for which subsequently ordinary wedding ' rings are substituted. : — From Poverty to Wealth. — 1 Mr George Stubley, J.P., of Chestnut i Croft House, Carl ton, Yorks, who has left j a fortune of nearly £300,000, started life ■with his late brother James in a humble way, working as half-share piecers in a mill. From that position they rose to be "fettlers," at 12s a week. Every opportunity was seized to igain generaJ information, education, and a practical knowledge of the woollen industry When they had saved £150 the Wotners started the business which is now widely known as G. and J. StwWey (Limited), woollen -manufacturers, of Batley and Wakefield. The shaTe of one of the partners of an undertaking begun with a capital of £150 now contributes £16,000 to the State in the form of death duties. —£172,000,000 a Year in Foreign 'Food.— The agricultural statistics for 1907, pub- • lished by the British Board of Agriculture, j once again gives an amazing record of the I dependence of the British Isles on other countries. Britain spent last year on imported food alone over £172,000,000. On imports of wood a«d other agricultural produce, such as hay, she spent well over £200,000,000. More than, four-fifths of the wheat consumed in the United Kingdom now comes from abroad.. In the seven years 1859-1865 she imported on an average 1261b of wheat and flour per head of the population each year. This amount has nearly doubled by a steady process, which the accounts for 1907 show to be as protgre&sive as ever. 'Some of the details are appalling. Britain consumed in 1907 2,228,148,000 foieign eggs, a jrest numbei coming from as far off as Russia and Italy. Fifty years ago each of us ate eight foreign eggs in the year. Now we eat 53, or Tather more than one a week, including every member of the community. Some interesting figures are given on the general course of prices. The zenith of cheapness was reached in the years 18961900 ; since then there has been a ri&a in wheat, mutton, butter, cheese, and especially in bacon, which has risen over 20 per cent, in a generation. — Tbe Laird' oi Skibo. — There is an interesting account of Mr Carnegie and bis home in Scotland in j Munsey'fi. It is at Skibo Castle that Mr ! Carnegie gives full play tc his fondness i for getting out of life all that it has to | give. "Here he has everything 'that can j appeal to the vein of romance which runs ! ihiough his nature. . . . The flag ; which flutters from the main tower of the castle is very characteristic of the owner. On one side" of it is worked the British Union Jack, while the other shows tlie Stars and Stripes of the American Nat'onai Standard. There is something of ! t'is same odd but pleasing blend of 1 nationalities in the customs of the castle. The bagpipes summon his quests to breakfast much as in the days of * Waverley' aiwl 'Rob Roy,' . . . but the breakfast itself will -have many American dishes, and the appointments of the castle represent the latest devices for comfort which ran be found in the palatial cottages of Ivcuport." The only ornusion for a lon^ time wa© a smoking room ; for Mr Carnegie not merely dislikes tobacco himself, but h> said to object to its use by others. He has lately, however, conceded to the lovers of the "great igod Nicotine" a sanctuary where they may offer incense. — Claiming a Title. — j There is always a. large crop of people ! in America claiming English titles and fortunes. Sometimes they are justified, as in the case of the '"cowboy baronet" recently, but more often they are not. John Ford, an American repairer of musical instTurnents oi Philadelphia, claims «icccsMon to the baronetcy of Sir James Robert Cannithael, and a fortune modestly estimated at over £3,000,000. He and his sister, who lives in penury in New York, swear that they are the grandchildren of Sir James Robert Carmiuhael. who died in 1883. The latter's daughter married .i feaddler, they sa.y. This infuriated the proud baronet. His daughter wat also proud and likewise hont-st, and, refusing to lemain in England, she set forth with the poor saddler for America. The baronet is represented as unforgiving as regards his daughter, but it is claimed that he recognised -her marriage at Tunbridge Wells and promised tc leave his "grandchildren, who are not responsible

for their mother's fault, a legacy." Soon after this letter was ser.t to America the baronet died.