Evening star., 1914-07-05

q man 10 set his fathers kingdom III
order. \ brilliant southerner Edward
Henry Strohel. got the appointment after
being strongly indorsed by John Ha,.
Secretary of state. and President Eliot
OF Harvard where the chosen man was
filing the char of international law
Strohel. after his family had been
burned out hy the great Charleston. s. G.
ire. i'm the first year of the civil war.
had taken all sorts of honors and prizes
at Harvard. where he had remained for
the law course. had been secretary Of
legation and charge 'afaires at Madrid.
mad. after an exciting Hn-mtle march
over the Morocco deserts. made sue
ccssful deal with the Sultan al Fee: had
been assistant secretary Of state: had
Travelled loo miles over the Andes 10
Quito. 10 occupy his later post of min
lister 10 Ecuador and after being pro
NOTED to the Chilean mission had. with
great display Of genius. eased up our
strained relations with that state. When
he got this offer from the heir to Siam
throne President Eliot advised nm to
accept the offer for national reasons
and gave him a furlough for two years.
So he signed a contract TO advise the
king foI that length of time
Relations between Siam and France
were lust then at such a crisis that the
former seemed almost upon the verge o.
extinction: out. his way to Bangkok.
StroAel stopped over in Paris. proposed a
form of compromise acceptable TO the
French and an hour and half after the
from war he was on his way TO Bangkok
carrying in his pocket the instrument hy
which he had probably saved throne
before having even seen its occupant, his
new employer.
The king. who was as curious to see HIS
new adviser as ne was delighted with the
latters master stroke at Paris. sent for
Strohel on the day or his arrival at Bang
kok. and at this meeting was cemented a
close personal friendship between the two
Strobel took the best house to ne found
in Bangkok. and a retinue Of ten serv-
ants. which included Chinese cook and
ten others mostly Tamils. lie wrote TO
friend in this country: We have the
hest house. hest furniture and best serv
ants in Bangkok
Within "A fortnight after his arrival he
was given dinner by the king. who
laughed heartily at his bon mots
After Strobel returned home that night
one of the kings pages drove to his house
with three large bananas from harao. a
variety which his majesty had highly
praised AT dinner The king made him
adviser 10 the government on all aues-
tions. and gave him the highest rank OF
any foreigner in Siam.
Strobel started right in upon strenuous
reforms First he revised the harbor
regulations: then he had law passed
abolishng state-regulated gambling. al
S..0noao a wear This. he told the king.
was the curse Of Siam. and his majesty
let him have his way. He also accom-
plished the evacuation of Chantibun by
the French. which the king had thought
impossible. and which one of the highest
officials bet Strobel he could not accom-
plish. In reward for this the king deco
rated him with the grand cross of the
Order of the White Elephant. Reforms
too numerous to mention were made. and
so delighted was the ruler with his
American adviser that at the expiration
of his two-year contract he persuaded
him TO sign another for six years longer.
But Strobel was never a we'll man aftef
removing TO siam Soon after his ar
rival he was attacked by the fever so
often fatal to foreigners visiting those
parts.
Once while he was lying quite ill With
this the king came to his house for
two-hour call and brought him re-
markable little watch made out Of
1OO-franc gold piece. Oddly enSugh,
Strobel had admired this very watch
at the shop of a Paris jeweler. who had
told him that there were only three .
such in existence. the two others belong
ing to royal personages. In 1906 he
came home for a visit, and while stopping
in Cairo contracted blood poison from
what appeared to be an insect bite on
his lip. Although partially recovering and
able to return to Siam after this stay In
America. he died in Bangkok in January.
1905. soon after having made his master
stroke for the king-the negotiation Of a
most important treaty closing all aues-
tions pending with France which coun-
try an evidence of its esteem gave
him the rank of grand officer of the
Legion of Honor.
III 1905 the Maharata OF Baroda came
to America to look for advice as 10 how
to improve his people. He looked into
our every corner and Granny. and while
in the American Museum of Natural His
tory confided to Prof. Bumpus his desire
for an American adviser. And IL hap
pened that the professor did know OF
the right man for the right place-a Will
mington. Del. youth. who had worked
his way through Brown University by
odd jobs of typewritng and had just got
ten his sheeps<in that June. along with
working fellowship in political and
social science at the University of Wis
consn. He had written mastery mono
logues on social conditions in America.
but he was very younR-a mere boy, only
in his early rwenties.
The powerful Prince of India sent for
the young man. looked him over and
offered him a salary that we'll nigh
took his breath away. Thus did Ralph
C. Whitenack. Brown. 'oa go TO Baroda
as adviser to the Maharaja, and thus
did that prince turn not to Britannia. his
foster-mother. but to her rebellioUs
daughter. Columbia. for guide who
should rebuild his state on progressive
lines
Whitenack lost time in hying him.
self to the other side of the world. The
ma hara ia gave him bungalow across
the street from the palace gate-a ram
bling brick structure of two stories with
wide lawn shaded by tropical trees, a ten
MS court, stables and separate quarters for
his retinue of servants-a cook, assistant
cook butler. chamberboy. coachman and
valet He supplied him also with secre-
ary to aid in his work and teach him
',Gugarati'' the native dialect He was
about three times week TO
breakfast with the prince at the palace.
and was often seen riding with him over
mis- vast estate
Whitenack first got to work at the or
ga anization of savings banks for the ma
arajas people Then he esta bished mod
rn cotton weaving mills. cotton-oil plants.
larry farms. sewer systems and water
works.. Next it was model tenements.
model schools, popular lecture courses
md even band concerts in the parks: and
" the time the Young mans contract had
,een fulfilled Baroda was quite a modern
tate.
The Sick Man of Europe-former Sultan
bdul Hamd-also had his American ad-
User. We remember how he had built at
ramps shipyard. Philadelphia. the