The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-09-04
DINAH SHADES DAUGHTER.
How n beautiful Woman Oh Lowly
Birth became n Queen.

Among the royalties, e~X-rOydlteS
ana - pcopIe Of IT. who are ex-
rectaJ 10 visit America next wear dur-
inc rho louisiana Purchase Exposition
* rh- Haharanee Jar Mahoued Rao. a.
eb-.yyd little woman of sixty-two. with
KIN. bright eyes. who lives in Oren-
burg. RuSSiJ. where n holds Oriental
court IN the biggest house in towu and
y treated with immense respect by the
officials Of the car. The story Of her
life is q yeritable fairy tale.
once she was pretty Alice Clifton,
the daughter Of u British soldier who
served John Company is the cOnton-
ments al Delhi, in he old Dremutiny
days. Now she is u dethrOned queen. d
queen in exile, q monarch without Il
crown, like her brothers and sister in
the right divine. the French BOurbOns.
the HanOverian GunlDhs. the Bona
parties. and RanavalOna Cf the more
ancient house Of Madagascar.
a LIFE OF STRANGE ROMANCE.
a hundred romances rolled into one
would not make up the life of Alice
Clifton.
AS a child she nIaved. half-clad. IN
the mud of the baTrack yard in many
an Indian station. while all around her
men lay dead Of the cholera or the
plague. or were brought in co. from
DdLLLC LII liz = I'LL lI-OtS. IT'LL
one day- d bearded monarch covered
with Jewels. reached down and lifted
her from mud to q shining throne
and took her aWav beyond the Indus
and over The Roof Of the World to
be a queen in q strange country. That
little. Die woman has reigned. an abso-
Lutte monarch. over a turbulent people
and carried life and death in her nod.
She has led thousands to battle and
IuSriraI thlFn in the hP4T of the CON
hict with her own indQmitabIe cour-
age.
Now the car. who holds her hands
and people beneath the lash of the
CoSsack knOut, sends her all the
money she needs from his treasury in
St. Petersburg. And she receives the
money. spending il right royalty and
playing that it is tribute from a on
qUeTed prince. So it is, in one sense,
for though she could not stand against
the armies of Russia when they broke
into ner territory. she conquered from
the ~cOuquerer, bv her wit and intelli-
gence. most advantageous terms of
capitulatiOn.
\ QUEENS LOWLY PARENTS.
The turbulent of Alice Cliff
tons life. which is now ending so
peacefully began away back in 1S41,
when the East India company ruled
India and had an army Of it's own. Her
father was an enlisted man iu that
army and was stationed at Delhi.
where the Grand MOguI still sat on the
peacock throne in his ancient capital.
He was still Grand MOgul in name. but
to see that he did not try to be SO in
truth JOIN Company" kept q garri-
son at Delhi.
Private Clifton lived in the married
mems quarters no his wife vas the
Dinah Shadd of the cOntOnment.
known all OVer Delhi for her S%prightli-
ness, her good humOr and her good
looks. But CliftOr ~ot Jealous of
her. He had no to be. With all
her attractions the wife was a proper
woman and she could send the pre-
SumptuOuS young recruits to the eight
about with Il ringing box on the ear
that thew remembered. She ever knew
how to Snub the native princes when
they IeeTed at her from their gilded
howdahs moving through the streets
on the backs of their ~gorgeOuslv
caparisoned elephants: and she like
wise knew how to make the wild
young officers keep their ~roner dis
tance.
Mrs. Clifton VOC not only beautiful
and ~spriohtIv, she was also very dis
Greet. When Private Clifton got
drunk she could handle him better
than the whole guard. and she ave
him strong tea the morning after
along with her curtain lecture.
Little Alice, her ~dauphter, played
about with the other soldiers chill
dren. an ordinary looking child. little
regarded. until one day. when h was
barely fourteen. the whole ~cantOnment
discovered all at NICE that Private
ClifUOn's O. was beautiful. And every
day her beauty seemed to grow. until
all the good oOk of her mother were
as nothing compared with the marvel
iOus perfection of the beauty of the
child. She. had not only inherited good
looks and intelligence from her moth
CT, but she had added to them ambi-
ton and a certain refinement of man
nerS
Private Clifton and his wife were
troubled. 1t is not good for a private
soldier. stationed in a far-aWay place,
to have a daughter too beautiful and
of it. So Private Clifton kept his
daughter much in the house and hoped
that she would get over the notions.
mary a sergeant, or at least a corporal
and settle down.
ENTER THE FAIRY PRINCE.
Then one day all Delhi put on its
gala attire to welcome Jar Mahomed
RaO Khan. the ruler of a central Asian
Khanate far away beyond the u
tains to the northwest, who was to
visit the Grand Mogul. The entrances
of the RaO Khan into the capital of
the MOguIs and his passage from the
Cashmere Gate up to the splendid
palace or Shah Jehan. was 4 scene Of
splendOr like that witnessed when a
predecessor of Jar Mahomed. the Khan
AbdalIa. anne oyer the mountains TO
find a bride in Delhi. The houses were
hung with priceless tapestries. While
through the streets groups Of beauti-
ful children went strewing h most
delicious flowers around. till every
part Of the city was as fragrant as If
a caravan of musk had passed through
il" FROM the gardens in the suburbs
to the imperial palace it was II I'M
broken line of splendor. The gallant
appearance of the Rajahs and the No
sui lords. distinguished by those insig-
MIA of the emperor's favor. the feath-
ers OF the egret of Cashmere in their
turbauS. Il the small. sllver-rimmed
kettle-irums at the bows of their sad
dies the costly armOr of the cavaliers.
who Wed With the guards of the Khan