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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 1921)
,THE OREGON SUNDAY . JOUBNALj PORTLAND, SUNDAY. MORNING, SEPTEMBER 18, 1921. ( ; " Did toiIIbptoi - n . U U . : )im -m mm. . If! u . ' OJ n ii7m He Made Sun Yat f m- " " '- r (If ,f L Id ' y t$ itI ' " . -- k . ? V - Si ' - " ' - . :x nID Krfauea, "where Urea the HawaHaa hi Honolulu. And jfS ylf ' V- lTetA. ilAirmrr Wine Ah Fone. there camelx to him 1 A '- . m a . m m m t an amuui iamiiy tun. iviaua f - ' -. T r . bon ' end t. fifteen - TV, t . ttrla. Three of tie f. , a(r-v , - Utter died to childhood: the other twelve .., r r' -? f 1 7 all married white men admirals, officers, I t ' 1 - Judgea-men of the highest: type. fi t 4 , "V'' . - .u K - And as ! each child arrived Ah Fong I:: t- Jr i, " t 1 added an extension to his home until 11 I ? i"N x-s' .m f - - I I -1 " - - ' -" I - - . , - . n r . J , -v . A T J - - V , ' :f .. - - '". r -1 s " ' 4 ; - , . f ' r . 'k fw-. Y'- - . - ' I V : V ," 1 PresideMof China, Forfeiting is Life or Honor- So HeWent to His "Fire-God" ... mrs. j. w. Brewster, nee Melome Ah Fong ,y - i 4 flreod, devour Wing Chinese millionaire? t Did he and his! eldest son deliberately K to their deaths within the seething crater of the volcano to escape the fury cf a Chinese) secret society? , Recent events give reason to believe that Dr. Sun Yat Sen, President of the 'Chinese Republic, will reveal the fate of his friendbecame the show place of Honolulu, for 11 .Ah Fone. vhn financed the revolution A Remarkable Actual Photograph of the Crater of Kil&sea. p Action, Taken During a Recent Eruption. vhlch deposed the Imperial family and substituted a republican form of govern ment in what was formerly the Celestial Empire. The story of Ah Fong is a romance of the mysterious East that land ot Inscrut able secrets, where men are. lost to view amid myriads of their fellow men where lives are worth nothing where fatalism fTthe accepted "rule. Ah Fong drifted Into Honolulu, a Chinese coolie, pack on bach: and fortune to-be made. He disappeared the possessor of some $40,000,000. And "he went to his death deliberately for be knew that death awaited him to prevent the desecration cf the graves of his ancestors I . Fortune favored Ah Fong from the first. Everything v he touched turned into gold, importing precious silks from the Orient, he made his first few thousands.- Then he bought a ship and traded. Soon another chip flew his flag, to be followed by an- , other and another, until his flotilla was! ins In all the ports, and marts of the Padflo. But he was not content to be a mer chant solely. He acquired plantation after plantation. He raised sugar. He bartered 4 sugar for pearls and pearls for money. ' There was apparently no limit to his en terprises. .. And then Dan Cupid found in hkn. an easy victim. Tears before, a Portuguese . sailor had been shipwrecked on one ef tho Hawaiian Islands and had taken to htm " a Kanaka maiden for wife. The Portuguese died soon after the birth ot a daughter and the widow found herself penniless. So she started hack to her .. native village, but was prevented .from taking her baby with missionaries; whe desired . reared as a Christian. The baby was - adopted by Ichabod Barueiv ana nis wire, uartiett was a surrounded by sunken gardens in which played translucent fountains, where birds sang and romance dwelt. He was lavish In his entertaining. His receptions and dances savored of Arabian Nights festivals. Money meant nothing to him he lavished untold wealth on the education of his children he was reck lessly extravagant where their happiness was concerned. aft Mrs. A. J. DausKerty, nee Martha Ah Fony. ' , V. Si N.J Margaret, the wife of Lieutenant A,')7, Dougherty, of the 17th U. 3. Infantry; Melatne, Mrs. J. W. Brewster, of Honolulu, and'AUda. Mrs. George Hutchinson. The social standing of the Afongs was ' secure. They were entertained In all C homes, and when they came to the United States on tour, they were received every where "with open arms. For thein father dowered them with $1(0,000 In gold each, with still another thirty millions to divide after his death. -. And now, to turn back the wheels of time to vast China with Its hordes of starving coolies Its messy rice fields its teeming rivers and houseboats by the hundreds of thousands. For on onef them lived Sun Tat Sen, the poor of the poor who divided pennies Into tenths when he bought food t 6un loomed Into view as the first prest . dent of the first republic In the most ancient land, on earth. But custom and precedent, coupled with superior, organi zation and military power,, proved tno much for the infant republic and one day Sun found himself a fugitive once more. hunted, hounded driven from pillar to post. From a national Idol le-had become an outcast with a price on hi head. And ever the Manclyi .Ieaionaries were on his traO. Like the hunted beast he fled. Into the mountain fastnesses into the swamps along the river banks, where tho 003 and slime well nigh overwhelmed him and the stench of decayed fish made lire a veritable hell for him. One whole night be lay hidden In a rice field. Sunken out of sight, his mouth, tightly closed, with two tiny bamboo shoots In his nostrils that' he might breathe. Sun suffered tortures;,, Around the edges of the field, and on the paths traversing it, his pursuers tramped to and' Cro seeking their prey. At last he made hls.wty to. the coast, where a sea captain took pity on his plight and took him away to Honolulu! But the Imperial Government was not so easily deprived of Its prey. Foiled by 8un, they took revenge on such of hla followers as they could reach. One by one they died by strangulation or by the more merciful headsman. I ' .,-. The arm ot the Manchns was long, hut it could not reach; Sun. But It did reach Ah Fong. The Imperialists had. tearnad that he had financed the. revolt and they sent him word to return and take his medi cine as became a Chinese and a Mason. The message did not come' tsTWTttlng. Ah Fong was seated in his garden. , From the open windows of his home came the' strains of Occidental dance musie sensn - ous, elusive. In the -lights he could see his beautiful daughters dancing with white men. . He smiled ' inscrutably. Moner could buy anything, he mused, from a na- - .J dressed In rags and was fired with, tlon to a mere man they were an alike. the ambition of a Washington to free his country from the yoke of Its Manchurlan v dynasty. a - ;.- r Sun had plotted for the overthrow of the Manchus. He had perfected some' sort of l prevented rrom 'A-L rsw f V, c-.,i - hi-. tm.'.,. u .. . . .. iincnus. xi naa penecwa some sort or her by American - Another View ot tho beeUmi Hole Which the Hawauans Say is the revolutionary machinery, hut he lacked the sd the chUdto'be ; Home of the Fire-God. t most vital essential to success, money And s. ....-.--' ? than his dot was discovered and digrniaarf To these entertainments came the best physician hailing from Bath, Maine, and f? AifJ6!?. J" no he looked upon the child as his own nesh and blood. , And Concepcion Bartlett, as the child was known, crew Into heantlful ' young womanhood. - w Ah Feng had seen her. It was a case of love at first sight on both sides. Ah Pons asked Bartlett for permission to marry jute rtrl. but Bartlett refused, for he had heard rumors that Ah Fong had a wife and f am- llne drawn where Ah Fong was concerned, for had he not lent money (at Interest) to the hant ton of Hawaii? Had he not saved many a white man front business disaster by his financial aid? And were not his , children refined, . educated,' mosiQgst thoroughly cultured, every one ? ; . Tet it happened that one ' fine day America was amazed to learn that Etta Ah Fong-jthe eldest, was to marry Rear then his plot was discovered and disguised , ' " ' . " " he fled his native land and sought refuge In f5?seou3 end extravagant social function Hswafl. There he came Into contact with - tr-uJ1. i01 f Islands. -1 Ah Fong. - uca, iuuu.su wo weaomsaner anotner m,! n.t fw mOT . Only lie. Ah Fong. was different. Thev were white, yes. They were civilized la their way. But ancient China was yet the best Its Ways its religion. And then he dreamed of his old home; ot the graves of his parents his sncestors. For he was a Shintoist and worshipped the spirits of , those gone before. ' He revered the grave that contained , his father and mother and said daily prayers that their spirits mlgnt have happiness. ' Who are you?" asked Ah Fong. The stranger made a sign. Ah Fong started back, his yellow skin paler than usual. He had understood the sign of the secret Chinese order a sign not to be Ignored.' For a moment he thought. "I must politely decline to return to China, be said. "Then your property Wfll be confiscated. replied the stranger. . "I have plenty left here In Hawaii," re plied Ah Fong, grimly. "If you do not return within one snonth." retorted the stranger, "your ancestral graves win be opened and the bones of your ancestors thrown on the roads to be gnawed by dogs." The stranger turned without a further; word and faded Into the darkness, j Ah Fong stood stupefied. His parents graves defiled? Their bones given to the hungry dogs?. Then the Imperturbability of the Chinese blood asserted Itself. His fatalism got the upper hand. He went Into the house of gaiety and laughter He gated upon the scene silently. ' Then he called his oldest son to his side. They talked Qnletly. The boy nodded.. - Father and son went to their rooms. They , arrayed themselves In richest Ori ental garb.-' They perfumed their oodles. Both were silent. . f ' Ah Fong went to his' desk and wrote: "To my wife and children: I am going on a Journey. My love be with you till we meet agaia. WINO AH FOXQ." Then father s.nd son left the , house. Once they turned ' back to' see again the Uxbts to hear again the gay laughter. Then they went into the' darkness into the Port of Missing Men. When hut seen they were walking directly toward the volcano. - - From that day on no trace if father or son has' been found. . Rumors aplenty there have been, but facts none. Ah Fong was reported to have died at Macao. He was fseen In Hong Kong. -Someone ."met" him In Peking, rrthflf had heard ot him in Foo TJhow. Influential American friendi of the Ah Fongs made every-effort to locate tbesols lng men. tut without avail, lnoftrles were made through the United 8 tales Gov ernment. Tn all flttlrll tfl nitrtmm. djvm- ernment replied politely declaimed ail knowledge and regretted lack of Information. Ana now Sun Is mln Pretldmt at and tl, iZlZrr What passed between the two men is not - In the midst of bis musings a hand was China. -Arsin th r.f ZZvTjL 7Z lL JiyM-4m.VM shoulder.- Beside him stood aluTtaaTwrn he be able to solve the Uy in .China. This Ah Fong denied, and Sfcabr erenraaux V"1"" Y?T" no one believed the story, but it was true : Ah Fong built himself a beautiful home nevertheless, for the weddlas was the mos$ """" muoiMo.- . Asu' wua uw . nMw4,. xri. ....- m.t . . . J. . Alfred Magoon, 4 of : Indiana Nancy ; nrrtcrtous ; Chinese ta . out-of-the-way humble eerTant for addressing him," said became Mrs. Frank ' B. .McStocker. of cl4Ce- - Hla new home became the ren- the stranger, trot it Is of importance-- The tTnnninin ikMin rifm. av.w - oesvons ox emissaries xrom nis noma jano. juo ous bv. cbb lusappearea irom nis haunts la Honolulu."; " ". : " Soon after, the world was amazed to , learn-that the Manchus had-bfen over thrown and that China was freV Tba r . Cicat Sritaim BUhU Johnstone, an. author; , AMce,. Mrv A, B. . Henderson; Mirie, Mrs. A. S. Humphreys; Elizabeth, Mrs- J. B, Burns, of New Tork; Helen, Mrs. W.'A. Henshell, of Ban Rran cisco; Caroline, the wife of J. M. Biggs, i : (CJ 19C1, Intcmatlnpal featuie Eerrloa, Xoa, imperial Government wishes the august Ah Fong to return at once to China." 'Ah Fong looked at the man: in astonish ment. A stranger dictating: to blm Ah Fongl He doubted his ears. vHe rose and faced the stranger. ' -.- ;. -' s . ' . . . naaie of Ah Feng's disappearance t Was Ah . Fong killed by Chinese to aTenge the Mancha dynasty f ' Or did he deliberately seek death- within the crater of Kllauea that the fire god might be placated even as Loana did la ' rTha Bird of Paradise? - The gates of eternal silence as yet are closed upon this fascinating mystery of , land of mystery. China, . .