The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-07-08

consul of the Free State Hamburg at
first, then of the North German Con-
federation, then OF the German empire
But Misi KO, Jonas n. COe. the Amer
lean consul for a long string Of years,
while just as INSCRIPTIONS, was not
such man as Weber Through all the
years of their association they stood as
master and man. lion and jackaI and
the servant and the man.
With full apprecia ton of the free
and easy life in the islands in the old
Deach-COmDing days COe had many
families. but he was Of a marrying turn
Of mind. Some strange accident has
preserved in the archives Of the Amer
/ lean consulate in Apia all the early
records OF marriages, while many other
records have widowed so as to be IN
Ceclpnerab4e or have vanished alto
gether. But in none is there a scratch
Of pen TO show that Jonas NJ Coe
ever took the trouble to marry any
partner of his fortunes until. toward
the close of his life. he turned all 9th
ers adTift and wooeG a young TOngan
girl, who had the prudence to lead him
TO the consulate for a legal marriage,
which is duly recorded in the book
That is how Litia has become the
Widow Coe; for her husband died in
time, and was buried under a frangi-
psnni bush in his own back yard. and
white marble slab was set over him
with a record Of his domestic virtues
which he himself would have grinned
at, for, with all his faults Coe had
no illusions. Perhaps this tombstone
may figure ia war damages, but it mat
tiers not, for il was Of little worth In
der the viii Litia was to have a life
interest in all the property and to pro-
vide home FOR her children, who
should inherit after her death. Litia
could scarcely speak a word Of Eng
llSh, yet she had the general equivalent
laf mn
native tongue, the TOngan; she spoke
samoan huently- When she was left a
widow with two young children, a girl
and a boy, she had no one to guide her;
her native friends knew less of civiliza-
ton than she did, and of her civilized
Lriends she knew enough to know that
they would cheat and trick her if she
should consult with them.
but somewhere in her mind she rec
ognized that it did not cOmport with
the fact that she had q marriage GER
tihcate with a consular seal to permit
her children to grow up Samoans, as
other half-castes did. She determined
that they were to be as good as their
father, the goodness OF the father being
fond Wifely deiusion for which she
might be forgiven. since TOngan and
Samoan standards are not quite the
same as those which obtain in coun-
tries of the higher civilization Accord
lngly, Litia made her children wear
me clothing of white people and that
means shoes, and stockings as we'll
which are hardship to the islander
Litid could not wear them herself but
by beginning early, the children might
manage it. The little ones were put to
school, at first with Mrs. Bell, with
whom they remained until they had ex-
hausted the sCant sum Of her attain
ments; then at the school which Pfar-
Ter Marggrdf opened in SaValal0 in
the German of Arso
watchwOrd to the two children was
that they should never for a moment
forget that they were Americans. In
some way she had become possessed of
a large piece of embroidery with the
bald eagle stitched upon il in the atti-
tude Of all the rapacity which it is pos
sIble to convey by means of silk and
bullion stitches This was framed and
hung IN the parlOr above the music box
that wouldn't so, and to it She led the
children as 10 a Shrine
When the war came on I,itia found
herself the victim Of a combination of
geography and strategy. The most east
eTn house on the Apia beach, therefore
the one most exposed TO the assault OF
the rebels. was the American consulate
on the village green Of Naiaia. Beyond
the consulate TO the east there was
nothing but the Samoan community,
the stone church Of the village forming
strong cover for the approach Of ma
rauding parties. From the consulate
toward the west that is in the direc-
ton of Apia and the harbor. the next
house lay along the beach at a distance
of about 1 600 feet, a six-room cottage
belonging 10 Hugo Gebauer. raised
above the ground on large monuments
OF concrete, which afforded excellent
cover for bush fighters West of Ge-
bauer. BY about SEQ feet came the Coe
house at Leiepa. q rambling group of
connected buildings. Immediately ad-