Evening star., 1912-11-03

The physician had scarcely finished read
ing this parchment when his telephone
bell rang. A second later a voice at the
other end of the wire asked him TO come
to the Austrian embassy.
1.-The emperor has given you a decora-
tion." said the voice. Il suppose you
have already received your diploma?
Very good, then Come to the embassy
and the ambassador will give you your
cross? No. you need not change your
clothes-there will be no ceremonies
there never is. The honor Is great enough
not to require them"
The physician to whom the foregoing
relates is Dr. Ernest A. Sellhausen Of go
G street northwest on whom his imperial
majesty the Emperor of Austria-H Hun
gary has just bestowed the chevalier
cross of the Imperial Order Of Franz Jo-
sef, thereby adding one more to the long
list of Washingtonians who have been
decorated by foreign governments
More native washingtonians have been
decorated by foreign governments than
the residents of any other ten cities put
together. In all. there are seventy-nve
men and women who make this city their
home who have been given the crosses
and jewels of royal orders-and this num-
ber does not include a large additional
number who have received diplomas
making them members of lesser foreign
orders. whose insignia are ribbons.
Still other Washingtonians who are in
the active service Of the government have
been decorated. but may not wear their
medals. Instead the bright gold decora-
tions are kept locked in some dark safe
in the State Department This Is due to
Co. C~rv%G lon n
United States forb.ds the acceptance on
the part Of any one holding a position
OF honor trust or emolument under the
government Of any decoration or gift
from a foreign prince. power or poten-
tate" Congress alone can give such an
official permission to accept such deco
ration-and this favor has been granted
but once in twenty years.
The number OF orders now existing Is
not less than 215. any one or group OF
which from given country may De
wiped out cf existence or grouped. or
new order may even be created to mark
some notable event. 1t is impossible to
compare the standing Of the various or
ders of the various countries. although
some are far more noted than others,
as. for instance, the Legion of Honor OF
land and the Golden Fleece OF the Latin
speaking countries. There is one order.
however. the Order of Ali. which has but
a single member-the Shah of Persia.
u men there Is the OrQer OF MOTetO, con-
ferred only on the president Of the Acad
emy OF st. Luke. Rome, but on retiring
from Office he retains the order as evil
dence of past service.
There are. also. many family orders
to which only the members of reigning
houses are eligible, like the Holy Order
of Siam and the Golden Lion Of Hesse.
The Order of White Elephant of Siam has
only once been granted to an American,
and this one came to a Washingtonian,
Prof. James Howard Gore of the George
Washington University.
But while the washingtonians who
have received decorations receive merely
the honor that they convey. sometimes
being given only the diploma and re-
quired TO buy their own medal (pro-
vided. of course. that they wish one),
they have a distinct advantage over the
citizens OF the country honoring them.
A citizen of foreign country on being
decorated by his sovereign must enter
the lowest grade. Not so with Ameri-
cans. Comparatively few of the Wash
ingtonians who have been decorated
have been forced to enter the lowest
grade. Instead. so distinguished have
been their services that most of them
have been created "off1cers" and in one
two instances have been given even
higher posts.
In addition to being the home OF more
americans who have been decorated than
any other city In the United States.
Washington is also the home of the mn
who has received more decorations than
any other one American-and also more
than vast number of tilted foreign no.
blemen. He is Prof. James Howard
Gore of 221O r street. already men,
toned as being the only American re-
cipient Of the White Elephant OF Siam.
Prot. Go"e is also one of the greatest
Tt,-f,~ -tsG-
eign orders. on which he has written
several treatises
There are cases where the recipient
has made d personal sacrifice TO receive
his medal. One of the most notable of
these cases is that OF John Calan
O'L"ugh'in, now the Washington cor~e-
spondent of a western newspaper NJ.
OLaughlin has two decorations. one
from Russia and one from Japan. II
was the latter which necessitated the
self-sacrifice.
&e%
The japanese cross was conferred on
Mr.. OLaughlin for his services as a
member Of the American commission to
the Toxic exposition in 1902. He was
made a member of the Order Of the
Rising Eastern Sun by Emperor Mutsu-
hito. and In 1905. following the Russo
Japanese war. during which he served
as a correspondent, he was presented
with set Of god cups by the emperor
and was promoted to the second class of
the order. a signal honor. Following
the war Mr.. O'Laughlin was appointed