The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-01-10

New YORK lately entertained a King
unawares-His Majesty James L.,
Prince of Trinidad, a big. white
haired, elderly man, with large, good
humored Irish face, deeply tanned by
tropical sun.
James I.-or King Harden Hickey,
as he is more popularity known by the
| few people who, know about him at
all--is officially recognized by the
United States and the South American
republics: his consul to this country
is listed in the directories. but his
kingdom Is not mentioned in the at
Eases or encyclopedias, because there
are prohab not a thousand people in
the world who know anything about
It
| 1t is not even marked on some
maps; but take a big modern chart of
the South Atlantic, measure off seven
| hundred miles due east from Rio de
Janeiro, and you will see a small spot
charted as Trinidad. That is the
smallest independent government on
earth, with it's own laws. it's own flag
and its own ruler. 1t has ships that
ply steadily to South American ports.
Its population is nearly thousand,
and it lives constantly under the rule
of Names l., whom the casual visitor
there sees smoking a cigar, which is
! probably a product of his own king
dom. He comes to New York some
times on a visit, but always incognito,
as Harden Hickey. ESQ.
King Hickey the First was not born
to the royal purple. He began life as
an humble Irishman, but when mere
boy he got into trouble with the
| British government, like many another
of his compatriots, and skipped over
| to France. He learned to speak
| French like a Frenchman, and many
of his intimate friends never suspected
that he was a foreigner.
Hickey finally drifted into journal
| ism. He became a familiar figure on
the boulevards, and was known as
Monsieur LIE Baron" How he ac-
quired that title is not known, but he
made good use of it. Finally, he be-
came editor of a sporting sheet called
'Triboulet."
Suddenly, for unknown reasons,
"Triboulet'' suspended publiation, and
it's editor. Baron Harden Hickey, dis
appeared. His big. handsome figure
was missed from the boulevards. but
where he went to was not known for
several years.
Then it was discovered that the
|
had made quite society hit there, and
! had married the daughter of John IL.
| Flagler, a multi-millionaire of New
| York This made a rich man of the
| Baron, and he was able to crafty
taste for travel. He fitted out yacht
and sailed about the world with his
wife.
During one of their cruises they
struck the uninhabited island of Trini-
dad, off Brazil, which should not be
COMPOUNDED with the British colony of
| the same name. No government had
ever, considered 1t worth while to hoist
| its flag there. Harden Hickey con-
ceived the idea of selling it himself
and establishing a kingdom of his
own. He landed and raised the coun-
| try's present flag, yellow triangle
on red field.
| A year later there appeared in Bra
| I'll a Frenchman who claimed to be
| the Minister from the Court of James
l., Prince of Trinidad. Brazil officially
recognized him, and other South
| American governments also acknowl-
edged James 1. of Trinidad.
Next there appeared in New York
an agent of the Trinidadian govern
ment, who issued a prospectus in
which people were invited to invest in
| shares in the government at 5000 a
share, and to settle in the country. 1t
was represented that, as all these
| investors would be first settlers in
Trinidad, they would naturally be the
nobility Of the new kingdom, and,
therefore, they must be people of
| good social standing and must show
references. The state reserved the
| right to buy back the shares after one
year. Settlers were to swear allegiance
to Prince James as their lawful sover-
! eign, to recognize his word as law,
| rri he
tive of monopolizing the trade in
guano, turtles and buried treasure.
| This last commodity was supposed to
have been deposited there by pirates
in the early part of the nineteenth
| century.
The prospectus went on to state
| that titles were granted to people who
distinguished themselves in letters,
arts or philanthropic enterprises" and
| the "Order Of the Cross OF Trinidad"
would be conferred on especially
meritorious subjects of King Hickey.
This interesting document was pub
lished in French and English and sent
to wealthy people. 1t was signed by
| LIE Grand Chancellor. Secretaire
d'Etat pour les Affaires Etrangeres,
NJ lie Comte de la Boissiere."
Evidently this prospectus brought
results, for King Hickey now has
some fifty white subjects. Some peo-
pie may have thought the whole thing
a humbug. but it has not proven so.
Although Hickey is the Lord High
Potentate and absolute monarch, his
rule is very mild.
He and his nobility have laid out
coffee and tobacco plantations that
give them good incomes. They have
| imported about five hundred Chinese
and Indian coolies as contract labor
ers; in fact. they have one small
steamer which makes regular trips to
China and India. bringing new work.
ers 10 swell the nopu1a fiOn