A ''I I - A."K illft. t .. 2k J ' ' ill '
i , VaX uf mWvt i-'J"- '' mil
7 if Wm
JnIlji ip ;. .rwr ; f:-r.?F, r- ia r Vjc
"Vbung Zel ayaTakej
nis American Dnae
(oNicarauan
Palace
iLOJFLY the good ship Dunottar Castle
drew away from its New York dock.
Those on the pier waved farewells to
those on board, who, in turn, saluted the
crowd they were leaving behind them.
Most joyous of all on board was a dark
skinned, good-looking young man wearing a
peculiar peaked panama hat. Gaily he chat
ted with those about him on deck, and at
times, to the great amusement of the onlook
ers, turned to implant a resounding kiss upon
the lips or cheeks of the -pretty girl at his side.
Of all the ship's human freight none
proved more interesting to the other passen-'
gers when the identity of the young couple
became known. For they were none other than
Senor C. Alfonso Zelaya, son of the fierce,
iron-willed President of Nicaragua, and his
pretty American bride, formerly Miss Mar
guerite Baker, of Washington.
The stormy courtship and marital troubles
of this loving young couple were known to
nearly all readers of newspapers; how Al
fonso had been torn from the arms of his
affianced and kidnapped at the instigation of
his father; how he had defied that imperious
man and escaped from virtual prison to hasten
back to his love, and how it had been hard, so
hard, to earn bread for her when they boldly
took fate into their own hands and were mar
ried without possessing a cent.
But now the cloudy skies had cleared.
President Zelaya had not only forgiven his
equally headstrong son, but had bidden him
return to. the Presidents palace in Nicaragua
and bring with him his young American bride.
So tt was from poverty and struggle to
positions of influence and a life in a palace
that ' these jubilant young people were going.
Alfonso Zelaya is to enter the army and pre
pare to step into his father's shoes as the
nation's ruler. Pretty Marguerite Baker may
become, in time, a virtual queen.
Little wonder that the young couple were
overjoyed, and cared not one whit whether
all the world watched their loving caresses on
the deck of the Dunottar Castle.
, , , , ' v-,5rtr ' -,
MarjruerltB Lee Baker had bad a tnoat unuiual Ufa.
Buppoilng henelf to be the daughter of Dr. and
Mri. W. W. Baker, of Washington, D. C. ahe was
hocked to learn several yean ago that she had no
claim whatever on them.
Investigating, she found, so she declares, that she
was the daughter of Sydney Smith Lee, of the famous
Virginia family of Lees. General Robert E. Lee, she
asserted, was her great uncle. Consequently, she was
well fitted by birth to be the wife of a Central Ameri
can ruler, If such a thing should come to pass.
It was from a foundling asylum In Washington, she
stated In an account of her life, that she found her way
Into the Baker household, but the Bakers loved her as
daughter.
Realization of her dependent position was followed
by desire to make her own way In th world. 8he
H had to fear torn xous to t is,
studies so ttm could hava mors time for
But tha curious thlnr about It 1 that h ,
lova very wall In English. ,
At an alternative ha was told-by tha Nv
minister, Louis F. Cores, noting for hi fathi
might either go home or taka eouraa ia an I -
tural eollega, .. J'..
Choosing tha lesser of two avlls. ha aoon
himself In tha Maryland Agricultural Cojlega. W
was close enough to Washington to permit him!
spend his week-ends there with his sweetheart.
Engagement was followed ' by plana for i ttut
marriage. But young folks must have aom one t
oonflde In, and they chose a man named Mercury, who,
with the speed of the mythological Meroury, hastened
to the Nloaraguan minister, Senor Corea, with the
news.
Row could the lovers have foreseen the dreadf-l
thing at ensued. . .
One night while they were talking together soma
men rushed In, grappled with Alfonso and, despite his
struggles, bundled him off, leaving tha poor girl pros
trate, weeping pitifully. ' " . '
He had been kidnapped by the agents of his father.
But, like the knight lovers of old, he managed to
send a note to her, In which Je swore, with one of
those dreadful oaths of his own people, that ha would
be true, that he would return to claim her. ' ','
Weeks passed weeks of dreadful anguish, under
which the girl bore up most bravely. Finally Alfonso
way to New Orleans. There he waa taken ID of ap4
pendlcltls and It was six weeks before ha could oon
tlnue his trip to Washington. w.- ,
m A LONG, HARD STRUGGLE J
Soon after his arrival the marriage ceremony wan
performed In Dr. Baker's home.
But the young couple were penniless, and there
waa a living to make. It was a long, hard struggle,'
during which misfortunes never seemed to ' oome
singly. Toung Zelaya had difficulty in obtaining aad!
holding employment. At time ha was compelled tafi
live In Philadelphia, New York, or some other Cttft'
while his bride remained in Washington and endeavor
ed to prepare herself for the operatlo stage. ;
Even while he was playing the piano In Washing;
ton muslo halls for a meager livelihood Alfonso Ze-tj
lay a never thought of appealing to his stern father
for assistance. When overtures for a reconciliation'
came they were advanced by Nicaragua's President
Very happy, indeed, were the young couple as they,
stood on the steamer's deck In New York, about tat;
start for home and the feast of the fatted calf. As he
discussed his case young Zelaya frequently kissed his
beaming young wife, minding the publicity of It all not
one whit
"If all right now," confided Alfonso to those about
htm. "My studies at the agricultural college will stand,
me in good stead, because father that is, President
Zelaya is going to make me head of his plantation,
with lots of money, and soon Marguerite will be thej
leading lady of Nicaragua.
"Oh, but she was worth waiting for. She wad,
worth the hunger that I experienced in those days!
when I was trying to sell pianos and couldn't get any, J
one to buy. And now I'll never be satisfied until X -become
dictator of Central America, and Marguerite
will be my queen."
And this young. Inexperienced couple had conquer-
ed the man who had never before known a victor.
They had overcome the fierce fighter, the man who
has made his boast that he will not go under the ground
ffece of the fcjrjpu&n rejaTert. trAere Me yvury caxpe yr7 'yv.
debts even before he received that parental forgive
ness and blessing.
Now Alfonso will go into the army. His father pro
poses to make him one of the modem masters of war
craft a Napoleon, If possible. In addition to this, he
will have charge of the great plantations which are
fast swelling the enormous family revenue.
- All of which Is a well-planned prelude to the bold
part which he Is expected to play In the making of a
new empire, for his father has declared that after his
own death Alfonso shall be dictator of Central
America.
Incidentally, Alfonso is the first person who has
ever triumphed over his father, President Zelaya, of
Nicaragua, who Is known as the "stormy petrel" of
the Central American republics.
Love Was victor where steel and bullets had failed.
The life of a boy In Nicaragua Is not what It Is in
the District of Columbia or anywhere In the United
States.
Alfonso was, up to his fifteenth year, like many
anothef dark-akinned. black-haired chap In that trou
bled country.
flnr.hW8 " "Qreat Whlte Way" t0 ttract him,
no fine theaters, or art galleries, or clubs, or cafes.
He was taught that life was a moat serious matter.
In his fathers Dresidentlal nai, k -
luxuries in the way of old wines and delicious Viands
and expensive furnishings, but what boy wants to stay
uTtu vT vnjvy ucn iningsr
uuvuSii uuuiiuaHjr president. hJ rath, i.
Inert . 1 ft U 1, l tt. - - i
derstood
stay
In
many respects line a king. His tenura nf m. t ..
by himself and mostly every one else in the
so-called republic to be bounded only by life. That is.
If he can continue to wield the terrifying, intimidat
ing Influence over the people that he haa wielded.
And this he proposes to do.
So he Impressed his son from childhood with the
necessity of learning tho art of warfare. He wished
him to become a past master, one against whom the
most expert native would stand no show. Intrigue
and diplomacy must enter into his education.
For it has been the intention of the father not only
to hold the rulerahip of Nicaragua himself while he is
able to wield a sword, but to eventually pass the po
sitlon on to his son.
It waa with this Intention In mind that he sent his
son to America six years ago to take courses at a pre
paratory school and then at West Point
At first the young man liked the a of becoming
a great soldier and statesman e great ruler. His
young blood was easily fired with such dreams of con
quest; he had met no American girls.
At school he made rapid progress. The professors
predicted great success for him.
He was good looking, athletic, of fine constitution,
intelligent, studious, ambitious.
So, when he suddenly Informed his friends and the
school officials that 'he had decided to discontinue his
course, giving as his reason ttiat he was not well
enough qualified in the English language, there was
nothing but amassment
As a matter of fact, he had met Miss Baker that
was the entire explanation.
Even before meeting her NIearaguan lord Miss
Ivmwmii'mmmKwmnwwxiimwwvwwmB'Wvmwmi wnuwm minimi m
l A. -t
?&'S''ZtZ smL. .' . flimh- v mimM I nilJ
took up nursing, but her health broke down, and she
went from the hospital to a boarding house to re
cuperate. Here Alfonso Zelaya came Into her life.
Then a student in an academy in New Jersey, where
he was being prepared for West Point, the young man
quickly decided after meeting Miss Baker that he was
not adept enough In English to finish his course.
fauonsPinejt Glooe jFurni jhed MheWhale
FOB. the son of .a Central American ruler to wed
a poor girl of the United States ia a matter re
quiring some courage.' C. Alfonso Zelaya Is a
courageous man like his father.
Two years ago ha -took tho irat step and became
engaged. Soon afterward he married. For two long
years he has been continually batted about by fate;
.some of the time he has been in actual poverty.
Onco he .was forced to play the piano in music halls
for a Ware living. Again he tried to sell pianos, and
was so unsuccessful that for two days he was without
food.; .Yet he would not appeal to his father's repre
sentative, the NIearaguan minister at Washington.
A kidnapping was resorted to in order to keep him,
if possible, from the girl of hie choice, hut he escaped
from the- room where hie father had Imprisoned him
and returned to be married in Washington. . i
' In the midst of their trouble the bride became ill
and had t6 submit to a serious operation, and to pay
for this they had not one penny. Yet by Industrious
playing of the piano Alfonso managed. to pay all hla
SHE enten
store
the e:
entered tho
one of
exclusive
glover's estab
lishments frequented by
those who expect to be
offered the finest of
handwear and expect to
pay the highest of
prices with the air
that is assumed only by
a woman who could
have three autos wait
ing at the door instead
of one.
"Now," she told the
girl at the counter,
whose air bespoke as
many autos and a pony
fihaeton besides, for re
axation from the bur
den of fashion, "I want
a glove, five and three-quarters, which ia the ex
treme length." . ,
The salesgirl, with the face of a sphinx, turned,
drew down a box and opened it. She laid out a
glove, perfect in ita tint of delicate flesh color and
having a peculiar smoothn:: of surfuco surpass
ing the finest kid. The customer examined it,
and
Well, this point in tho proceeding forms the
gpnosis of an interesting story.
ERY nice; very nice. Indeed," remarked the
woman on the outside of the counter. "But
this fall, with one having the choice of either
abandoning the fashion altogether or of carry-
"V
Ing It far enough to compel attention, I am most Inter
ested In the length. I simply do not care for the usual
extreme length. I want something that goes much be
yond It."
She began, as she spoke, to draw forth the remaining
portion of the glove from the box negligently, almost
superciliously, as a woman will who knows the whole
range of any article and feels certain she la going to be
disappointed.
The customer had one layer of glove in her hands
some fifteen inches when she noticed that, without seam
or Joining, another full length of layer was still to come.
"Oh!" she said, and commenced to iiaul In the slack.
Below there appeared more glove, still without the
trace of a seam.
"My gracious!" And she hauled aray once more,
while the salesgirl's dignity relaxed so far as to allow
the faintest glint of a triumphant smile to light her eyes.
"Will it never end?" demanded t,.e customer.
It did end, at last, but only when enough glove lay
colled and writhed about the counter to suggest some
blonde and emptied anaconda. The woman gazed at it
and gasped for a little while, then she said:
"I can't imagine how any sheep or kid could have
grown so Immense as to permit the cutting of this glove,
and I can't surmise how much you ask for it. But I
want at least a dozen pairs. And, oh. 1 want to know
precisely how long they are, from, the finger tips to the
top."
"Sixty Inches, madam," answered the girl. "The price
Is $26 a pair."
It was one of the first sales In the United States of a
totally new leather, or glove material, so novel In Its
nature xthat It bids fair not merely to launch upon the
glove trade a new anchor for the trillions invested by
German manufacturers in machinery for the making of
the extreme-length glove, but to give to the world a to
tally new Industry, and to bring riches to one consider
able section of the human population and death to vast
tribes of the most picturesque creatures in tho animal
world.
The enormous gloves were not made of kldskln at all.
They were the intestines of the Newfoundland whale,
whoae real value has only within the last year or so been
comprehended by those hardy, daring fishermen of the
North, who have hitherto risked their lives solely for the
soke of the oil and bone, while they habitually flung
n way what promises to be the most valuable portions of
their catch. '
The Newfoundlander Is as industrious as he Is daring,
but his enterprise, like that Of many other fishermen, has
been bounded by the old routine of his life. . Where he
has departed from the practices of his forefathers It has
been along the lines of most modern seafaring men in
the use of steam when it seemed likely to be profitable;
in the improvement of his appliances; In all ways that
offered hope of Increasing the volume and the quality of
his sea spoil.
But only now has he awakened to the fact that In
the most lamiliar of his fishings there may be wealths
he novcr suspected. Trie notion that certain Ly-prouucis
of the whaling industry can be made valuable has spread
with amazing swiftness, and in various parts of the New
foundland coast fishermen are co-operating in experiment
and exploitation of the newly discovered fruits of their
regular labor.
The use of the Intestines of the whales, while it Is
the most surprising aspect of the new enterprise, is by
no means the most Important. It does resemble kid; and.
even more than the kid of current commerce, It is very
thin and tough.
It takes color more readily than the most adaptive of
kid, and it. can be cut almost Interminably into glove
lengths cut to such lengths that any woman would find
her ultra-fashionable gloves, after half an hour's wear,
a burden too gieat to be supported.
But, compared with the opportunities which the New
foundlanders have found to be open to the whale's ordi
nary skin, the intestinal leather, exquisite as it is, be
comes a minor affair.
The hide of the Newfoundland whale, properly and
carefully tanned, has proved Itself the toughest leather
thus far known; and that at no expense of lightness,
when contrasted with the leathers now in general use.
It is as available for boots and shoes as it is for the
covering of furniture. It possesses the wearing quality
which is so essential for buggy lops and seats and for
ull-around automobile uses.
Here, with the world's manufacture of automobiles -constantly
growing and tho extravagance In quality of
appurtenances growing yearly more pronounced, is a field .
for whale leather which alone should suffice to abuoro
practically all the output the energetic Newfoundlanders
can supply.
But even the automobile may have" to retire from the u
competition which the production of a new and Ideal .
leather would provoke. Art leather work, from book
binding to Viennese screens. Is continually encountering
the difficulty of scouring perfectly good material ivdirfl- ,;:
culty so firtat that leail. experts are prone to declare
that cither tattle don't grow skins such as they did a
century ago, or mankind has lost the art of perfectly pre
paring them for Its liner uses. -
.. '. " " ' v -' " -t i . '! J ' i ' -
f
until his accomplishments rival those of Napoleonj
who has fond hopes of becoming, first Central Ameri i
can dictator, then of conquering Mexico, and finally'
leading a Latin-American army against the United
States, ,
Of course, you laugh at this, but there are thoa s
sands of people in Nicaragua who believe that It Is not !
only possible, but quite likely to happen.. . ,
For the young man who could conquer President j
Zelaya there would seem to be a future. A brief re-j
view of the acts of the "stormy petrel of Central!
America'! will indicate this. '
At the head of 10,000 soldiers. Zelaya Is busy trying
to form a new nation. His ambition Is to weld tha
Central American states Nicaragua, Panama, Cost
Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and Salvadorinto one na
tion, with himself at Its head.
Right now he claims to have conquered every one!
of the states, with the exception of Honduras.
That he is a man of destiny is superstitlously be-
Ileved throughout Central America. This has beetf
seemingly borne out on the battlefield, where he hag
appeared to bear a charmed life.
Once, for Instance, when he was viewing a estt!e
through his field glasses, he was surprised by ' seven
of the enemy, who opened fire on him. Only one of
the bullets touched him; tt grazed hla left ear, He'
coolly returned the fire until he had killed four of the)
men, and the other three fled.
WITTY IN FACE OF DEATH t
Again, when in a box at a theater witnessing 4 '
play, he was fired at three times, but all the bullets t
went wide. I r
Rising and bowing gracefully, Zelaya said so thai
his voice could be heard all through the auditorium! j
"Will tho gentleman kindly postpone the assassination
until after the play?" :.. ' .' .
So he haa become a sort of popular god.
Fear of him is everywhere. To play on the fears '
of people is his greatest diversion.
He suddenly entered a room tif. which nine of his
army officers were planning an insurrection. "Uood
evening, gentlemen! Talking about the service, I sup
pose? How loyal of you!"
And so he toyed with them awhile, as a cat wlttt
a mouse. After a time he raised a glass of wine.
"I give you a toast, gentlemen. Here's to the prel
dent of Nicaragua. May his life be long.
Then he raised the glass, but it did not touch his
lips. He dashed it against a window. A signal! Into
the room rushed a company of soldiers, Who bound
the conspirators. AU were banished. .
Typical of this man's methods is the manner In
which he became president, ten years ago, . ,
He had been at the head of in army. A decisive
victory had Just been won. Alone, the victorious gen
eral walked into the room whore the president and
cabinet awaited him.
There was a speech of gratitude by the president.
But Zelaya interrupted him by rapping on a table wita
the butt of his revolver. ' . , ,
"Do you think r won quashed the revolution f ?
youf No. - My soldier control the city-h nj.ir.fr,.
You will all bM rorteil to the li9rUr en-l .,iv i r i
Immediately for the Culled dta.t' or l-fof, - '
vr you Wish. .. V ' ' ,
They 'hoe Parls-thpre nntw g tl to !.
' . And to think that Ui't man. otjilu' J.tr, " tj-i--.
fo warlike; should be cunqucrei ly i"r, vit-i 1 f
Cupid! -