The St. Louis Republic., 1903-03-08
| NObodieS Who Have
|Lately Captured Crowns.
By EDGAR SALTUs.

ihe CORAL Saronne iSand OF Zap Is III
mourning.
The King is dead
This King, David OKeefe, emerged from
Erin. acquired here the rank and title OF
rree-born American. refused to loiter IN
what Is repertorfally known as our midst.
shipped as a mate on a trader, and.
typhoon aiding, was blown from the
hatchways on to Yap, where the natives.
fancying from these gymnastics that he
descended. not from Cork. but from Above.
saluted him with prompt genufections SOW
ereign and overload.
How in that somnoient sultry atoll of
the Pacific this Irishrnan ruled. rolled up
riches and recently concluded to die belong
to another story.
The point Is that his adventures. however
surprising and emotional. have for pendant
other adventures more delightful still.
Yes, indeed.
To emigrate from Erin and become a King
shows luck. But to be born a slave and
become Emperor shows humor.
Soloque did that.
SoloQue began life with a saucepan and
ended It with a scepter.
At the age of 30 he was cook, very fat,
very black ignorant as carp. unable 10
read, unable to write. But he could make
his mark and Gid.
Caught on the crest OF a Haytian revolu-
tion, he flung himself from it into power.
On his return from a sable Marengo the
President OF the Senate capped him with a
crown of pasteboard and acclaimed him
Faustin l.
= The proceeding. entirely opera bouffe, was
!, embellished by the festivities that ensued.
Soloque sent abroad for robes of state,
parodied the coronation Of Napoleon,
created an immediate nobility, gratiied a
relative with the title Of Prince Of Water
melon, evolved another into Duke Of Mo-
lasses Candy. and a third into Marquis Of
Rum Punch.
We are not making these things up They
are all related by George d'Alaux, a writer.
who was in Hayti at the time and who has
left a book on this Ofenbach monarchy.
Beside it a Beckets Comic History is
dull.
LIKE RAILWAY FICTION.
But not the perfectly authenticated rec
ord OF De Tonniens. The adventures Of
o'Keefe predicate luck: those OF Soloque
waggery. but in the goings on of this chap
there was enterprise. industry to boot, all
the elements of railway fiction.
Who he originally was we once knew and
have since forgotten We remember how
ever. that not so long ago he set sail from
France for Peru. accompanied by a cargo
OF umbrellas.
As in Peru II never rains but II pours.
what he did with the cargo Is conjectural
Perhaps he took 1t to Chile. In any event,
one day. or 1t may be one night, ne reached
Araucanie- At the time Araucania was on
the map. A portion OF It is still there. The
rest Chile has gobbled
Whether the umbrellas appealed TO fhs
imagfnatons of the Inhabitants and
whether because OF them they saw In the
peddler a kindred King, is conjectural also.
but King he became
That is history. It is history. too. that
under the style and title of Aureliu. I ba
instituted series Of decorations which.
Ike the umbrellas. he peddled about Mean
while he had not neglected to establish a
court
a.,
haole In the portion Of Aradcania that re-
mains the court still endures But the
throne Is empty. The enterpris.ns peddler
King is dead.
Z There is romance. II reads like fiction
and happens to be fact We regret very
much that It should have escaped the at
tention Of our late friend and brother in
letters. Baron Harden-Hickey. In what
manner tho latter-who was born quite
7modestly in San Francisco-because Baron
we never inquired. F
There are mysteries which we prefer 70
ignore rather than to elucidate. It NAV be
that the Comte de Chambord. whose hench-
man ne became, gave the title to him. II
may be- also. that It was self-bestowed
Yet nfteen years ago in Paris. where We
nrst met him. he enjoyed. in addition to his
proolematc title. the formidable repute of
being the crack duelist of France. A poet
At his hours and always a scholar. he was
doubly dangerous. His pen stung as
promptly as did his sword.
Herewith he was an antithesis-made man
He looked like buccaneer. behaved like a
debutante. talked like Rabelais lived like q
sage. wrote a book on suicide and edited a
comic paper
wEARrED OF BouLEvARDa
Presently he wearied Of tho bouIevards,
or they did OF him. and on a trip to this |
country. ne met Miss F1agler. a young |
heiress, whs subsequently, became his wife. |
Meanwhile. he had met something else-an |
himself ~,
He proposed to establish a kingdom ,t |
Trinidad; a speck Of an island OF the coast |
Into this project he entered with a serious
Eess that was really beautiful to contem- |
plate
To US he deigned to offer the highly |
senteel post Of poet laureate. We were |
much hattered. particularly es he then es-
tablshed chancellerie In New York. an |
other in London. But at this 1uncture the |
Powers interviewed. or he said they did. |
and. ignorant Of Araucania and its posst- |
hilites, suddenly he killed himself.
That was an absurd thing to do.
1t IL one OF the disadvantages, OF death |
that 1t prevents you from participating in |
the possibilities Of life. Had Harden
Hickey fingered he might have been King.
waiting which another American grabbed.
This chap. whose name was David Briggs,
was then occupying a hall bedroom on
Fourth avenue
He also occupied the heart Of d shop girl.
That heart anc handbag constituted his
assets. These things he took to California. |
and out Of II to the Pacific. There. like
OAeefe. a storm caught him.
Precfpitated on an island near Bora-Bora |
the natives proceeded to fatten him They
would have eaten him, too but a Princess
passed that way.
Through the long grass she few to her
father. the King. wrung her little chocolate
paws, and. sobbing. swore that the captive
was an envoy Of Onalea, the Great White
Soul.
At that, on his bamboo throne, the old
canniba1 shook with fright Briggs was
summoned, examined, freed
told the King how they could be quelled. At
berlsin. Had he yielded to the little cocoa
But that memories Of Fourth avenue pre-
vented Then the monarch's daughter
sobbed herself to sleep. When they strove
TO wake her they found her slumber was
dsathfast
wEPT ON BAMBOO THRONE
On his bamboo throne the old King sat
and vept But when the rebels were
Quelled he forgot and caroused. So did he
eat Of roasted pig. and so did he drink of
palm wine. that with q grunt he fell over
and died.
Briggs took his place.
Then presently again he sailed the seas /
proceeded to Fourth avenue, found the shop