Evening star., 1924-09-11
REAL |MBR|E DEATH
STORY TO Be TOLD
Widow of Consul Killed in
Persia Will See Hughes
Here This Month.
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.
By Cable to The Star and Chicago Daily News.

BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.
By Cable to The Star and Chicago Daily News.
NILLEFRANCHE, September IL
The light cruiser Trenton, conveying
the body of Robert Imbrie to it's last
resting place at Washington, reached
this harbor Tuesday evening. While
shore batteries were exchanging with
the American warship the usual
salutes, shrill and plaintive notes
from French bugles were heard sound
ing the last post to honor the men,
ory, not of an American Government
official murder by savage mob, but
an American citizen who, by his un-
doubted bravery at the battle Of the
Somme, obtained the highest decora-
tions of any Frenchman's ambition,
won only by a few, the Legion of
Honor. the Croix de Guerre and the
Medaille Militaire.
The casket was covered with the
Stars and Stripes and placed amid
ship. 1t had been brought aboard at
Bushire. a small port on the Persian
Gulf, by Mrs. Imbrie. who had to
suffer for weeks not only the mental
torture of having permanently be-
fore her eyes a coffin reminding her
at all hours of the horrible way her
husband was butchered. but also of
the physical hardships throughout
the trip through Mesopotamia ami
southern Persia, the theromometer
rarely showing less than 12O in the
shade.
Make Seven-Day Trip.
Accompanied by Mai. Sherman
Miles, American military attache at
Constantinople, and a small Persian
guard, the funeral party left Teheran
on August in automobiles reach
inc h1
days later. The British authorities
at 1rak did not spare any effort to
prove their regret for the tragic event.
The vice marshal commanding the
1rak forces, accompanied by numer-
GUS British officers, came to the Per-
sian 1rak border to receive and take
full charge of the car containing the
comm, while guards of honor of Irak
gendarmerie and the British air force
rendered military honors. At Bagdad
the body was placed in a van and
left for Bassorah by rail. The
director of Irak railways placed a
comfortable railway carriage at the
disposal of Mrs. Imbrie, thus trying
to make the trip less tedious for her
AT Bushire the British and American
consuls and a few foreigners re-
ceived the party.
The Trenton awaited the arrival Of
the body, a small boat taking it to
tho ship. The arrival of the Amer.
lean cruiser on the previous day was
saluted first by Persian gunboat
with 21 guns. This humiliation of
salutinG the first foreign warship
entering its national waters, together
with $4,000 which are to be paid to
the widow are the only penalties i'm
posed by the United States Govern
ment on Persia for the crime.
Persians Pay Tribute,
When the coffin arrived the Persian
gendarmerie and all local officials
rendered last honors to the body of
,the murdered consul. Detachments
tof American and British sailors fol-
fowed the casket. A British guard Of
thonor accompanied the body to the
American cruiser where it was sur
rendered to American naval author
sdties while American Navy flyers
were circling in the air. During the
ceremony the thermometer showed
$50 defrees fahrenheit and the officers
and men forming the landing party
returned aboard the ship after the
stwo-hour ceremony with their white
clothes as wet as if they had all
fallen into a pool of water.
!. Mrs. Imbrie is returning to Wash
ington where she will tell Secretary
Hughes the details and causes of
Imbries death, which cannot be told
ITO the public as long as the State
Department is not in full possession
.of the facts. Imbrie was killed by a
mob and his last words to those who
,hastened to his death bed were:
keep on with my work until it is
completed"
Fanaticism One Cause.
: Tremendous forces of fanaticism
combined with probable base political
int Jr,h -;
behavior of the Persian police was
Beyond words. Imbrie, seriously in
jured, was brought to the hospital
where he might have had chance to
recover, when an hour later a mob
IHnder the very eyes of the police,
broke into the ward and finished up
the criminal work. Martial law was
proclaimed next day and yet four
days later when Imbrie's widow. went
out for short drive in an American
Car the mob selected her out of many
to spit in her face and tear of her
mourning veil in full view of the
Persian police who did not think it
necessary to intervene. 1t was only
due to her American companion driv-
ing the car that a more serious Incl
dent was averted. He pushed the
Persian patriots aside and let the
powerful Cadillac go full speed.
. A week later the Persion govern
ment informed the legation: The
Sulprits of the undignified assault on
the much regretted Consul Imbrie's
widow have been thrashed."
. How the Persian police were able
to single the culprits from the mob is
Still a mystery to every Intelligent
imind. After Mrs. Imbrie has seen
SsS>,tary Hughes at the end of Sep
tember she probably will tell the
rsompl~e and true story of the as
.sassination of the American consul
provided diplomatic secrecy does not
force her to silence again.
JCopyright, 1924, by Chicago Daily News Coy