The National tribune., 1907-06-06

ittttI VI hHit Va
the great Napoleon. to her son Jerome,
then in this country. urging him
| to abandon his American wife and re-
turn to France had been purchased for
Acknowledgement Charles ]. Bonaparte.
MIR. Bonaparte, who is a grandson of
Jerome, afterward King of Westphalia.
has for many years, it is understood,
been making collection of docu-
lments pertaining to his family. At the
recent sale of the Corner manuscripts
| in this city the letter, which Is of de-
cided historical value. was purchased
| by Mr.. George w. McCreary, Librarian
of the Maryland Historical Society.
When asked if he had bought the
letter by proxy, Mr.. Bonaparte said
That he didn't know anything in the
world about it; in fact. had never heard
of it. He said that he had quit buying
| l3onaparte letters to prevent himself
from being pestered by collectors of
relics. The letter in question is one of
the most interesting among the various
/ coilections of Bonaparte missives, con-
tanning as it does a mothers pleadings
for her sons return. 1t was written
Shortly after Nine. Bonaparte'S return
TO France from Rome in the Fall of
1904, and sheds a bit of light on the
character of the young Jerome who
was then having the time of his life in
| Baltimore.
You who are accustomed to hearing
Secretary of War Taft spoken of as a
| heavy weight ought to have seen him
the night of the brilliant reception
given Gen. Kuroki at the New Willard.
Secretary Taft was host on that even
| ing, and that banquet will go down in
| history as one of the most magnificently
satisfactory that ever was given at the
| National Capital. But dinner giving
| is not the least of Secretary Tafts ac-
complishments He can trip to rhyth-
mic music with step as light as a boy,
although he would not in the least
mind giving most any boy at least $50
pounds of superfiuous flesh.
1t was near midnight and the crowd
had begun to thin out when the younger
officers of the Army could no longer re-
sist the temptation of a waltz over the
beautifully waXed floor The young la
dies present were equally as anxious to
dance, and when the Marine Band
started to play an enticing waltz. the
floor was soon filed. Then it was that
Secretary Taft, despite the labor of the
evening, could not resist the music. and
choosing one of the most beautiful of
his guests, he joined the walters. For
a time the hundreds of his guests could
hardly believe their eyes, for they had
never known that the heavyweight
Secretary was devotee of Tcrpsichore.
The Secretary, however, by his light
and graceful movements. put TO shame
many of the younger members of the
Army who were tripping the light fam
tastic. He danced OUT the number,
and when the band played another
waltz he chose another partner, and,
as she put it, waited as gracefully ana
as lightly as a butterfly fitting over a
garden of flowers"
His success was so great that almost
every lady in the room was anxious to
be waltZed around again by willie
The Secretary, fearing a disastrous
result from further efforts. sent word to
the Marine Band to play Home. Sweet
Home thus automatically ending the
dancing without offending any of his
would-be partners.
While this is the first time Secre-
tary Taft has been known to dance in
Washington, he was quite famous as
dancer in the Philippines. While Gov
ernorGeneral of the Islands Mr.. Taft
first scored as a leader of the cotillon
and established his great popularity
among the high-class F'ilipinos. When
he first arrived in the islands and as
sumed the Governorship he became
popular with the ladies by leading the
cotillons and selecting his partners
from among the wives of the leading
Filipino citizens. 1t was considered 4
great honor by the ladies to be selected
as the partner in the dance by the Gov
General. Not only did Mr.. Taft
lead the cotillons, but he joined in the
merry waltz. and completely captivated
the brunette beauties of the archipelago
by his dancing
The President has appointed Col
John NJ. K. Davis, Artillery Corps. born
in the District of Columbia and APP
pointed to the Military Academy from
Arkansas, Brigadier-General of the
line, to succeed Gen. Constant Will
liams. who retired last week. Gen. Davis
was an honor graduate of the Artillery
School in 1869, and is at present sta
toned at Fort Banks, Mass.
In January, 1907, there were in the
United States. including ALASKA and our
insular possessions. 64,103 lost Offices
located in about 2,SSS Counties, and
running in alphabetical sequence from
Aaron, Ind, to Zwolle, La. In 1901
there We're 76,945 post Offices, but
since then many have been discontin-
ued on account of the rural free deliv-
cry service.
BY direction of the President, Brig
Gen Earl d. Thomas has been relieved
from the temporary command of the
Department of the Missouri and or
dcred to Denver. Colo. to assume COM
mand of the Department of the Colo
RADIO.
Frank Branagan, Treasurer of the
Philippine Islands, hurried to Washing
ton from Manila last week in order to
affix his signature to certain securities
to be issued in connection with the
building OF railroads in the Philippine
archipelago. There was no time to
send the securities from Washington to
Manila and have them returned for is
sue. hence the Treasurer's trip was
made necessary. He will have to sign
10000 of these securities, which will
occupy his time for month, and will
then take months leave of absence
before returning to his post.
The United States Navy will be rep
resented by a special squadron at Bor-
deauX, France. on the occasion of the
closing ceremonies of the International
Maritime Exposition, when it is eX-
pected the President of the French Re-
public will review the warships in at
tendance. This squadron will consist
OF the new armored cruisers Tennessee
and Washington, which are regarded
as the finest ships of their type in the