The Detroit times., 1908-11-20
.RENAUDz MISSES
!. VISIT TO COURT
Of CHINA
DETRorTER RECEIVED INVITA-
TON FROM PRINCE Pu LuN,
BUT LOSES CHANCE WHEN
HEiR-APPARENT Is "oUT."

when l am emperor Of China, you
shall come to my court"
This was the parting message OF
Prince Pu Lun. the heir apparent to
the throne OF China, to Aid. Paul c.
Renaud. OF Detroit. four and one-half
years ago. at the conclusion Of an
ocean voyage which had served to
make them well acquainted. And that
Is why Aid. Remand is the sorest man
In this part OF the world over the sue
cess Of the reactonary plot which put
Pu Lun aside and resulted In the
choice Of Prince Pu-Yi, baby OF three
years. as the emperor and Son OF
Heaven.
Prince Pu Lun Is a progressive
young man and desired TO introduce
western civilization. Therefore, his
showing aside. The history OF mod
ern China has been largely the his
tory Of the achievements OF such
Americans and Englishmen as John
w. Foster, Sir Robert Hart, Gen. Cor
don and the brave Montgomery. \Pu
Lun is particularly favorable to Amer
leans. and his accession might have
meant much to Renaud. And then
again
yes, this Is where | miss a visit
to an emperor" says Renaud, half In
regret and half In joke. This Is no
deception. at all. The invitation was
real one.
-Four years ago Prince Pu Lun
came to this country as envoy at the
time Of the st. Louis exposition and
toured the principal cities before
starting home by way OF Europe.
happened to be going across. on the
steamer La Gascoigne. In June, and
was amazed to observe on going
aboard that there was a crowd Of
richly-robed Chinese there.
The prince was escorted to the
dock by Sir Chen, the Chinese minis
ter in Washington. and fleet OF boats
chartered by the Chinese accompanied
the Gascoigne out to Sandy Hook.
had no intention Of seeking the &C
quaintance Of his highness, but my
cabin happened to adjoin that Of his
secretary, and l became acquainted
with the latter. He introduced me
To the heir-apparent, and | was with
the prince many times after that. The
ladies who were on the ship all wanted
to meet him, and 1t was my privilege
to introduce them. He talked a great
deal about his country, speaking par
ticularly OF the conservatism and the
necessity Of taking years to effect i'm
portant changes. Still he predicted
that China would advance greatly In
the immediate future.
"All Of his suite OF n score or more
spoke OF him as his majesty just as
II he were already emperor. Unlike
most Chinece, he is big fellow and
frank and pleasant in disposition. HI
took a great pleasure in asking ques'
tons OF those whom he met. He
would ask the ladies II they were
married, If they had ever been mar
ried before, II they intended to marry
again, how old they were and a mum
Der OF other things which might
sound simple minded, but were intend
ed TO show interest.
THE prince smoked very fine
cigarettes, and he would ask men and
women alike to join him in smoking
He wrote his name for me in the
Chinese characters on a cigarette pa
per one day"
This memento. which Aid. Renaud
still keeps. bears the name in Chinese
and English. and the note His Ma.
jesty Pu Lun, June Is. 1904"
But Prince Pu Lun has been put In
the discard, and Paul c. Renaud will
not get any action on visiting card
at the imperial gate. so he will re-
main In Detroit yet awhile.
Wherefore he Is score at the pow
ers that reign In far-off Catha.