Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1910-02-04
RETURNED TIE PRIZE
4 Trophy That Did Not Remain
 Long In Captivity.
THE MISSING COAT OF ARMS.

.,eIongea tosthc American Consulate
 tn Honotutu a1d Was 1arr,e,. o.f F5
 Atarty of ehGt,s' M,dates-~The aes
 titut.co and Apology.
 'Sprlal.E ut cid times un th" coast. sad au orggeniau @reuHtGS Uc .. come ui the stpr!}a1 characters W 4ad thtta One was Governor Nc. -frlde If Gres 2l His first off du les We're at Honolulu. where he was tntrd StateS minister. King kamr uamrhI was the ruler at the time. The alni>ter WAS a heroic type of man. the father of fourteen children, and 2 numbcr of his sons became distin yuiShed men in various professions. lie was q true American. cast in an lltra patriotic mold. and many stories are told among the oldtiners of his patriotism and bravery.
 When MeBrde reached Honolulu he found there were no out ward ill ,iGnia designating the American con sulate or minister's office, so he had a | If wood gilded and decorated appro- priatcly. and this was hung over the office door that all the world might see It. It was naturally conspicuous ob- feet and of much interest to the pub. lie.
 "Onc day an English man-ofwar ,ame into port The sailors and midi .t,; ,I often happens. some of them had tll. larious times Among the then mid shipmcn were Lord Gordon and leord BereSford. who. like all midShipmen i'll from a long cruise. were out for q jolly time. Walking down lhr street theY did not fail to notice that Yankee coat of arms. and IS BereSford Wa- collecting hric=a-brac and curi"~itieS il occurred to him and Gordon that ths would be q fine addition to thrr col. lection, a trophy worth having. S0 they selected fine when the minis ter was away and the office closed presumably at night. and took doWH the coat of arms. hired a native vehi. rle to carry it down to the dock and actually succeeded in getting it aboard without any of the ranking officers knowing anything about it.
 "Fhe next morning when the minis ter came down to the office his assist l ant said:
 "'NIr Minister. your birds taken flight
 ..What do you meanY asked his excelency.
 ",Your coat of arms is gone re piled the aid.
 "'Gone where? Flown off?'
 t'Not exactly said the other. It's just disappeared
 "Thc minister walked out into the stree, and looked up. The coat of arms. which was five or six feet across. was noticeable by it's absence. It had taken wings and flown away Exactly what the minister said has not been chronicled.
 "It 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 | ister. who at once made a 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 his evidence to the captain reiterating his demand and demanding an apology for the in suit.
 "The captain now began an investi- l uot tion and ba cl1IpritS owned mn o n! took the coat of arms on deck when 1t was promptly sent ashore and re- turned to the office of the minister 1 Mcbride. who was there. refused to receive it.
 "'Tell the captain of your frigate that desire that the men who took il down bring it back. place it where they found it and apolosize.'
 Rack to the ship went the men with the coat of arms and reported The captain ordered the young men te go ashore, take the coat of arms to the consulate, replace it as they found it and apologize to he minister
 Tt was doubtless a bitter pill. and the young mid>hipmen 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 hila-"lf out to keep the mat ter quiet. ana .s q fact the public was well posted and the consulate was surrOundru " crowd of Americans natives and liners. all laughing at the predicam"nt of the young midship men.
 ''The minister had a strong sense o1 humor and determined to get all there was in it. 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 Qi arms from the hack and amid the cheers of the crowd climDed to the front of the building and placed it II position, then hurried down, followed by laughter ao cheers. ."-C. F. Holder