The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-03-27

washington-Dean of the Diplo- matic Corps! This unofficial title carries with it visions of venerable old age, white whiskers, and a par riarchal manner. It goes to that diplomat at Washington who has been in charge of his country's em- bassy there for the longest time. But today it belongs to a mere stripling, as those things go. of 45. from Mexico since 1924, now the youngest man ever to become dean of the distinguished corps assembled at Washington from all the world. Just short of 30 years old, Tellez. who was born into a middle class family of Zacatecas, started as a l proofreader on the newspaper Im- parcial of Mexico City. It was as | revolutionary in tendency as any | paper tha ever dared oppose the dictator Porfirio Diaz.
 At 19 he was an art critic on El Diario, stuying law and writing certs-and cooking! On that paper anyone was likely to find himself covering any kind of a story. Speech Gives start.
 One night there was a banquet at which sat many persons of import ance and Tellez, as the representa- tive of Diario, was called on to make his first speech. All words suddenly | fled him except those of the preface of textbook on economies. Manuers instructor had told hin that the contents of the volume were well summarized in that preface and the young man had learned 1t by heart, for examinations impended. Any way, out 1t came at this banquet. It went over big.
 Old Ignacio Mariscal, the foreign minister, was one of the listeners.
 He came to Tellez and said:. "How
 would you like to go into the for eign service?" The answer was ob- vious; Tellez yearned to see the world. Mariscal made hi man un- der clerk in the foreign office with
 out pay. He continued to work an
 the newspaper and studied law.
 That was about 1905. Came q diplomatic break between Mexico
 and Guatemala. Diario printed the text of hot note from Guatemala City before the government had it. that he couldn't be newspaper man and diplomat at the same
 time.
 l Chooses NO-Pay Job.
 i He was making $50 pesos month | on one job and nothing on the other,
 but he quite the first, pawned every thing he had and worked six months
 with no salary at all.
 His first foreign assignment was
 San Antonio, Tex, where he was
 chief clerk and office boy at the consulate. After a year he was as-
 signed to Vancouver.
 In 1911 he began 10 years in the Orient as consul at Kobe, Japan. In
 that period he absorbed much of the
 boise and philosophy of the east. He needed the philosophy on a day
 when Venustiana Carranza, becom-
 ing president of Mexico, in a magni-
 ficent burst of economy discharged
 the whole foreign service and pro-
 vided no passage money home.
 Tellez sold his belongings and moved to Yokohama. He would
 serve Carranza and Mexico just the
 same. Somehow he obtained yalu- able documents--arms contracts be-
 tween the Japanese and the exdicta- tor and would-be revoluntionist
 Vivtoriano Huerta. With the papers
 sewn in his undershirt, he started
 for Mexico City.
 Friendship Saves Life.
 He was going from the American
 coast overland and then to Vera Cruz and had to stop at El Paso
 en route. A human tendency took him across the border into Juarez. A band was playing in the plaza