Sunday morning globe., 1901-09-29
g SIR JOSEPH" Rodney
And His Canadian Little Butter
cup" in Court.
THE LATEST PINAFORE.
Nothing Like This Comedy Has Ever Taken
Place In Any Court or on Any Stags-lIeu-
tenant Commander Rodney Adds Another
Contribution to the Literature Of tho CsIe-
braled Case Of Mrs. Margaret Edith Rodney.

Contribution 10 the Literature Of the Cse-
braIed Case Of Mrs. Margaret Edith Rodney.
The United States Navy is at present
attracting It's share Of public attention
In fact, it may be said with truth that
IL is monopolizing the attention Of, at
least. the Washington public. At the
Navy Yard we have a semi-farcial in
quiry by a solemn court as to who won
the naval battle Of Santiago, when
even a London or Paris gamin knows
that it was a man named Winfield
Scott Schley. The tragic feature was
added to the inquiry on Tuesday last
when the chief counsel for Admiral
Schley, the famous lawyer "Jere" viii
son, died suddenly at his hotel The
inquiry also developed a rare character
I'm the person of a naval officer who
testified that his official signature was
a fraud or words to that effect He
! signed a chart Of the position of the
| blockading squadron, as navigator,
| which he now says was a fraudulent
| document or chart. But this opera
| bouffe at the Navy Yard is as nothing
| compared to the high antics being cut
up by Lieutenant Commander Rodney,
! eX-Paymaster of the Navy.
This gallant tar, in his meanderings
around the British possessions north
| OF us, and while on dry land, to which,
as a sailor he was not accustomed.
ran into a sprig of the British nobility
in the person of a charming female de-
| scendant of the renowned British Ad-
y min arrffh thn
| cidence, our American lieutenant com
mander spoke with the strange craft,
examined her papers and declared her
/ a prize. Taking her in tow with a pi-
ratical looking tender, I'm the person of
female companion, he brought both
craft into port here in the nations cap
ital And then his troubles commenc-
ed. The descendant Of Admiral Rod
ney, for some cause, which she has not
satisfactorily explained, contested the
regularity of the lieutenant command
er's capture and fought the claim Of
that doughty old sea dog to declare her
a prize. That she is not a prize, the
lieutenant is now only too manifestly
ready to declare. In fact, he has been
endeavoring TO keep out of her wake
and of the searchlights she has mount
ed, through the machinery Of the prize
courts for his exact location. In other
words, Mrs. Rodney wants prize money
herself for capturing the lieutenant
commander. Ii is the old story Of the
man and the bear. The man caught
the bear, as the lieutenant commander
captured the aristocratic descendant of
Admiral Rodney. The man was will
ing to let the bear go after he had
caught it, but the bear objected and
held on. So il is with Mrs. Rodney.
The lieutenant commander is willing
to let his prize escape, but the prize !
is after alimony, and the court has re-
peatedly issued its rule to compel the |
gallant sailor to poney up.
It is but exact justice to state that |
so far it is an even fight between Mrs. |
Margaret Edith Rodney and her cap |
tor. She has won in the courts. but |
the Lieutenant commander has immor- |
talized himself with his pen and shed |
a halo (Which discount Mrs. Eddy's) |
Of refulgent glory upon the legal lit |
erature OF the courts Of the District of |
Columbia.
Here is the latest from the brilliant |
pen of this Pinafore naval hero con
cerning his little Buttercup, In answer
to the courts mandate for prize
money:
This defendant, in a court Of equity,
contends for principle and against a
peryersion of all equity. Try no more
conclusions, but, seeing her coming,
dodge up the nearest alley, and, till she
passes, pray that she, the irresistible,
soon collide with somebody or some
thing, the immovable, and he be bles-
sedly absent between them. Only
through philosopsy and humor can the
defendant endure the sorrows and tan
talizations by which this lovely That's
makes him, as IL were, the Saint An
thony of the navy. And certainly new
er on his road to heaven has he hith-
erto met such all rare and singular be-
devilment. John Bunyan would have
put this woman in Pilgrims Progress
Her ancient heraldic motto, trans
lated, reads: Honesty is the best pol
ICY, whence that maxim arose. But
she affects to find better-'Beauty is
the best policy For she is confident
beauty is not only always right but
always sufficient.
"She alighted in our country out Of
her aerial car-Burke's Peerage That
is where she halls from-Burke's Peer
age. article owen; the only wife in the
army and navy Of such celebrated an
cestry. She finds too prosaic the being
provided directly for by a husband,
and demands the amusement. fattery
honor, and dignity of being cared for
through the mandate of a court; hus-
band pay by a fixed hour or 20 forth
into custody Of the marshal; 1t is in
expressibly delightful unto her. And
her mind can not fancy why every wife
in the land is not at this moment do.
ing the same thing. This vain young
foreigner is never weary Of toying and
playing with the judicial machinery.
and exultantly thinking IL subserves
her every caprice.
"she dares to style this honorable I