The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1911-10-04
"WHEREIS BUCKNAM PASHAY"
IT'S A BET ITALIAN FOREIGN
OFFICE WOULD LIKE To kNOW.


Perhaps II Does. since Most European
Chanccllerlcs Have Found II Wise to
Keep Tab on American VINO Had the
Job Of Mentiine the Turkish Navy.
ANY day now" said Capt. J. II. Wag-
ner at the Hotel Breslin yesterday as he
set fire to long, lean cigar and told the
waiter what seemed necessary. Il am
expecting r. ID. Bucknam Of Constantine
pie short, square chap. broad as he is
long. undershot jaw; regular human
bulldog. Great little fellow is Bucknam.
Wouldn't cash in his American citizen
ship. you know, to hold his job as boss OF
the Turkish navy. He was Buchanan
Pasha. ace high with the Young Turks.
strong with the old Abdul Hamid crowd.
owned a tr,nkful of orders. could take the
wall Of any foreigner in Turkey he
quit because they made the limit too high
Right now they are wondering in Ber-
lin and London and Paris what would have
happened II Bucknam Pasha had agreed
| TO become a Turkish citizen and had taken
active command OF the Sutan's fleet in
the war with Italy Along with W. II.
1.cdbetter. U. $. n. retired. who had
helped Bucknam Pasha in one OF the
toughest jobs a man ever tackled try
ing to make something OF the Turkish
navy-he has dropped out Of sight tenn
porarily. heard to-day that he is in
Boston and likely to be here in few days.
But II Mr.. Ransford d. Bucknam, lately
Of San Francisco and any place else you
happen to think Of. was on the job of
Prevesa or Tripoli it's good bet that the
Italian yellow journals wouldn't be gloat-
ing 80 many gloats. He would be licked
by weight of armor and ordnance. no
doubt; but believe me, he would thrash
around some.
There's a man who doesn't need any
eight sheet advertising. For twenty
, years in several oceans he has been doing
the interesting and unexpected. and
European Chancelleries have thought it
wise to keep tab on him. As said. Buck
nam is a square rigger. ~ years old, hard as
steel and shrewd as Vermont store
keeper. He was born in Nova Scotia Of a
seafaring family. got his first sailing
experience on the great lakes and then
went to work for the Peabody line of Aus
tralian packets. He. knocked arc Ind
for some years with the Pa acific Mail Steam
! ship Company, got in with Cramps as an
expert and finally landed in Turkey, where
he made hit with Abdul Hamid.
| He quit. as he told me Il year ago. he
cause he had got to the time of life when a
thing. The Young Turks had granted
him some valuable concessions in Con :
stantinople in the way OF street railways
and electric lighting. As a natura,zed
Turk he might hav lost the concessions
in any upturn pf politics. As an ..neri-
can he figured he could hold on to what
he had got.
1T was not until 1903 tina. r. j. Buck
nam began to loom up as an international
figure. The Turkish Government had q
cruiser, the Med jidieh Of $3.50 tons on
tn. ways at Cramps. fine new boat that
the Sultan wanted to get home. Turk
ish crew had come over. but after getting
to Philadelphia had got cold feet. So
the Cramps looked around for a man big
enough to jockey the cruiser home. They
picked Buchanan, who happened to be
out Of a job.
so pleased Abdul Hamid that the Sultan
naval adviser. Bucknam said he would
like the Job II il was understood that he
was to he the boss The Sultan told him
to go ahead and do the best he could and
that il he had any kick coming please
apply ay the Yildiz Kiosk and ring Abdul's
befl. Ii worked out pretty we'll Buck
nam remembered Ledbetter and got him
over
1T was a good combination Bucknam
the all around executive and tried handle,
Of men; Ledbetter. ex-navy man and
dsciplinarian, They went to work tc
They established a school for officers
They instituted regular target practice
They did their best TO get in pay and pro,
visions and munitions all that was com
ing to their branch OF the service. The
Sultan liked them and assisted as much
hammed's successor couldn't prevail
against the centuries old system OF graf
and sloth and carelessncss.
Bucknam was OF great service 10
Abdul Once when an attempt was
made to assassinate the old Sultan Buck
nam took his post by Abdul's carria e
with drawn sword and protected the
drawn their lines and pressed the rabbl'
back. He was never able 20 do much
with the navy in the wav Of making il
an actual force, but he did the best any
man could When the Young Turks
, came into power Bucknam was foremos,
in persuading them to deal with Abdu
in a civilized way and they were gratefu
to him. have been told, for giving ad
vice that helped their standing with th'
Powers. In that way. | have heard
he got his concessions in Constantinople
To finance these no formed an Anglo
American company
Il know too that efforts were made Il
find him by the present Turkish Govern
ment a. soon AS the trouble with ltal,
came to head But Bucknam, guess
had had enough"
. BUSINESS BETTER ~ MENI(O