The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-03-18
BEAUTIFUL SOUVENIRS.

! In the same time
BEAUTIFUL SOUVENIRS.
/ President Francis brought home several
| mementoes OF his mission abroad. AT the
dinner given in his honor at the Hotel Con
I tinental, Paris, by the American Chamber
| OF Commerce, he was presented with a
! Sevres vase, which stands nearly six fee;
! high, another standing nearly four feet. a
| loving cup OF silver and two inedallions. all
! suitably inscribed.
A beautiful fan of mother Of pearl and
| lace, inlaid with gold was also presented
by the chamber. TO be given to Mrs. Fran
| els with the compliments of that body.
1t was at this dinner that President
Francis made the real hit of his trip. He
had prepared a speech in English to be de-
livered at the banquet, when II occurred to
him that it might be well to have it trans
the French Commissioner to the st. Louis
, Exposition. volunteered the services of his
secretary and the speech was translated.
fans and loving CUPS was not on the pro.
gramme, and. when 1t came Governor
Francis's turn to make his address. he
beautiful token of friendship. It was ex-
pected also that he would address the
Chamber in his native tongue, but, when
he read his speech in French. the five hun
plause.
Governor Francis had confided to no one
translated into French. and even NJ. La
Grave had an idea that it was intended
merely to facilitate publication In the
French newspapers.
SURPRISED BY THE REPUBLIC.
Governor Francis tonight. at the Wal
dorf told of his receipt of The Republic s
wireless message last night while the
steamer was more than 200 miles from home;
''Mr. Schwab, the president of the United
States Steel Corporation, who was a pas
senger," said Governor Francis. came to
me and whispered that there was an inn
conf wireless system. l was presiding over
a concert at the time and all sorts of
thoughts flashed through my mind. A little
message requesting me to give The Republic
a brief account OF ny homeward trip.
MARCONI TO VISIT ST. LOUIS.
1--WE had a chimpanzee performing for US
amused the passengers dictated the mes
sage received by The Republic: After the
concert was over, l went aloft and saw
an interesting sight and the first time I
have had an opportunity to observe the
wonders of wireless telegraphing,
Speaking of wireless telegraphy," con-
tinued Governor Francis. reminds Re of my
first meeting with Marconi 1t was at din
ner in London When We were introduced
! recalled the fact that when he succeeded
in telegraphing from President Roosevelt
to King EDWARD, had sent him a message
OF congratulatton, but had never heard
he had never received my message.
ITO make amends for any oversight, how
ever, ne tolc me that he was coming TO the
United States in five or six weeks, and
would visit st. Louis on his next trip. That
was three weeks ago-February 26, at the
home of Mrs. Ronalds. 30 that the wireless
wizard should be in St. Louis in about
month or So"
CUSTOMS COURTESIES.
President Francis was loud in his praise
OF all the customs officials OF the different
countries he visited. 1t Is customary. for
instance, for passengers to be held up on
the border line of the different countries
through which they pass and have their
baggage examined.
Without so much as letter of intro
duction or pass of any kind. his baggage.
upon, which he affixed his card as the rep
resentative OF the universal exposition in
st. Louis in 1904. was sufficient credential to
pass through unhampered in any way.