The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-09-11

The Little Lady Refused His Hand
Because He Couldn't Get OF Long
Enough to Go TO Ohio to Be Wed
-BrealEs His Leg on the st. Paul,
She Becomes His Nurse and Com
SCENTS to Marry Him in New York.
! As pretty a romance as ever bright
| ened this weary old world is that Of
which Ensign Wilfred Van Nest Powell
son, u. S. N. is the hero, and Miss
Margaret Olivia Millar the heroine.
True love is strongly in evidence
| throughout the story, and that such
minor emotions as pique, vanity and
amor loci served to interrupt its
| smoOthness make the tender denoue-
ment ali the more touching and well
| come.
Ensign Powelson, by the example Of
| brother heroes, who were welded be-
fore going into battle or even when
away on three-day furloughs, wanted
to be married as soon as he returned
from the war Miss Millar, his fiancee,
refused because he could not leave long
enough to admit of her lOng-cherished
plans for a church wedding at her home
in Wyoming, Ohio.
The ensign, disappointed, sailed sulk-
phia. While stationed in the Quaker
City he had the misfortune, or, better.
| the good fortune, to break his leg. He
is at a hospital, smiling grimly in spite
of his pain and rejecting upon the
wisdom wrapped in the trite proverb
that It's an i'll wind that blows no.
body good" For Miss Millar changer
her mind" They were married in the
hospital on Wednesday.
Ensign Powelson did noble service
For his country. He it was who by eX-
pert testimony at the court of inquiry
on the Maine disaster proved that the
Inflated vessel had been blown up from
without, not from within. He showed
that the great, gaping wound in her
hull was inflicted by some bastard
hand in the dark, not by an explosion
in her own magazine. Upon his testi-
mony an anxious nation hung breath
less. The value Of the testimony can
not be Overestimated. Upon his word
may be said to have hung war or
peace.
When war was declared Ensign Pow
elsOn was, by his own request, trans
ferred from the Fern, upon which he
had been stationed, to the st. Paul.
He commanded a gun on the st. Paul
which exploded q shell directly over
Spanish cavalry force on the shore
of Cuba, scattering the Spanish SOL
diers in all directions, and it was he
who directed the shot that destroyed
the Spanish torpedo boat destroyer the
Terror.
The ensign's record as a student was
no less brilliant than his war record.
He had entered the naval academy at
sixteen years Of age. He not only led
his class in recitations, but he was
also a leader in athletics
He was graduated from the naval
academy in 1898. On July 1, 1895, he
was promoted to the rank Of ensign.
He served on the Cincinnati and was
later transferred to the Fern. A two
years special course in the Glasgow
School Of Naval Architecture supple
mented his preparation for naval serv-
ice.
1t was, therefore, a doubly enviable
record that Ensign PowelsOn brought
home with him to lay at the pretty
feet Of his fiancee, Miss Millar. He
| urged a speedy marriage as his great
est reward for service done in the war
! with Spain
Miss Millar refused, because she
wanted to be married ''in church at
| home, as all the other girls had been"
The ensign said he could not leave the
ship long enough to make the journey
to her home at Wyoming, O., and at
tend all consequent festivities
Because Miss Millar persisted in the
church wedding at home, the ensign
| intimated that she did not love him
Because Ensign POwelson persisted in
! being married in New York without de-
lay Miss Millar limited that he was in
considerable. The more they talked the
| more convinced was each that the other
! was wrong. The result was that the
| ensign sailed to Philadelphia unwedded
| and indignant, and that Miss Mllar re-
| NAMED in New York, but she no longer
| enjoyed the visit she was making TO
! old friends. Life is never quite 50
| savorlesS as after O. lovers quarrel.
1t must be confessed that Ensign
| Pcwelson was as sulky as a boy and
! as preoocupied as men not successful
| in their love affairs are apt to be. That
may have been the reason for the
! ignOminious accident that befell the
young man who had passed through
| the war unscathed.
The st. Paul is now at Cramps ship
yard. Ensign Powelson, who has been
an acting lieutenant on that auxiliary
cruiser, was crossing the elevator which
| had been in use lifting supplies from
! the hold. It may have been because
of the preOccupation peculiar to men
whose love affairs are running roughly
that he did not notice that the bar
! holding the elevator was insecure The
bar gave way and theSofficer fell with
! it into the hold.
Two seamen, who had narrowly es-
| capped being crushed by the falling ele-
| Vator, carried the wounded officer to
the deck. He was taken to the Epis-
copal hospital at Philadelphia His left
| leg and foot were found to have been
| crushed.
No letters had passed between the
lovers after the st. Paul went to Phil
adelphia. The ensign was too angry
| to write. The girl was too proud to
! write unbidden.
It was through the newspapers she
learned of the accident to her betroth-
ed How cruel and matter Of fact Il
| looked, that really kind letter written
! by Capt. Sigsbee, commander of the St.
Paul, to the ensign's father, District
Attorney A. V. N. Powelson, at Mid
| dletOWn, N. Y.
'It was discovered that small bone IN
| Ensign Poweson's left leg was broken, and
| that his left ankle was sprained. He COM
plains of a severe pain in his back but it
has been deemed advisable to take him To
the. Episcopal hospital before making an ex-
animation Of the Injury in his back
He has not been unconscious at all. and
unless the injury in his back proves to be
more than is now supposed, it is believed
that he is not in danger. Please accept my
sincere sympathy. Yours very truly,
&C. D. Sigsbee, Captain, U. S. N"
Miss Millar took the next train to
Philadelphia after reading the news
Of her lovers accident. True, he had
not written her, but she had no doubt
Of her welcome.
The wedding she had planned to take
| place in the little stone church, ivy
covered and cool, where her sister and
| mother had been married seemed very
| far off now. Her father and grand
| father were deacOns in that church
and she had been contralto Of its choir
All her girl friends had been married