The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-09-04
K1Na MAL1EToA eUN sHY.
A Salute In His Honor That Confirmed HIS
Dislike of Artillery.

If it were permissible to apply sporting
terms to royalty 1t would be in order to de-
scribe his late Samoan Majesty Malietoa Lau-
pepa as gun shy. He had been through so
many wars and rebellions and had played the
target 30 long that he looked askance at all
artillery. great guns and small. and the reek
of powder did not arouse in him the fever OF
fighting. In fact, he was decidedly lacking
in martial spirit. and found difficulty in
~screwing mis- courage UP to the point OF even
taking a salute without winking.
His royalty was very rarely made the mat
ter Of a salute. The German cruisers, Of
which there are one or two in Apia harbor for
the greater part Of the year. neither salute the
Samoan flag nor receive the King. American
men-of-war are very punctilious in paying
respect by the shock OF guns. but war vessels
of the United States are extremely rare In Sa-
moan waters. English cruisers have no regular
system they salute or not just as the COM
Last year the British Consul. as one of the
moves of the game Of small diplomacy which
Is forever playing dEaws on that. beach, de-
| appear with his Government aboard H, B.
received. At the appointed time half a dozen
large boats hooked on TO tho ,starboard gang
way %. Of the he S SIneoS q the 15 ns9al Officers 9SSssd and fSs the
piped with exactly the number OF side boys
proper tune for majesty. and tho drummer
accompanied with che utmost ACCURACY In
the matter Of fans and rufies. The King
the quarterback. The s~crupulous preclsion
OF the correctness OF the whole proceeding
tESss s t Ssslg Sssmt to epGSat e az i9ln lRP nessbg. II II
also exhibited to the passengers, OF the mail
steamer which by a well -calculated chance
happened to be in port that day. the courtesy
AZ the proper time the royal galley xas
brought back 70 the gangwsE and the potsa.
scrambled into the bosfs and 10 SSedisn0s to
the fussy instructions Of the British Consul the
fotllla rested on It's osrs To- receive &c 2 tAs sai Int
and had none OF thesmalI charges In her maya
zine. the salute, was given with full service
guns take a considersbie time in the firing.
and the Bamoans In the fotilla saw with hor-
TOT. that a tide current, was setting them down
to- dor The British Consul had told them. that
II an oar moved during the 4 salute GnSon IT would tSI be
constantly Insulting him without fear o., pun:
isbment, But they were greatly, afraid Of
salsr W @tEas aSS sR Il sGliy prone sSSu 70 Sc 5Ss ~ mo no
4dlt to the british throne, They dr1fted slowly
down and the first boat got right In line Site
enough to carry the blast OF the discharge
above their heads, but there was a rain Of
BBs s%San SSS gsfis R R1isSR heard ID S SSToss the = M sS1sss fS Of
the Government OF Samoa had really been
fired OF. by q British warshlp.
have passed upon the Incident. But next day
tho British CQnsuls. colleagues. smiled sweet
and and diplomats haIs : cdc smiiss v When hi the R, treaty IA on ~
ccSSief advisers. And KIM ISiistos was more
s sbfaiS psS III e q gun a t ssiats sV STer lSa aS 'Spt sss s dis.
charge OF It's honors.