The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-09-06
RETURNED THE PRIZE
A Trophy That Did Not Remain
Long In Captivity.
THE MISSING COAT OF ARMS.
u Belonged to tho American consulats
In Honolulu and Was Carried on by
Party Of English Middiss--The Res
titution and Apology.

Party Of English Middiss--The Res.
tltutlon and Apology.
Spending of old times on the coast"
said an Oregonian. reminds me of
some Of the sterling characters we
hnd there. Que was Governor Me-
Bride Of Oregon. His first official du.
ties were at Honolulu, where he was
| United States minister. King Kane
hameha was the ruler at the time. The
minister was a heroic type of man,
the father of fourteen children, and a
number of his sons became dlstin.
| guished men IN various professions.
lie was n true American. cast In an
ultra patriotic mold, and many stories
ure told among the oldtimers of his
patriotism and bravery.
when Mcbride reached Honolulu
he found there were no outward in.
sigma designating the American con.
sulnte or minister's Office, so he had q
large American coat of arms cut out
of wood. gllded and decorated appro-
priately. and this was hung over the
| Office door that all the world might see
It, 1t was naturally conspicuous OBJ.
ject and Of much interest to the pub.
| lie.
"One day an English man-of-war
came into port. The sailors and mid.
shiplnen were given liberty. and, as
| often happens. some of them had hi.
larious times. Among the then mid
shipmen were Lord Gordon and Lord
Beresford, who. like all midshlpmen I'm
from long cruise. were out for
| jolly time. Walking down the street.
they did not full to notice that Yankee
coat Of arms, and as Beresford was
collecting bric.a.brac and curioslties It
occurred to him and Gordon that this
would be fine addition to their col
lection. a trophy worth having. So
they selected time when the minis
ter was away and the office closed.
presumably at night. and took down
| the coat of>arms, hired native vehl-
Gle to carry 1t down to the dock and
actually succeeded In getting 1t aboard
without any of the ranking officers
knowing anything about 1t.
'The next morning when the minis
ter came down to the office his assist
ant said:
"'Mr. Minister, your birds taken
night.'
"'whnt do you meanT asked his
excellency. 9as
"'Your coat of arms is gone re-
piled the aid
"'Gone where? Flown offg'
"'Not exactly said the other. It's
Just disappeared rr
"The minister walked out into the
street and looked up. The coat of
arms. which was FIVE or six feet
across, was noticeable by It's ABSENCE
1t had taken wings and flown away.
Exactly what the minister said has
not been chronicled.
at so happened that Beresford had
given the carriage driver'an extra fare
for his trouble. Some one discovered
this and quickly reported it to the min
lister. who at once made demand
upon the captain OF the frigate for its
return. The captain. who was inno-
cent, denied that the thing was aboard
ship. The minister sent bis evidence
to the captain. relterating bis demand
and demanding an apology for the In
suit.
"The captain now began an investi-
CATION. and the culprlts owned up and
took the coat OF arms on deck, when
1t was promptly sent ashore and re-
turned to the Office of the minister.
Mcbride. who was there. refused to
receive 1t. i
"Tell the captain Of your frigate
that desire that the men who took 1t
down bring 1t back. place 1t where
they found It and apologize
Back to the ship went the men
with the coat OF arms and reported.
The captain ordered the young men to
go ashore. take the coat Of arms to the
consulate. replace 1t as they found 1t
and apologize TO the minister.
1T was doubtless bitter pill. and
the young midshIpmen had to stand
the badinage Of their comrades. The
two went ashore, ready to comply,
and took the coat of arms to the con-
sulate. The American minister had
not put himself out to keep the mat
ter quiet. and as fact the public was
well posted. and the consulate was
surrounded by crowd of Americans,
natives ana others, all laughing atrthe
predicament Of the young midship-
men.
"The minister had strong sehse OF
humor and determined to get al there
was in II. He preserved his dignity as
best he could as he received the young
men and listened to their apologies.
The midshipmen then took the coat Of
arms from the hack and amid the
cheers OF the crowd climbed TO the
front Of the building and placed 1t in
position. then hurried down. followed
by laughter and cheers."--C. n. Holder
In New York Evening Post.