An Ample Kitchen

1901

What is said to be the largest kitchen in England is that of Raby castle, the seat of the Duke of Cleveland. It is 30 feet square, having three chimneys, one for the grate, a second for the stoves and the third for the great cauldron. The roof is arched, with a small cupola in the center. It has five windows, from each of which steps descend, but only in one instance to the floor, and a gallery runs round the whole interior of the building. The ancient oven has a diameter of 15 feet.

Vast as this kitchen is, it must have been sometimes taxed by the hospitality of former ages, for in one of the apartments of the castle 700 knights were upon one occasion entertained at the same time, and the knights of that day were men of brawn and sinew, who would think lightly of demolishing, each man of them, five pounds of beef, half a suckling pig and a venison pasty or two, washed down with huge flagons of brown October.

Three Days Too Late

1901

The Duke of Cumberland, whose reconciliation with the kaiser is said to have taken place, is a man of whom English people know little, though he might now have been the first personage in the empire had his father been born a week earlier than he was. He missed the throne of England by three days, having been born on May 27, 1829, exactly 70 hours after Queen Victoria. Had the duke's father been born before the queen he would have been king of England instead of merely king of Banover.

Saved by His Quick Wit Before Napoleon

1916

A Reply That Won Over Napoleon and the Duke of Modena

In the French campaign in Italy, in which Napoleon I first began to win the laurels which subsequently so abundantly crowned his career, a young Italian cavalry officer was taken prisoner.

Having serious doubts about his safety, it occurred to the prisoner to pretend be was a great personage. So he promised rewards to his captors if they would insure his good treatment, adding confidentially that he was the Duke of Modena.

He was exceedingly well cared for, and early next morning he was called before Napoleon, who was somewhat puzzled at finding two Dukes of Modena among his prisoners, for the real duke was also a prisoner. The real duke angrily asked his counterfeit by what authority he had assumed the title of Duke of Modena. The young officer answered:

"Your grace, the peril of my situation yesterday was such that had I known a more illustrious title I would not have assumed yours."

The reply so pleased both the duke and Napoleon that he was forgive his deceit.

—Stevens Point Daily Journal, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, July 29, 1916, page 3.