The Washington herald., 1911-07-21

Special to The Washington Herald.
New York, July a.-Harry Payne Whit
ney to-day made formal announcement
Of the engagement Of his sister, Mis-
Dorothy Payne Whitney, to Willard D
Straight. Of Oswego. N. Y. formerl!
American consul general to Mukden
Manchuria, and at present connected
with the railroad interest of the Nor
gan, Kuhn-Loeb and National City Banl
| alliance.
The wedding will take place in the fall
and is expected to be an elaborate affair
behtting young woman who is worth
more than s6,00o.OO0 in her own right. i
VIII follow romantic and picturesque
| courtship, which began in China, WHERE
| the young people first met several years
ago, after Mr.. Straight had Just beer
barred from marrying another prominent
young woman, Miss May Hartman.
The story goes that Miss Hartman
had fully accepted the devotion of the
young diplomat and that they were about
to break the news to that little iron man,
E. II. Hartman, when he entered, his
home at Arden one day and found them
together.
wizard said, offering his hand The
younger man took 1t. Now, Straight" "
went on Hartman. II admire you very
much. You're a bully good chap, and 1
think you have a great future in store.
But I'm going to be frank with you and
tell you this: 1 don't want you for a
son-in-law."
The diplomat was stunned for a time,
but finally recovered enough to thank
the railroader for his frankness. 1mme-
diately, then, he relnquished all atten-
tions to Miss Mary. She later married
Charles Cary Rumsey, a young sculptor,
Of New York and Buffalo, Straight went
on business to Pekin.
Meets Miss whitney on Tour.
There he met Miss Whitney, who was
touring the world, and Immediately be-
came thankful to the brusque old Mr..
Hartman, for he fell deeply in love
with the New York society girl at once.
He followed her to Paris, Berlin, and
then all the way home. showering her
with flowers, books, and other tokens
OF affection.
When he was obliged to return to the
East, he left a confidential order and
$50 OF his cards with Miss whitney's
maid. The order was that each morn
ing a box of beautiful blooms from a
Fifth avenue shop should be presented
to Miss Whitney with one of his cards.
upon which he had already penciled
tender messages. When he got back to
America, a few months ago, his suit
was accepted.
Miss whitney is the youngest child
of the late William c. Whitney. She
was born in Washington while her
father was Secretary of the Navy under
President Cleveland. She is tall. dark,
athletic. and intensely interested in
charitable and sociological affairs. She
has a country home of her own in
Westbury, Long Island, and an apart
ment at 563 Park avenue. Harry Payne
and Payne Whitney are her brothers,
and her sister is Mrs. Almeric Hugh
Paget, of London. She is now abroad
with Mrs. George H. Bend and Miss
Beatrice Bend.
Young Straight was born in China.
the son of missionaries. both of whom
are dead. He learned Chinese and other
Eastern languages when a child. He
came to America, graduated from Cor
nell, and entered the diplomatic service
almost at once. He displayed conspic-
uous courage during an attack by ban
dts upon his Mukden consulate.
Straight helped to build the Szechuan
Railroad and more recently aided in
floating the s50,0Oo.0 900 Chinese loan.