Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut · 53

J1L PART SIX Pages 1 to 8 SPECIAL FEATURES MUSIC ART BOOK REVIEWS mi HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT: SUNDAY, A MIL 27, 1924. From Terry ville To A South Sea Island Throne Dorence Atwater s Lif&Att And Romance FIRST COMPLETE ACCOUiYf OF THE LIFE AND DEATH OF ANDERSONVILLE HERO WOMAN WHO HELPED DORENCE ATWATER Connecticut Yankee, Persecuted In Own Country Despite Valiant Service In Civil War, Goes To Tahiti, Weds Native Princess, Becomes Ruler Of Island And Pearl King Of Polynesia Picturesque Soldier Of Fortune Stands As Peer Of Litchfield County Men Who Have Made History. FLORENCE Atwater, soldier of fortune, scout for Kilpatrick's famous cavalry, prisoner of the South at Andersonville, hero of Andersonville, victim of court-martial, prisoner of the North at Auburn (N. Y.) state prison, American consul on'an island in the Indian Ocean, consul at Tahiti and Pearl King of the South Seas, a Connecticut boy, an American through and through, might have been a ligure irom the pen ot Kiehard Harding Davis or a character of Jack London, but he was a flesh and blood Yankee. Atwater 's career was as colorful a succession of adventures, marked by heroism and tinged by tragedy, as may be found in the chronicles of America. He stands the peer of the celebrated Litchfield County men and women who have made history and joined the immortals. School children play about his monument in Terryville, Connecticut, one of those Civil "War cannon, with bronze inscription plate which are to be found in many places, mementos of the Rebellion. Travelers to Tahiti, that paradise of the South Seas discovered by Captain Cook, stop before another monument: a granite shaft bearing his title, "Tupuataaroa," his record, a thrilling tale of adventure, and the words: "He builded better than he knew, some day perchance he may wake to learn, 'I builded a monument more enduring than brass.' ." For-while his forefathers sleep in the quiet churchyard of old Plymouth Township, he himself lies buried in the South Sea Isles. Tahiti. A New Englander to the core, Atwater found in Tahiti the happiness denied him in his native land; Tahiti beloved of Steven-ton whom he knew. There he married a princess of the blood, Ariinoore Moetia Salmon, a native. This to the consternation of his countrymen, less familiar at that time with this island paradise c-f which Pierre Loti, Stevenson O'Brien and others have written. The motion pictures of today reproduce the scenes where Atwater was to find a listing happiness. ihl 1. A U,ft F .iillllOUgU ilVtiUl'I. imiJSUll roamed to the faraway parts of the world, his ancestry was rooted deep in the annals of New England and the characteristics of Dorence Atwater have for their natural background the emigration to this country of his ancestor, David "Atwater, one of the original signers of the Plant ers' Agreement of the New Ha ven Colony. "Infected with distemper for the authorized church" intent upon civil and religious liberty, this early member of the family left the County of Kent, England, in 1636, about the time that Thomas Hooker was founding the more modern city of Hartford. Two Adventurers. The settling of this pioneer must have seemed as adventurous in those days as that of his descendant Dorence in the South Seas. But where one left the comfort of old England for a rough life in a rough country, the other left a country torn by the ravages of war for a land in which KiiTisliine and blue sky make for unending happiness. Each of them started life anew in. this manner, but Dorence sought to forget many things of the oid life, where David sought to per petuate. Victuals for a "twelve month, ' stores of clothing, paper and lin seed oil for the windows and cotton yarn for the lamps were among the necessities brought by the emigrants. Iron and steel and bricks were their ship's cargo. There were tools, arms and ammunition in the stores.. Dorence Atwater was to take little with him to the South Seas save mem-- ories of the dead, memories of court-martial and prison. Landing was effected by the ancestor,, on the const near Boston. An exploring party of which David s brother, Joshua, was a member, was pent to look over land west of the Connecticut river, known aa Quinnl . . . Kit flie.dP Vim'. 1 he wmier nn .... forerunners of the main colony. In bartering with the Indians, clearin-' vi hunting and trapping, and co.-lectlog pelts fol the European market. When spring came, the rest ot the "planters" followed and the colony of New Haven was established p s.-i.'scd of n fortune rated at D00 u. David Atwater took his res- id?nce on a large farm near the. ijumiiipiac river In "the Cedar Hill district. Prosperous days followed, and the emigration of David Atwater proved successful, as did that of Iioronca Atwater more than 200 years afterward. Atwster's first ancestor In the town of Plymouth, where the village of Terryville came to bo located, was Timothy Atwater, who settled In the Litchfield hills over a hundred years . In later dnys came HenryAt-water, who married Catharine, the daughter of Henjamln Kenn. Dorence ns their third child, born Kcbru-'V . 'J1. ! CONN. MAN WHO FOUND FORTUNE IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC ISLES - ' , . v- I $tMPf '.tun : -, Y:r ' DOKEXCK ATWATER Dorence Atwater, f Terryville. wiho left for the Civil War as a 16-year-old boy nearly broken on the wheel of fortune at the Andersonville Prison, at Washington D. C. in after the war days and at a New York state prison, broke through to honor and success by starting life anew as American consul l in the Sotith Seas, where he married into the royal family of Tahiti, became a trader 01 renown, ana tne Pearl Kinar of the South Farinc. Tremendous force was expended in effort to dishonor his name. As the Civil war lost jits color of hatred and bitterness, the name of Dorence Atwater was cleared auu piacea upon me ust cr immortals, liow tie preserved the Deatli kojis at Andersonville, how became a power in the South Seas are told in this issue. Fortune flayed him and then accorded him everything in her power. His story stands unique in American history. CLARA 11AIITON Clara Barton, "Angel of the Battle fields." the outstanding feminine fig uro of the Civil War, assisted Dor ence Atwater In the work of mark infr the graves at Andersonville at the close of the Civil War, inspired him with hope when dark days threatened to close his career, and rent him to the South Tacific to find t'iit happiness which Injustice de nied him at home. Her influence en-nhled him to follow the star of fortune when the blackness of prison days would have blinded the young man to the prospects which lay ahead. JIIss Barton stood foremost among those assisting Francis Atwater, brother of Dorence, well known in this state. In the rehabilitation of the soldier's good name. Rnyhoud In Terryville. The boyhood of this soldier of fortune was spent in Terryville where ho grew sound in body and mind as did many another country boy who was to serve in the Rebellion. At the public school ho became known as a master of what w-as then the Widely cultivated art of penmanship, laboring over his desk to acquire a fine handwriting, he laid the foundation of his career, little knowing that the major part of his Ufe was to be based upon his ability to write a fine hand. His first employment wa at the village store, where his love of practical joking occupied as much time as his studies in merchandising. While still a boy, he went to Branford to work in a grocery store. He was then 16 years old. The Call t Arms. Scarcely had young Dorence taken up his new duties, than there came word thit Fort Sumpter had been fired upon. Lincoln called for volunteers. Klectrlfled by the news, Dorence hastened to enlist, told the enlisting officer he was 13 years old. was accepted and made a member of the First Squadron of Cavalry, Connecticut volunteers. Ho left home with his mother's benediction. Kho was later spared the terrible news that her son had been captured and sent to the notorious southern prison at Andersonville, for the died In May. 1S63. The Connecticut Squadron of which Dorence was a member went Into the formation of the rgiment of Harris Light Cavalry, commanded by Colonel, atturward General Kilpatrick. The young cavalryman saw a thrilling Bide of the war with his famous commander and companions from home In the brilliant raid on Richmond in May, 1S63. .- mured by Confederates. The turning point of his career came, however. uron a less exhilarating occasion, when, bearing despatches from General E. H. Whitaker to the intrepid Kilpatrick, he was captured by Confederate scouts dis guised in the blue uniform of the North. Kilpatrick's cavalry was then in the rear of the rebel armv wliii '-had been defeated at Gettysburg, and was endeavoring to u-e ii , escape aeross the Potomac Whit aker's troop at that time were improperly supplied by General Meade and 'were twice in danger of destruction by the enemy.- Dorence was sent out; hoping to brt-ak through the Confederate lies with a despatch. Made a prisoner of war, lie was hurried off to Belle Tsle. After five months of suffering, he was transferred, at the Intercession of a friend to Richmond, where t.e was detailed to take account of supplies sent by the Federal Government to Its men In the Southern prisons. Sent to Andersonville. The new prison at Andersonville, Georgia, had just been opened at this time and 4q prisoners were being transferred there daily from Belle Isle by way of Richmond. If for any reason the quota was not complete when the contingent reached the Virginia capital, enough more men were addyd to complete the number. Thus it happened that Dorence was aroused one night and routed without ceremony to the most loathsome of Southern prisons, where he was to spend twenty-two months in sickness and j starvation, but in a secret 'activity J which was to comfort thousands and bring the young cavalryman undying fame. Here It was that his penmanship became known to General Wirz, the prison keeper. Dorence was invited to keep the register of deaths of his fellow-prisoners which was to be exchanged with the Union government at the end of the war. The prisoners were then dyinc at the rnte of 330 adny. Conceiving the Idea from the general conduct of things, thut the Confederates' would never preserve this' list, he secretly prepared rolls Inscribed with the names of 13.-000 soldier dead who perished at the prison after his arrival. The life of the young prisoner would have been snuffed out 'With almost Instant dispatch" had the Confederates even suspected his activity, for the brutality of the war was concentrated at Andersonville as at no other 'camp of that period. Life was cheap at Andersonville, and It was well for the young prlsonercr that no one saw the rolls of the dead which he carried at all times In the lining of his coat. Dorence was 19 years old at this time. Clara Barton, celebrated as the "Angel of the Battlefields" recounts the efforts of Atwater in words which ring with admiration for the young prisoner: ', "Day by day 1) watched the long trenches fill with the naked skeletons of the once sturdy Union' Blue, the pride of the American armies, and day by 'day. he traced on the great brown pages of ills confederate sneet record, the last, and all that was ever to be known of the brave, dead sleepers In their crowded, coffinless beds, the name, company, regiment, disease, date of death and number of grave. "Five More "Weary Montna." "Five more weary months of this, and in September, he found himself registering a hundred names a day, and uw soven-tcnthi of them followed by the word 'scorbute.' For( although midsummer in a eountiy- tcnilnir with esetatlon. no green thing hnd been permitted to find Its way lnslda that deadly palisade. . Atwater then came to the conclusion that a word which told so fearful a tale of willful cruelty or design against tha perpetrators would t never be permitted to exist and pass Into history. That, In any case, whichsoever side might ultimately succeed, sBouthern rrlds would compel the destruction of that record, and with It must pass forever from the page of the earth the last authentic) Information in a majority of Instances tha last trace of tha fate of every man who perished In 'Andersonville.' leaving only anxiety, distress, tha agony of suspense, and the darkness of oblivion to the thousands upon thousands of waiting mourners throughout the North. "Bringing his duplicate up to date In October, and concealing It from nil eyes, both friend and foe, from that time he kept both hia secret and his double record as ha had at first kept the on, with little expectation of living to bring It awny himself, but hoping that he might be enabled to pass It Into the hands of a stronger comrade who could gat it through our lines." The 13.000 Dead. The history of Atwater: t the close of the war, when he returned home to Terryville. with the rolls upon his person, continued to be a history of the death rolls which he copied. Thirteen thousand homes awaited word of loved ones who had disappeared In the great conflict, but which could be comforted by the publication of these rolls. "Kverythlng conspired against their- publication for a time, although the War Department evinced the greatest Interest. A skeleton . of his former aclf. racked by diphtheria - which came as an aftermath to his war ex-Atwater remained at home in Terryville. At the point of death he rallied, and was able to go to Washington in answer to a summons from the war uepun-ment. Then followed curious scries of struggles with officials who seemed to care little or nothing for the heroism ot the youth in making tho rolls, and . who apparently were In no haste to inform the relatives of the Andersonville soldier dead. Tha War Department Informed him, however, that he should present himself with the rolls and be suitably .rewarded. Atwater accoraingiy .- ited the off ice ot a woiunm informed him that the Secretary of War had authorised him to pay $300 for the rolls. Atwater replied that he had no wish to sell them, and that they should be published for the benefits of those- friends of the dead for whom they had been copied. Col. Breck replied. "If you go to publish them, the War Department can call them contraband matter and cate them. You can have until S o'clock tomorrow morning to decide whether you will tike $300 or flotilla Work Ileal na. Thus threatened, the former oaval- TERRYVILLE'S TRIBUTE TO HER MOST ADVENTUROUS SON rt.'- j!;itn. jjn-xa'.Kr .j&ijtiwtL: ; i r i .ft "1 'TEii-.tT'.- W0: ''. J Terryville and Tahiti! Monuments to Dorence Atwater are to be found In Kormrutcrf hv nearlv 7.000 miles of land and tea. But these 7 000 miles Indicate the extremes In the life of this soldier of fortune who was first a bov in Terryville. a.soldier of the Civil War and lastly a notable figure in the South Seas. Tha cannon placed to his memory in Terryville may be seen by any visiror to tne village. i. ueieaj ui vi y-i ii.,.iii.m th oimnct I ircsisti hi forca of which arappled with the spirit of Atwater. It is there to remind the young that from their own bome town went out a man who could face the shrapnel of life and emerge a victor. . IN THIS SECTION The First Complete Account of the Adventurous Life of " ,' Dorence Atwater, a Terryville Man "Who Found Fame and Fortune .in the South Sea Islands '; ..'1 John A. Crilly, Veteran-Connecticut Company Employee. , , 'Tells o'f the. Picturesque Days When Hartford Had Only the Horse Car... "The Life of Christ," by Giov&nni Tapini, the Book That Has Been Hailed as One of the Most Sensational He-. ligious "Works of the Century 3 Grant Overton, Prominent Author, Gives Another of His Stirring Adventure Stories of Life on the Old Square- ' - Rigger on .Which 'He Shipped As a Young Newspaper Reporter. Bridge Whist for All By An ExperJ Player 4 The World of Fiction, Fact and Fancy. Book Reviews and Literary Notes ". 5 Weil-Known Connecticut Alienist Discusses the Thaw Case ; and Tells How Mental Condition of Accused is Determined ...6 Frank A. Simonds Writes on Western Europe Today and Discusses Possibility of Next War. Stephen Leaeock on the Musical Comedy Interlude. Ring LardneivOf-fers Advice to Join Rodemeycr's Bcld Head Club .... 7 The Most Precious Finger3 in the World. The Married Life of Helen and Warren. Pierre Key's Music Article 8 ryman Inferred that Ms rolls would be taken from him in any event and answered, "Give me $300. a clerkship and my rolls back again ai sunn as copied, and you can take them." The Colonel aerced to the proposition ami accepted the precious rolls, Atwater hurried back to Terryville, where his father had conducted a fatal Illness in caring for htm a few weeks before. The next atep In the great work initiated at Andersonville by the youthful prisoner was the Identification of the graves, which Atwater informed Secretary of War Stanton he could effect If the work wer un dertaken Immediately. Stanton ao rordingly detailed Captain Moore and forty others. Including Atwater and llara Harton. Ms ltarton'i work had already placed her before th nation as on of the great outstand Ing personalities of the period. The work was done In tha broiling heat of summer, but before the fall i-on bodies were Identified and re Interred with Christian burial. Four hundred Confederate soldiers were burled In the same manner. Atwater's death rolls and knowledge of the camp alone made this work possible. Miss Harton describes the effect which Andersonville had upon her at that time. A Scene of Torlnre. "I have looked over Its twenty-five acres of pitiless stockade, its burrows In the earth, its stinted stream. (Is turfless hillside, shadoless In auimncr and shelterless In winter; Its balls and chains; its stocks and tortures; its kennels for blood-hounds; its sentry boxes and Its dead line; ny heart went out, and I nld, 'Surely this was not the gate of Hell but Hell itself, and for comfort I turned away to the nine acres of crowded graves, and I said that here at Inst was rest, and this to them w aj the gate of Heaven. "And there they ll tonight, apart from all they loved, but mighty In their alienee, teaching the wurid a lesson of human cruelty it had never learned, and writing a pass in the world's history so black that it might rail upon the horrors of the Inquisition to light it up." For her great part In this work and other labors In the same line, Miss Harton was rewarded by Congress at least to tho extent of returning to her money to the amount which she had expended In its behalf. The reward of Atwater enme almost Immediately in the form of a court martial, which followed another api soda of the death rolls. leurt-Marllnl. I tpon his re-turn to Washington from Andersonville,' Atwood repeated ly urgca the War Department to return the rolls In order that he might have them published. The matter was continually delayed, until in desper ation, Atwater seised the rolls which lay open to all upon a desk In the War Department offices and refused to return them. The department was Inexorable In tha matter, ordering At water court-martialed. His defense was that he had believed It right 10 ao as he wished with his own per sonal property. This was deemed in valid and the accused was fined $300. and sentenced to eighteen months at hard labor In the state prison at Au burn, N. V., there to stand committed until her should return the rolls and was sent In Irons to Auburn, a prisoner of the North. His courage at this time remained steadfast FVr three months he remained In prison at hard labor. Powerful friends were acting In his cause, however, and at the end of this period ho w as released upon the order of the Secretary of War. Senator f'latt said years later in the Senate that Atwater was the only man who had ever gone out of a 17. 8. peniten tiary without a discharge ordered by a court, or without executive' pardon. Although a free man, Atwater was In complete disgrace. lie Mftli Horace Krcrlry. As the prison gates clnngcd shut. Atwater was leaving behind him his days as a soldier In blue. Tha boy who had gona forth from Terryville, who had become a cavalryman under Kilpatrick with.' all the eagerness of sixteen years, had become a man. Ho hail given his all to a cause, and In return had received prison stripes. Hl courage had resulted In one thing, the rolls were yet in his pus session. They could yet be published, and chief among his friends wns Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune, a name not to be brushed lightly aside in those days, a name which represented the power of tho press. Greeley arranged for the pub lication if the rolls, the end for which Atwater had struggled since the first dark days at Andersonville, the end for which he had apparently lost everything, even the outward trappings of honor. Atwater proceeded from Auburn to Washington. The fight for rehabll-lation was on. Not for thirty-live years was this eon of Litchfieid County to come Into his own again. Not for thirty-five years was Congress to put aside tho llndlngs of the Atwater oiurt-mnrtial and grant Its victim his good name and long deferred honorable discharge from the army, the lirst instance on record of such congressional action. Thirty-five years is a long time to wait, particularly when the facts of the case are patent to all, when there Is nothing new to come out, when death-hed confession must be awaited from the lips of an enemy. Hut Atwater did not give up hope. Had he done so, his career in the South Pacific would never have taken place. Ha would have lost the all Important wlll-to-llve. But there Is a courage which keeps men hammering at life In the darkness and turmoil of disappointment. when the doors of opportunity seem forevrr bolted. And hammering on, they achieve success. If the turning point of Atwood's life was reached upon his capture by the Confederate scouts, ao the moral crisis was reached when he left Auburn. Was he to go on, to struggle forward? The llresklng Point. Followors of tho ring hava noted men beaten and bruised, knocked Into seml-consc.iousnoss and hammered against the ropes. This Is not n pretty analogy but holds true, Against the ropes these men have appeared to reach the breaking point. What keeps them going heu nn ordinary fighter -would have taken the count long since? It la tl'c will t llv, the most dominant Instinct AMONG PEOPLE SUCH AS THESE ATWATER FOUND HAPPINESS m y""Mi" hipjijh.h";iis..ii ' I' ' " ! " T teWaii'-' " M :Mafp .H U - 'I "iJ If; W'$wfc)&-r 'Ark 4 vr ; 1 &iu - :.-,- ' "'' J :) 1 1 ' Goiilh Sea Islimders. Tahlllans. Among thesn penpln Porence Atwsterj scion of an old New l-iimlaiid family, found happiii(N. Among tlicni !i bei-ainn a power. They were kind to him, anil he became one of them. Th Litchfield County boy became n member of tin; Tahitliui nubility by marriagn, The U. 8. consul, he romm.'i luted their roxpect. i'eiirl King of tile South Seas, lie commanded their esteem. Husbund of Ariinoore iMoella Salmon, he commanded their love. Ho chose their Island homo as Ills final resting place. v . within the human frame, and the longest lived. Willi weaker men, It perishes In the slruggUt. With the strung it bungs on until life is gone. The will-to-llvo takes a man on the verge of quitting, on the verge of nionil defeat, on the verge ot utter destruction, and urges I.im on to success and greatness, So it was with Atwater. The strength which had coma down from a forefather eajcr to leava buiuo In old Hngland for utter wlldernes because they felt 'it their duty to do so, fl Id not fail. Atwater was a physical wreck. Ho was penniless. In tho language of South Seas, he was "on the beach." Hut he kept on, nnd won for himself tho tlllo "Soldier of Fortune" in its noulCut sense. On (he South Sea Trail. Tresideiit Johnson felt that soinj reward should be given the man 'c-sporisiblo for the Aiidersuiivlli rolls. altliouKh ho realised thai tha time wus not yet for Atwuter's ri,n'jili i-tlon. He offered Instead, the, post of U. S. Consul to the Seychelles Islands In tli" Indian Ocean. Atwater accepted. Ho wns now on the up Journey, He was making a start, iiiniiy lie felt that some day, In sum? way, his litinie would be rluared, and In the meantime, he could Iniihl life anew, with teeth gritted, ho departed for the vve.it coast, sailing therfco for his tslaud outpost. While his ship was s illing southwest from tse Golden Gate, his friends busied tliem-selves. The death rolls had been taken from their hiding place, and before tho War Department knew what was golnir on, had been publish ed by the Tribune Association, a;ij were being sold almost at cost on every bookstand In the country. Thousands of families were comforted. Atwater's grent work was accomplished. He might become a Croesus of the Kant, he mlht become a shipping power in himself, controll ing bonis plying between Tahiti snd San l-'rancisco. Ha might ally him self with royalty. None of these things could weigh In the bal.iti.'e with the preservation of tho rolls This action was. to Identify his patriotism and courage for all time. There are no dollar hIkiis on tomb stones. Tahiti script does not fiuro in a memorial carved In trranitc, Even tho eventual clearing of his name new took on tho appearance of a formality. Atwater beenmo a hero of Andersonville. What did It mat ter that the records were subse quently changed. Transferred to Tali III AtwrUer was appointed to the Seychelles Island consulate in 18(i8. Three years later he was transferred by President Grant to Tahiti, where he wns to pass the remainder of his life, serving the government without a fault and wlnninir the happiness that was rightfully his. If there Is a spot in all the world where a man may forget the past and live In the present, It Is Tahiti, flower of the South Seas, and there thn fcero of Andersonville became a changed personality. Known as the young American consul, he soon became a lending figure In the society of the Island, receiving the nnme of "Tupii.itnaroa" which means "Wise Man." Tho bitterness of after-the-war days was slowly submerged In a new-found happiness, enhanced by his coiiithlp of Moetia Salmon, sister of Tati. chief of Papara. the wealthiest district of the island. Although of dark complexion, Moetia had western blood In 'her veins, a fact not universally recognized. Her father had been the first white man to enter formal marriage with a Tahltlnn noblewoman. Po-mam IV had countenanced the match, and the progeny of the two Included many notable figures In Tnhltian life. Weds Nnllve Princess Once begun, the courtship went forward rapidly as do affairs of the heart in the tropics wtiera spring U eternal. And so it 'happened that Dorence Atwater, of Terry villa, Connecticut, entered by niHirla.Ke tha nobility. of t tie South Sea Isles. As a hoy taught In n, country school where Taliitlnlis were "heathen" and fo ranked with the "Heathen Chinee," Atwater celebrated his nuit)ul among attendants wrcather wltM maiden hair, glowing wllh Tahltiur. beamy. The maple of his boyhood was displaced by clumps of bamboo, the chestnut by coeoanut-palm. There were the "bom; invlilea'.i masses of lustrous magenta" and a hundred other specimeus of tho island flowering plants. Abnvo all, Atwater found an atmosphere of Serena contentment, tho atmosphere of Tahiti, startling in contrast to the tenseness characteristic of his earlier days. O'lirlen, in Ins ".Mystic Isles of tha South Seas" d-scrlbcs at some lensth n visit at the homo of Tail, Atwa tcr's brother-in-law. "Tati welcomed mo with tiic heartiness of the Knglish gentleman and the courtesy of Hie Tithitian chief. H whs a man of Inrsrn parts, himself, limited in hls-hospltallty only by bis means, be, llku all natives, having thrown awny most of his patrimony in his youth. Ho wns tho best-known Tnhttiiiii next to Prince Hliioe, but much abler than lie. Ho knew the Ta-hitian history and legends, th Interwoven tribal relations, th descents and alliances of tho families, better than anyone else. Such knowledge was highly esteemed by the natives, for whom chiefly rank still bore significance. The Ta tls had been chiefs of Tapara foi fcenerstloiiH, and had entertained Cap-lain Cook. "He lived in a bungalow near tha bench, handsome, spreading and with a mixed European and Indigenous arrangement and furnishing that waa very attractive. I met his sons and daughters, and hnd luncheon with them. Tat I, of course, spoke English fluently, yet villi the soft Intonation of the Tatiitian. Some of the dishes nnd knives and folks had belonged to Hubert Louis Stevenson, who, said Tati, hnd given them to him Mien ho was departing from Ta hiti." ' Such was the brother-in-law ot Dorence Atwater. Heing allied to tha most powerful family in the Island, Atwater combined Yankee shrewd-reus, with a natural ability to make friends and his nffuirs prospered, Gradually the young American con-"sul became virtual "prime minister of tho island." moulding the policies of Insular government, becoming a distinct "power." Nor did his finances lag behind. Trade and speculation brought in gold to the man who had come to Tahiti penniless, and with gold ho further entrenched his position, until he was able to organize an expedition for pearls, which was promptly successful. H. I.. S. As a fisher of pearls, Atwater was known to fiobert Louis Stevenson, then making his home at Tahiti. The two men must have had much In comnn In spite of their contrasting histories. The writer was engaged In a huttlo with disease which wracked him even in tha tropic paradise, and which was to bring him to on early grave, over this he triumphed with a courage not unlike that of the young cavalrymnn who rode the ride of disaster to success. ' Stevenson's connection with Tahiti of that period will be known ss longai there are readers of English literature. Lovers of adventure and tb South Seas, those who are thrilled by ' "Treasure Island" nnd tho- who Interest, themselves In th career of Dorence Atwater, will find unending charm In "The Kbb-(Continued on l'" "J 4 4 v