Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-08-14
A Mslr TO HOMER DAVENPORT
One Of the Most Interesting Personal.
tiles in Public Life Today.

IOTk, 10 receive an lnVltdtlOn 10 WISH
New Jersey, and some Of the things
there seen and some of the people
there met are worthy OF more than a
passing notice.
Homer Davenport, the greatest car
toonist of all time, the most unique
character of today and above all, the
most fascinating, lovable, whole
hearted man on earth, stopped shovel
ing gravel to welcome me to hts home
at Norris Plains, N. j., whence l had
gone in response to an invitation to
visit him. He is a plain man. He
wears negligee shirt, battered old
soft hat and he shovels gravel. But
there is no living man who considers
himself SO great as to refuse an inyi-
tation to visit Homer Davenport, and
none so ill-favored with worldly goods
as to be left off the invitation list if
Davenport knows him to be a man
for a. that"
After. exhausting the topic of eur
rent news and speaking of his intend
ed visit to Maine, We started out to
look over the farm"
And such a farm it is! Soaring
overhead and floating contentedly on
the little pond are twenty-one of the
twenty-five known varieties OF wild
geese The quack Of our own beauti-
full canvasback duck is answered by a
gorgeous wood duck from Africa and
the chorus is taken up by wild ducks
from every part of the globe Wild
pigeons from Africa strut awkwardly
across the lawn, while wild pigeons
from the East Indies coo softly as
No haa of
chairs, and, in fact, birds undreamed
OF by the average person are all over
the place and these are the birds he
is to show at the Central Maine Fair
here in Waterville next month.
When we finished looking at the
birds, Davenport walked toward the
barn, threw open the door of box
stall and ushered me into the pres
ence of the great Wadduda If man
never in his life laid eyes on horse
flesh, he would bow down to Wad-
duda. Her beautifully rounded form.
clean, well-shaped head, arched, full
neck and large, lustrous eyes vie with
each other in attracting ones atten-
ton. and she is altogether most
beautiful thing to behold. She was the
war mare of the great sheikh of all
sheikhs, Hashem Bey, ruler of the
Anazeh tribe, which breeds the most
noted Of all the desert Arabians.
From her back Hashem Bey has
killed a large number of chieftains
of hostile tribes, and two large scars
on her neck bear witness to two saw
age lance thrusts that nearly ended
her career. Perhaps admirers OF
horses will best recognize that her
qualities do not end with her beauty
from the statement that, in an effort
to Overtake a caravan of camels that
had passed without being checked,
she was ridden from ISkanderoon to
Aleppo, distance of JOG miles, in
eleven hours. the mare having, previ-
GUS to that ride, had her right pastern
badly damaged in war.
Hashem Bey. sheikh of all the An.
aZeh, loved Wadduda even to the blue
bead in her tail which. in accordance
with the rites of the desert, had been
fastened there when she was foaled.
His duty one day called him to visit
Sheikh Akmut HafeZ, ruler OF the des-
ert. Akmut Hafez is the diplomatic
sheikh, the man who stands between
the wild nomadic tribes of the desert
and the great Turkish government.
He it is who sees that the BedOuin
gets good prices for his camels and
arranges the question of camel tax
for the sultan If war threatens be-
tween the tribes and the government
he is the mediator who effects a hap
py compromise. and Akmut Hafez Is
the BedOuin most respected of all Be-
douins by all the tribes of the desert
Hashem Bey thought OF all these
things when he considered the present
he would take to the ruler of the de-
sert. and he decided upon Wadduda.
90! Sheikh," he said to Akmut
HafeZ. my love for my war mare is
not exceeded by that for my children
II every grain of sand in the desert
represented Turkish pound. would
not take them all for the bead in her
tail; yet l present her to you, o!
Sheikh as a token of my loyalty and
respect"
When Homer Davenport. armed
with letters from the president, the
Turkish ambassador at Washington
and an trade or permit granted by his
Imperial Majesty Abdul Hamid, which
gave him the right to bring horses
out OF the desert, arrived at Aleppo,
Syria. which is the gateway to the
desert. he made diplomatic blunder,
The code dictated that he should first
of all call upon the governor of Alep-
pc. Not knowing this, he first called
upon Akmut Hafez. diplomatic sheikh
and ruler Of the desert. Akmut Hafez
was SO pleased that the great Daven-
port. who stood in such favor with his
majesty the sultan as to obtain per-
| nit such as had been granted but
once before, and that many years
ago, had seen fit to call upon him
first that he went through the cere-
mony Of making Davenport his "des-
ert brother" and then presented him
with the wonderful Wadduda as a
token OF his appreciation.
The next day Davenport, discover
, ing his mistake, fastened to call upon
, the governor. The latter, it seems.
!, knew Of the visit to Akmut Hafez and
, the presentation of the priceless
mare. Not to be outdone in courtesy
, to one who stood so high in royal
. favor, he presented Davenport with a