The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1909-08-24
Consul Skiddy's
Dilemma
Ccopyright. by Joseph i. Bowles.)
BY LLOYD osBoURNE

Ahfhbc hHo pctii uull III ADid DelOfc
the arrival OF Capt. Satterlee in the
Southern Belle. Not business alone
which was. OF course, only to be ex-
pected, what with the civil war being
just over and the Kanakas driven to
eat their cocoanuts instead OF selling
them 70 traders In the form OF copra
but. socially speaking, the little
capital OF the Samoan group had been
next door to dead
Possibly this long spell of monotony
contributed to Capt. Satterlee's pro
nounced and instant success. The
topsails Of the Southern Belle had
hardly more than appeared over the
horizon when people began 70 wake
up and realize that stagnation had too
long held them In is thrall Satter-
lee was not at all the ordinary kind OF
sea captain to which the Beach las
Apia always alluded TO itself) was
more than well acquainted. Gin had
no attractions for Capt. Satterlee, nor
did he surround himself with dusky
improperly. He plrSsd a straight
social game and lived up 20 the rules,
even to party calls. and finger bowls
on his cabin table He was tall,
thin American OF about IS. with floor
walker manners, grayish muttonchop
whiskers and a rowing eye. The gen
eral verdict OF Apia was that he was
very superior" His superiority was
apparent in his gentlemanly badness,
his openwork socks, his well-turned
references TO current events. his kind
iy and indulgent attitude toward all
things Samoan. He deplored the rival
ry of the three contending nationali-
ties-German. English and American
whose oificial representatives quar-
relied hercely among themselves and
mismanaged the affairs Of this unfor-
tunate little South Sea kingdom, and
whose unofficial representatives sold
guns and cartridges indiscriminately
to the warning native factions. Sat
terlee let II be inferred that the role
of peacemaker had informally settled
upon himself
I'm. little place everybody ought
TO pull together" he would say. his
bland tolerance falling like balm from
heaven. and he would clinch the re
mark by passing round 40-cent cigars.
The Southern Belle was SNOWY
little vessel OF about 80 tons, with
the usual trade room in the after part
Of the ship, where the captain himself
would wait on you behind counter
and sell you anything from bottle OF
trade scent to keg Of dynamite. He
never was SO charming as when en-
gagged In this exchange OF commodi-
ties for coin, and It accorded SO
piquantly with his evident superiority
that the purchaser had pleasant
sense OF doing business with gentle
mRn.
"Of course might run her as a
yacht and play the heavy swell" he
would remark But. candidl., like
this kind OF thing; 1t puts me on
level with the others, you know; and
then it's handy for buying supplies
and keeping one in touch with the
people" With this he would give you
such warming smile and perhaps
throw in free handful of fishhooks.
or packet Of safety matches, or
toothbrush. Indeed. apart from this
invariable prodigality. his scale OF
prices was ridiculously low, and IL
you were lady you could buy out the
chip at half price. AS for young
Sklddy, the American consul the bars
IN his case we're lowered even more,
and he was just asked to help him
self; which young Skiddy did though
sparingly. Capt Satterlee took an
immense fancy to this youthful repre-
sentative OF their common country.