The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-11-13
SHE WAS AN ENGLISH .HEIRESS
And Thengh He Had n Wife Then Living.
He sailed Away in n Vessel Purchased
by fhe Romantic Giri-Now Both Are
Dead and the ship IL at san Francisco
In the Hands of the Law-seyerai
Claimants for the Property.


est. Hveliest Of all-the British bark
MelanOpe.
The lanterns fiickered like firefiies along
her yards The red, the white. the blue
fire blossomed on her deck. The rockets
mounted from her bridge in cleaning
suasms of explosive mirth. Hers was the
prize for the most beautiful decoration on
a WOndrous occasion-hers the glory. hers
the fame
Yet death and disgrace stalked her
bridge, looked upward at her gIittering
spars; followed eynically her aspiring
rockets; grew gray and grisly in the
lights illumining her deck.
Now the lawyers are fighting over the
fine bark The hsrpies of the shore are
plucking the eagle Of the sea- While up
from homes as widely scattered as the
caves of the winds come stories of love
and longing, of woe and retribution 10
form with the barnacles on her strakes
and to float with the weeds upon her keel
There is a grave in the prim Gods Acre
of Glasgow. There Is a grave in the tan
gled burying place OF Panama. There Is
a grave near where the broad road Of
East Orange. n. j., sweeps past the will
lows and the expresses where lie the
dead of a fashionable New York suburb.
And somewhere in the painless sea is the
grave of one who looked gayly upon the
restrictions of the world, but whose glum
eyes look now unnn the coral and the
pearl, while over him the stately ships
move on. And the ghosts from all these
graves are tangled in the yarn which
clings about the Melanope as the sea-
weed clings about her hull.
An English sea Captain.
John R. Craieen. r. N, was born in the
land of the heather and the heath, the
mist and the crag, the minstrel and the
bard His soul yearned for the sea-for
adventure in far lands; for the knowledge
which comes with wide experience. So
he went from his books to the wnarves,
and from the wharves to the decks, and he
soon smelt the salt air Of oceans untamed
domain. He grew to have the look which
comes with a self-satisfied independence,
and the bearing which comes with COM
mand. He became part of Old England 5
naval reserve; got the rank of lieutenant;
mixed with the men who have made the
right little, tight little isle" mistress of
the sea- and from them learned the tricks
and Establishments of social experience.
So as captain of merchant ship he was
known as a gallant who could catch and
hold any woman's glance and stir almost
any woman's heart.
So when the tricks of the tide and the
wheel carried him into New York harbor
some years ago, he took the eye and the
fancy of a rich widow, with a handsome
home over in East Orange-over in "the
Oranges" where the drives dip up and
dow. under the o'er-arching elms and ma
pies, where the lawns are fresh and green,
and the household cheer is very generous
To the union was born a son, but that is
a small part OF the Melanope's story.
Capt. Craigen had TO leave the home at
East orange TO go cruising with his ship,
and in that cruising, some two years later,
he came to Vancouver, on Puget Sound.
Here there drifted into his leg the record
which now must have its telling in the
San Francisco courts, with the lawyers
more concerned about their fees than
about the romance and the relatives chat
fering and wrangling as relatives always
Will when there is monetary spoil.
As Craigen's vessel rode at anchor IN
the prosaic harbor. Elma Mabel Taylor
came that way. Born In England of a
wealthy family, this girl was educated in
Paris. and Berlin. She caught some of
the chic Of the Quarter Latin and some
or the freedom of Inter den Linden. In
her was bred the germs of Romance, and
she yearned for that Bohemian life which
Dorothy Dulin Studebaker- McKeown re-
Gently so prettily described. Her parents
died, leaving her their store OF pelf.
Meeting with the Girl.
So with means and education. refine
ment OF manner, and social daring. she
set out 10 view the world, accompanied
by her maid She had. not neglected the
care of her physical well-being. She was
quick at tennis and sure at golf. She
swan with easy stroke and guided a
horse with commanding hand. So when
she came to Vancouver on her travels
she was supple and 1.-THE of body, quick
of eye, dark of hair, proud in walk, fresh
OF complexion, and daring in demeanor-
just the girl to catch and chain a man.
And she was nineteen years old-an age
" hen Romance cries down Wisdom, and
Love plays many vagrom pranks.
At Vancouver the English girl with her
continentsl education and her romantic
IDEAS met the Scotch sailor-the man of
impressive bearing and the manner of
eommani. She forgot the proprieties of
her English home. He forgot the wife
and son in "the Oranges" The two beat
to open sea-" 20 breast the pillows of
censure and to dare the tides of fate
That was four years ago-she nineteen,
he thirty-five
They were well matched Both were
dashing in society; both athletic in the
field. They knew well the ways OF the
polite set. The water front still remem-
bers him when he was second officer of
the steamship Australia before she be-
came the property Of the Oceanic Steam
ship Company some fourteen years ago.
He had then been with the steamer eight
years and had troubled female hearts In
every port at which she had touched.
Popular with his shipmates, he ever had
been known as daredevil ashore.
She did not at once take ship with him.
but continued her touring as far as the
Hawaiian Islands. There was a secret
understs nding. however, that they were
10 meet later In Liverpool. 10 which port
Craigen sailed from Vancouver.
They met again In England In the early
part of 1851, and she took him up 10 her
home 10 introiucs him as her husband.
Her family shifted a bit at her choice in
uarryilig a sailor; but even there his
grand air and graceful ways won .lace
for him. ard the relatives were forced TO
admit that the orphan heires5 had caught
a handsome mate.
In the fun tide Of their happiness he re-
eeived message from East orange say
Ing that his wife was dying. He answered
the call and helped nurse the mother OF
his boy back 10 life But while she was
cOnvalescing an angry cable from Miss
Taylor reached him asking why he so .Ong
delayed his return 10 England. The wife
caught this cable. There was scene and
craigen FASTENED back 20 London TO pay
his homage at the feet Of the dashlng
English girl
SAILED Forth Isto the Open Sea.
Then Elma Taylor planned to get the
man she loved far from the claims u MS
wife. from the clamors OF English society.
and from the reach OF those laws founded
upon the seventh commandment. The
bark Delta, so tons. was purchased. and
the two sailed away together for South
America, there 10 dip into the coastwise
trade, with occasional voyages % the Eu.
ropean ports. They fitted the bark like a
yacht. and paid far more attention 10
pleasure than TO profit sun. there was
money 10 be made. and the little bark
made IL handsomely.
Gina Taylor called this life the reanza-
ton Of her dreams OF romance He Was
devoted as a cavalier Wherever thev
touched they entered society and Shens
81 . r.rfrs