Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-09
An Exiled Irishman is Ruler
of the Island.
HICKEY THE FIRST
HE rs THE MONARCH OF ALL HE
SURVEYS.
How He Got Possession of His Little
Realm-Reads Like
Fiction.

Written for The Evening Star by Walrond Douglas.
New York lately entertained king I'M
awares-his majesty James l. Prince of
Trinidad big, white-haired, elderly man,
with large. good-humored Irish face.
deeply tanned by tropical sun.
James Tor 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 encyclopedias, because there are
probably not thousand people in the
world who know anything about it.
1t is not even marked on some maps;
but take 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 its own laws. its own flag and
its own ruler. 1t has ships that ply stead
lily to South American ports. Its popula-
ton is nearly thousand, and 1t lives con-
stantly under the rule of James l, whom
the casual visitor there sees smoking
cigar, which is probably product OF his
own kingdom He comes TO New YORK
sometimes on visit but always incognlto,
as Harden Hickey, esq.
King Hickey the First was not born to
the royal purple He began life as
he got into trouble with the British govern
ment like many another of his compat-
riots. and skipped over to France He
learned to speak French like Frenchman,
ana many of his intimate friends never
suspected that he was foreigner
His First Title.
Hickey finally drifted into journalism. He
became familiar figure on the boulevards.
and was known as Monsieur LIE Baron"
How he acquired that title is not known,
but he made good of it. Finally, he be-
came editor of a sporting sheet called
"Tribouet."
Suddenly, for unknown reasons. "Tribou-
let" suspended publication, and its editor
Baron Harden Hickey, disappeared HIS
big. handsome figure was missed from the
boulevards, but where he went to was not
known for several years.
Then II was discovered that the baron
had gone to America, that he had made
quite society hit there, and had married
the daughter of multi-miionaire of New
York. This made a rich man of the baron,
and he was able to crafty a taste for
travel. He fitted out a yacht and sailed
about the world with his wife.
During one of their cruises they struck
the uninhabited island of Trinidad, off Bra
ztl, 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
conceived the idea of selling it himself and
establishing a kingdom of his own. He
landed and raised the country's present
flag. yellow triangle On q red field.
A year later there appeared In Brazil a
Frenchman who claimed to be the minister
from the court of James i. prince of TRIM
dad Brazil officially recognized him. and
other South American governments also
acknowledged James Of Trinidad.
Shares for Sale.
Next there appeared in New York an
agent of the Trinidadian government, who
rrn in xx-hIn oh
invited to invest in shares In the govern
ment at $500 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 no.
bility of the new kingdom. and, therefore
they must be people of good social standing
and must show references. The state re-
served the right to buy back the shares af-
ter one year Settlers were to swear ale
glance to Prince James as their lawful
sovereign, to recognize his word as law, and
must give him the royal prerogative of mo-
nopolizing 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 peope who distin-
guished themselves in letters, arts or phil
anthropic enterprises" and the Order of
the Cross of Trinidad would be conferred
on especially meritorious subjects Of King
Hickey.
This interesting document was published
in French and English and sent to wealthy
people. 1t was signed by LIE Grand Chan
celier, Secretaire dEtat 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 people may have thought
the whole thing a humbug, but 1t has not
proven 80. Although Hickey is the Lord
High Potentate and absolute monarch, his
rule is very mild.
and tobacco plantations that give them
good incomes. They have imported about
five hundred Chinese and Indian coolies as
contract laborers; In fact, they have one
small steamer which makes regular trips to
China and India, bringing new workers to
swell the population.
Answerable to the King.
King Hickey has the power of life and
death over these brown subjects of his but
he never uses 1t. He holds it in reserve to
punish crime, but there do not appear to
be any crimes committed In his kingdom
He has no police force. except the overseers
on the plantations. Every man is directly
responsible TO his king for his behavior.
The laborers drilled as soldiers but
there does not seem to be any immediate
prospect of their going to war.
The capital of King Hickey Is called
James City. and he and his courtiers live
there. Every fortnight steamer leaves for
and arrives from Rio de Janeiro with mail
mail service. II has been a big source of
income to the king. for he has had printed
thousands of dollars worth of postage
stamps. which he has sold to stamp collec-
tors in the United States and in Europe
This steamer. which is also King Hickey's
navy. keeps the kingdom in pretty close
touch with the outside world The king
and his subjects get the latest books and
magazines. and the daily New York papers
are well read by them as are also the Paris
papers. Nothing big happens in any part
world without Trinidadian fyaf-
ting full accounts Of 1t within couple of
weeks time at furthest.
The regular steamer carries the products
of the island to Rio de Janeiro, whence
they are shipped to the United States or
Europe. In return It brings back machin-
cry, farming implements and other articles
which the Trinidadians cannot produce
A Simple Existence.
Their social life is simple. The white
mobiles have little TO do except to take an