Washington Journal., 1943-04-02
GLIMPSES OF SOME CONTEMPORARIES
My Cousin Lloyd
My Cousin Lloyd
By Edwin EMERSON

could scarcely have survived, had he staid i'll
the service. From New York he had to go
to AK les Bains to recover his health. While
he was still in Europe his fathers friend, the
politically powerful Mark Hanna, got Presi-
den Mckinley to appoint him First Secretary
Of our Legation at Constantinople.
At the Golden Horn
While Lloyd was in Turkey, having a rath-
er hard time of it serving Minister Oscar
Straus, who was known to be an exacting
master, | was busy writing a historical mono
graph of the achievements Of our auxiliary
cruisers in the War with Spain. | had been
prompted to this by Lyold's Oldest brother
Clement, the manager of the American Line,
whose fastest passenger steamers had served
as auxiliary cruisers in the war, just ended.
Nv research into the details of their service
brought me in constant contact with Glenn
Griscom, who furnished me with all the logs
Of the ships / wrote Of, besides bringing me
together with their navigating officers and
chief engineers. Incidentally Glen gave me
confidential accounts Of what his brother
Lloyd was doing at ~Constantinople.
From him | gathered that Lloyd's chief,
Mr.. Straus, had become persona non grdta to
the Sublime Porte. Sultan Abdul Hamid did
not care to receive him anymore and did not
even deign to notice him among the other
diplomats at his general Selamlik receptions.
AS a result the diplomatic affairs OF our coun-
try in Turkey practically were at a standstlll
Those affairs had consisted mainly III try
ing to collect indemnities from the Porte for
the damages that had been done to American
missionaries houses, schools and churches
during recent disorders in the Ottoman En-
pire, notorious as the first Armenian Mas
sacres. Since those disorders our mlssionar-
les had been unable to get permission to re-
pair their ruins or to erect new buildings.
Of all the American demands on the Porte
made by Minister Straus not one had been
granted by the Sultan. Finally Mr.. Straus
gave up in disgust and sailed for home with
out even getting a farewell audience from the
Sultan. He left Lloyd behind him at Constan-
tinople as charge d. afaires. 1t proved a
wonderful chance for Lloyd to show what he
could do. His first stroke was to get himself
graciously received by the Sultan.
Luckily for Lloyd he had the full confidence
Of John Hay, then our Secretary of State,
on whom Lloyd had made a good. impression
when he first met him as Ambassador Ba-
yards embassy in London. Secretary Hay
virtually gave Lloyd carte blanche in Turkey.
That Lloyd had lost no time in e~xerting
himself as an unhampered charge in Constan-
tinople was revealed to me in New York by
my friend William Steinway, the piano max
err, who told me that Lloyd had got him an
order from the Sultan for $4,000 worth OF his
pianos for the Sultan's harem, for which
Abdul Hamid had paid Lloyd in advance.
Next | heard from Glenn that Lloyd had
succeeded in getting permits for the Amerl-
can missionaries in Turkey to reconstruct
their ruins and even to rear new buildings.
This was a great stroke, since our country's
interests in Turkey were almost wholly those
Of our missionaries there.
A Mess in Turkey
Presently the Associated Press published
Reuter- dispatches from Constantinople via
London that our Legation in STEAMBOAT had
sent an urgent request for some OF our war
ships to be sent into Turkish waters. Know
ing as a newspaperman how such leakages
of information were apt to come about, i
guessed that Lloyd must be working land in
glove with Reuters regular correspondent in
Constantinople. Chem told me that he was a
young Scotsman named Ferguson, with whom
Lloyd had entered into an arrangement for
swapping news items. So Ferguson, inspired
by Lloyd, sent lurid dispatches to London,
which were printed in some Of our newspap
ers under such headlines as american Mis-
s~ionaries Worried, sSTroubles Of Sultan
Multiply or sSUncle Sam Won't Stand for
Further Nonsense.
Presently we learned through the news
papers that Secretary Of State Hay actually
had suggested to the Secretary Of the Navy to
send some of our warships to Turkish waters.
Rumors were printed in our press that the
U.S.S. "Kearsarge", Kentucky and "Mas-
sachusetts'' were on their way to Turkey. Mr..
Hay cannily refused to deny the rumors.
It was clear that a game Of high diplomacy
was being played at the Golden Horn. The
London Chimes and Telegraph publish
ed dispatches from Constantinople that the
American charge d. afaires there was ex-
pected to deliver an ultimatum to the Sublime