The Savannah morning news., 1902-02-24

States. This desire, however could
not be gratified at that time. More
over, the Emperor was Influenced by
the fact that Prince Henry, whenever
he was abroad, had always won the
admiration and esteem of those
with whom he was brought in
contact and had always succeeded
in bringing a tone of kindness based
on the mutual esteem in the interna-
tional relations. This will, think in
cicate the feelings that actuated the
Emperor in the choice of his brother
as his representative on this pleasant
occasion.
The Prince is very grateful that the
Emperor selected him for this mission.
He is delighted to make the acquaint-
ance of the great American nation at
last and enjoy the honor of meeting
the excellent man at the head of it. II
had been only the stern command of
duty which prevented him from visit
ing the New World after his return
from East Asia"
When Capt. Won Mueller's attention
was called to the various reports re-
garding the friction which it was al
legged had arisen between Prince Henry
ana Admiral Dewey at dinner given
py the former in Hong Kong, he laugh
ingly replied:
hhc DtWeE tLApla1neU.
"Oh! Well a good many versions of
that incident and all of them wrong
have been printed. l happened to be
at that time the PERSONAL aide de camp
to the Prince. The truth of the mat
ter is this, and l speak authoritatively:
In the harbor of Hong Kong the
Prince had rendered q dinner to the
commanders of the vessels Of various
nations at that time in the port On
that occasion the Prince drank to the
health of the sovereigns and chiefs of
the nations, the flags of which were
represented by the guests. In the or
der of his toastS his first one, next to
that to the German Emperor, was to
Great Britain, and the second to Rus
sia, while the United States was the
last. The reason Great Britain was
named in the first place was because
the dinner happened in a harbor of
British territory, the acting
governor of which was one
OF the guests. A week or
so afterward. the Prince was informed
by the German consul. Herr Won
Loeper, who is now in Valparaiso, that
the representative of the United States,
namely, Admiral Dewey, was pained
because the Prince had not put the
United States at the head of his toasts,
which demands the order of the toasts
on such occasions. This usage is that
the toasts shall be given in order of
seniority in commission of the officers
present. Dewey was, in fact, in that
respect the senior among the guests.
The Prince did not hesitate to seek
an open frank talk on this question
of etiquette with his American COM
rade, whom he highly esteemed When
visiting the flagship Olympia he frank
ly told Dewey that he had convinced
himself that he was wrong and that
Dewey was right. And Dewey's reply
was this:
Well, sir, l thank you for your
apology 1 may say that / liked you
before this, but after what you have
told me just now, 1 think / like you
better, and this is saying a great deal.
1T is readily to be seen that this set
tlement of a question of etiquette
could only serve to strengthen the
friendly relations between them and
that Prince Henry is keeping the words
of his American friend in grateful re-
membrance."