The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

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 Pont arrived in England, having been
 told that S500,0o0 in sold would fol-
 low by the next s-eamer He car
 ried letter of introduction from E.
 l. Du Pont de Nemcurs & Co. to
 Brown, Shipley & Co, If London Go-
 ing among the saltp3te- brokers, Du
 Pont bought their entire supply, and
 in 8 few daysthe saltpeter was be- ing rapidly delivered. The purchase
 was to be for cash, but the next steam CT failed to bring the gold. The brok- CTS, seeing the prize Of saltpeter ris- ing as the supply decreased. besiegad him for money, thinking that, in the event of his failure to make payment they could cancel the orders and re- sell at an advanced price Ia Motto Du Pont appealed 70 Brown, shipley & Co. who informed him that they hal
 not so large an amount of cash on
 hand. They, however, referred him to Peabody & Co.,, aad forthwith he
 called on that firm os bankers. "Yes,
 we have the money" said the bankers,
 but how do we know you to be of the firm of F. I. Du Pon. de Menours & Coz" A representative of Brown, Shipley & Co. could not affirm tha. La Motte Du Pont was what he repre- sented himself to be, but Du Pont made so earnest plea that Peabody | & Go. were impressed, finally agreeing l to advance the money if Browa, Ship l ley & Co would affirm that they had | no cause to believe that La Motte Du l Pont was not as he represented him self La Motte Du Pont received the | money, but his worry was increased | when the second ship to arrive from | the United States did not bring the | promised shipment. He continued his purchases, storing the supply of salt | peter in a great warehouse, in readi- | ness to ship On the third steamer the gold arrived from America, and. just as he saw his mission about com plete, the London Times came out op- posing the shipment. So vigorous was the opposition that La Motte Du Pont chartered ship and quickly recruit ed a crew. Many of the men he se- cured were from vessels captured by the Confederate warship Alabama. As the last of the cargo was being talk en aboard, preparatory to leaving at high tide, at 4 o'clock on the follow ing morning, 9 customs officer reached the wharf with orders to stop the shipment. Young Du Pont demand ed to know his authority, agreeing to accompany him to the Custom House to secure his information. Bef2re leaving his ship, he stepped into the cabin and whispered to tho captain Load every pound of saItpe1er as quickly as possible, and be req iy tc sail at moments notice" The cap tain nodded, and La Mote Dd Pont proceeded with the customs officer. On the way Du Ront suggested that they lunch together before going to see the officers superior and the Britisher heartily approved the idea They lunched, and, as every minute of delay meant so much more saltpeter aboard the ship, the repast was stretched out by interesting stories and the recount ing of odd experiences. When finally they arrived at the Custom House all the saltpeter had been place. aboard the vessel. Young Du Pont was told that the order to stop shipmea. came from Lord Palmerston, the British premier. Despite this, the tilraesion to the captain, as soon as the Ameri- can returned to the ship, was. We will sail at tomorrow morniag. or der or no order. will be here at pre- cisely that hour"
 He arranged with the wharf master to open the locks, and retired. Be- fore dawn the next morning the wharf masters men manned the capstan and were opening the locks when a file of British soldiers approached The men were ordered to reverse their direction and the partly openad locks were closed. That ended all chance of getting the ship out of port, and La Motte Du Pont took the first steamer for New York. Going direct to Washington, he reported to Gecrc- tary Seward, who gave him two let ters, one to Lord Palmerston and the other to Minister Adams at tre Court of St. James. The first set forth ;n short sentences that if permission to -+AS SNtiIl'VSNl NdS IOE SlNGH lr1- l mediately, it would be considered as declaration of war. The other let ter directed Minister Adams to return to Washington at oncA t shipment was not permitted.
 La Motte du Pont reached England by the next steamer, ana m his arrival in London conferred with Minister Adams, later calling upon Lord Pal merston for permission to ship the saltpeter. Lord Palmerston is en- gagged" said the funky, and Du Pont called at a later time. Rsealylng the same reply, he called third and then fourth time, but Lord Palmerston still was engaged. Iaquirinp. whether the premier was in, and receiving the answer that he was, La ,Motte du Pont approached the door of his office. The attendant sprang upon him, attempt ing to choke him, but the American threw his weight upon hlln and the attendant lost his balance and reeled. Freed for the moment, Du Pont walk l