THE LATEST LUXURY.

Wairoa Bell, Volume 5, Issue 371, 13 November 1896, Page 12

THE LATEST LUXURY.

A glass house under water is the latest luxury. A rich man who has a large lake upon his estate, recently caused it to be drained, and in the deepest part he has had a house built which contains three rooms a smoking room, a dining-room, and a servant’s waiting-room. The framework oi the house is of iron, and the floor is stone resting upon a foundation of concrete. The sides and the roof, however, are entirely composed of thick plate—glass There is a passage under the water from the boathouse to the glass -house, and air is obtained through large clumps of artificial waterlilies which rest upon the surface of the lake. It is indescribably pleasant to sit in one of the rooms upon a warm day; the air is very cool, there is no sound to be heard, and it is especially interesting to watch the fish swimming around attracted by the glare ot the electric lights. This is decidedly a new luxury. The house and the passage, moreover, cost comparatively little to build. The millionaire to whom this belongs now contemplates carrying out a more ambitious scheme. He has upon his estate almost two square miles of forest. This tract of . land he intends to enclose fi >m the inside—first, by a wide and deep I trench ; second, by a strong iron Nod third, by a high massive stone wall. U e will then turn loose into this enclosure every sort of wild animal that ho can pro-cure—-lions, tigers, elephants, and every other kind of beast—in order to ascertain if they can live at large in this climate, and without unduly interfering with each other. There is to be a network of underground passages leading to numerous stone towers which are to be erected at different places in the forest, and from these he intends to watch in safetv he animals, and to study their habits when in a comparatively wild state. This, too, appears to be a new idea.