Evening star., 1921-12-05
Who's Who ess7::sa:: {: ::s: @'%:
XIII-Sir Auckland Geddes
= IR AUCKLAND GEDDES, Brit
ish ambassador to the United
States and one of the delegates

| conference on the limitation OF
armament and Pacific and far eastern
questions; ID by no means stranger
IN Washington. In the nearly two
years that he has been stationed here
he has made many friends, and hun
dreds of others know him by sight
and can distinguish him from afar by
his long, swinging stride as he goes
on his frequent tramps from the en-
bassy, on Connecticut avenue, to the
outskirts of the city.
Although the ambassador has
proved himself to be most able dip
lomat. capable of carrying on the af-
i fairs of his government in Washing
ton in admirable fashion and of max
| ing a speech that the old guard of
| diplomats would mark with high ap-
proval. he has had no previous train
| ing along these lines. Although he Is
a born diplomatist, his career has not
been that of a statesman or politician
in any way before, but all of his life
been that of student and instructor.
Primarily Sir Auckland is an educator
and ranks among the highest in the
British Isles, but since his executive
ability was displayed so markedly
| during the war. his government has
I
One imagines the life of a professor
! to be a rather humdrum affair. but
| not so with Sir Auckland. His career
has been interesting, varied and at
| times thrilling. In his early twenties
he volunteered and served as a lieu
! tenant in the Sd Highland Light In
fantry, fighting the Beers in South
Africa At the outbreak of the world
! war he Joined the northumberland
Fusiliers and saw active service as
| a major at the front in France for
two years. Following an accident re-
ceived from bad fall from his horse
| he was fnvalided back to England and
| was given the position of director of
| recruiting in the war Office in 1916.
This was q high post, but the follow
| ing year he was given duties that re-
quired as much ability and hard work
as any military Office called for
in war service. He was made minis
ter of national service. 1t was his
duty to keep indexed every citizen of
| the British Isles. coordinate the civil
population and decide in what ca
pacity each could serve best the
country, whether as a soldier or in an
economic capacity. During this time
local government board and was sent
to parliament by the unionist party
to represent Hampshire. Just after
, the war he was given the important
! post of minister of reconstruction.
. which demanded great foresight and
broad vision. combined with economic
ability. simultaneously he served as
president of the board of trade. The
British envoy is known for being a
| tireless worker. His energy and per-
| severance in tackling arduous and
| laborious tasks is astonishing. This
characteristic was absolutely essential
in carrying on his different war duties
or he would never have been able to
| accomplish SO much for his country or
| fill his difficult positions in such a
capable manner.
Sir Auckland Geddes. X. c. B.. C. B..
| P. c., etc, is a Scotchman. He was
| born in Edinburgh forty-two years
ago. the son of a civil engineer IA
| nous for railroad and bridge building
| in India. The ambassador as youth
was stocky and quite athletic. He