The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-06-24
STRANGE ROMANCE
 OF AN IOWA GIRL Bride of Wealthy Young Chi naman of Honolulu FAMILY HAS MILLIONS Naval Officers Royalty Entertained in Magnificent An Fong Mansion.
 Rise of Celestial to Power
 and Affluence.
From the New York Herald.

From the New York Herald.
 Pen of novelist has rarely woven so in- terestng a romance that involved in the marriage in Davenport, la, a few days ago of Miss Anna Elizabeth Whit ing, niece of Rear Admiral Whiting, to Albert F. Ofong of Honolulu. While his bride is thoroughly American, Along is the son of a full-hedged Chinese. Still more unusual, however, is the fact that ho has no less than thirteen sisters, three Of whom have married into the American navy, as he may be said to have done, and a fourth into the army. One of these is the wife of Rear Admiral Whiting, so that by this latest union she will become the aunt as well as the sister of young Along.
 Of the others, one is the wife of Lieu tenant Riggs, of the navy; one Of James W Brewster, who served on the cruiser Harvard in the Spanish-American war. and a third Lieut. Andrew J. Dougherty, of the army. Albert was the last member of the family remaining unmarried His courtship, like that of his sisters began under the cocoanut trees of the Pacific Island. and the family looks to him for the perpetuation of a name already known In every capital of the world, and especial ly in the best circles along the Paclnc coast. For twenty years naval officers have told of the delightful hospitality at- forded them in the Along home while their ships lay at anchor in Honolulu Bay.
 Gorgeous Fong Mansion.
 Tourists have come back from Hawaii telling of the gorgeous semi-Oriental man. sion of Wing An Fong-the name has since been Americanized-and Mrs. Con ception An Fong, who is a mixture Of Spanish and Portuguese. Every one who has been in the islands talks of the charm- ing manners, the bright hued gowns, the langourous tropical ballads and the fund of good nature of the highly attractive progeny of Wing An Fong, millionaire of the South Seas.
 Along about 1858 6 young Chinese bear ing this name came with shipload of his fellow countrymen to Honolulu. He was unusually intelligent and genial and with a little capital soon built up prosperous business in Chinese crockery, silks and brick-a brac. In a short time he was the leading merchant in Honolulu. He spent money freely and was well liked by whiteS and blacks in the quaint old town. AS he grew in wealth he made love to con oepcion, the daughter of poor Portu- guess sailor. who had foated into Hawaii. She was what is known as a Kanaka, and there was a strain of English blood in her, and after their marriage, in 1860, 1t was this strain in her which produced the energy and executive ability by which she helped him to gain money.
 Bought Sugar Plantation.
 As Fong invested in sugar cane planta- tions and in those times, when such properties yielded almost incredibly large profits he became very wealthy. In ten years he was worth more than $30000 and was adding $'5,000 to this annually. He was careful and prudent. while his busi- ness associates drowsed and took no heed for the morrow, and he was ceaselessly watching for chances to buy more planta- tions at cheap prices from the improvi- dent Hawaiians
 Meanwhile the An Fong family circle widened. There were six children In the home in 1S70 boy and five girls. Eight more girls were born there during the next fifteen years. Wing An Fong was an ideal father. He was delighted to see how each child resembled the mother in facial expression. He Hired servants galore. en- larged his house every few years, and thought nothing too good for his babies.
 He used to find no greater joy than to get his wife and all his numerous girls into a great numbering open carriage like a Concord coach that he had had built according to his own ideas. and. with himself as driver on the front seat, to go rolling slowly over the roads about Honolulu for hours at a time. It used to be a memorable sight to see bowling along any of the lava made roads in Hon. olulu Papa Ah Fong, with his long queue dangling down his back, driving a vehicle containing his entire family circle, all singing, laughing and having a good time by themselves.
 Trlue Chinese that he is, Wing An Fong never gave up his idea that the Chinese