The Washington times., 1914-08-23

Mrs. Thompson, wife of Senator
, Thompson Of Kansas. is in town for
short stay, after spending some time at
Ocean City, Md. Mrs. Thompson is very
much OF dear and has one very at
tractive daughter. Thelma. / thought
son, but Mrs. Thompson tells me that
she is not yet through scnool, hGt Will
20 back home this winter to finish her
education. There is a son, too. s:so
still in school Next rex the family
with thr exception Of the S,n-tcr. will
- TO Atlantic City for 4 Ettis while.
A number of interesting foreigners
have summered on this side Of the wa
ter this season. and perhaps the most
interesting among them is Col. Sir John
Harrington, whose American wife was
Amy Mcmillan, daughter of the late
Senator Mcmillan. of Detroit. Sir John
is the only instance. SO far as l know.
of a man working his way up from the
lowest ranks in the army to the dignity
of minister pIenipotentiary of the Brit
ish crown.
Educated at the Roman Catholic Col
lege Of Stoneyhurst, in England. and
the son of physician. he enlisted at
the age of twenty as q private In an
| infantry regiment. At twenty-four.
| after successfully attaining>the grades
! OF corporal and sergeant. he received d
commission as second lieutenant Of the
Middlesex infantry, and fifteen months
later was transferred to that corps
! d'elite. the Indian Stan Corps.
Before long he volunteered for serv-
Ice as vice consul at Zailah. pesulen-
| tial place ORG of the seaports of Abys-
sini;-a post avoided as much as possible
! by the ythcr members of the stan corps,
| by reason If Its loneliness and unhealth-
| iness.
There he made such good use of his
| opportunities. winning the friendship
| and confidence of the Negus OF AbHs-
| s.nia and of his various ras, or pro-
yincial governors and generals, that
| when the time came tor appointing a
minister to the court of the Emperor
| Menelik, he was invested with the ci-
fee. although a junior captain at The
| time.
Sir Jobn-.for shortly after ne was
| kniphted-is the sole person who ever
succeeded in inducing Queen Victoria to
talk into a phonograph. She only con-
I sented to do so. very reluctantly. be-
cause he explained to her the immense
| weight that a message from her to the
Emperor Of Abyssinia, conveyed in this
fashion would have upon that dusky
solomon and the Biblical Queen OF Sheba.
Queen Victoria however. stipulated that
once her message had been delivered TO
the Negus. the record should he oe-
stroyed and pledged Sir john TO see 10
| IL in person. Menelik was so delighted
at hearing the Queens voice that he
| promptly demanded that the record be
| LANDED over to him; but Sir John was
naturally obliged TO defer to the com
mands of his royal mistress and, seiz-
| ing the record. he stamped II to pieces
/ in the presence of the Negus;
! When after the conclusion Of the
entente cordial between France and
England. Sir John was obliged. under
orders from home, TO work in co-opera-
tjon and amity with the French enjoys
in Abyssinia-until that time 1t had
been his duty to oppose in every pos
sible fashion the alleged French machi-
nations, regarded by the Negus as de-
signs upon the indepedence Of his en-
luire-Menelik naturally thought that
! Harrington and England had gone back
on him and joined his foes. AS re-
sIlt. Sir John resigned his position there
and he has since turned his attention 10
political affairs.
The BILLY" Hits have given up their
lease Of the picturesque old place near
Middleburg, Va, belonging originally I'd
the late Col. r. H. Dulaney and replSsN
I with historic interest. But that daey
| not mean that they have given up sn1
| idea of spending most Of their time N
the country. On the contrary, they arS
| pIannirg, on their return from tn ir
trim abroad, to buy or build perma- :
nent hcme In the hunting country OF
IVirgiria-familiar ground, you Know 10
i both the former Katherine Elkins ano
her husband.
You remember Billy Horton, don't you.
. susan-Lieutenant Colonel Horton. to
give his full utle-who wss such beau