Evening star., 1909-09-12

tention to those phases which touch con-
ditons in his own land He has Travelled
here and enjoys the friendship of the lead
ing public men. He arrived in this Cap
ital in time to participate in all the cere-
monial pertaining to the change of Presi-
dents and in time, also, to become we'll
acquainted with the former Chief Execu-
tive. Sonora de la Barra is not entirely
a stranger, although she has never before
resided in Washington. She has Travelled
in the United States just as the cultured
classes of Americans have soJourned in
Mexico. In fact, so lively an exchange
of visitors has been kept up between the
two capitals in the past decade that no
one from Mexico City can feel an abso-
lutte stranger in Washington.
Sonora de la Barra is one of the young
est matrons in the high ambassadora,
set. She has been married but twelve
years, and as Mexicans wed In tender
years she is but little more than thirty,
and so slender and graceful that she
seems less than twenty. Since her mar
riage she has lived in a variety of coun-
tries and so little at home that she begins
to feel genuinely cosmopolitan. Shortly
after Senior de la Barra. brilliant young
minor in tthe diplomatic corps, had mar
ried Senorita Maria Elena Borneque, a
belle and considerable heiress. of Mexico,
he was sent to Buenos Ayres, where he
remained for several years.
became the intimate friend of the Amer
ican minister David Jayne Hill, now am
bassador to Berlin. Two years ago he
was transferred to Brussels, one of the
most difficult posts to il in the entire
Mexican service. The old hostility which
the Belgians feel about the unhappy
Carlotta, widow of Maximilian. is some-
times voiced in the treatment accorded
with consummate skill and dignity, sue
ceeded in eradicating all the resentment,
and he became one of the most popular
foreigners in the Belgian city. Sonora
and the Countess Albert of Flanders,
wife of the heir apparent of the Belgian
throne, were mutually attracted and be-
came the closest friends The countess,
according to Sonora de la Barra, is one
of the most admirable. and talented
women in royal circles. She is the daugh-
ter of the famous oculist, the Archduke
Charles Frederick of Bavaria and is
physician of high merit herself.
She attends to the physical well-being
OF her family ana frequently exerts her
self to cure the ailments of her friends.
In addition TO this useful knowledge. she
is a Iovable and domestically inclined
woman. When the ambassador and his
wife left Brussels, when transferred TO
Washington, the Count and Countess of
Flanders accompanied them to the train
and loaded their compartment with ex-
quisite flowers.
Sonora de la Barra possesses that de-
votion TO her own country which seems
part of the Latin nature. She was care
fully educated at home after the fash
ion which prevails among the aristocratic
Mexicans, and after completing her stud
les spent a year or two in Paris She
is an accomplished musician and her
skill on the piano is not often found
among amateurs She is also fond of
that fascinating instrument so identified
with her race. the guitar.
Unlike many who show skill in music
in their girlhood days. the sonora has
not permitted the cares Of a family to
interfere with her accomplishments. She
studied under the best masters in Paris