QUEEN STORY OF MISS ALICE ROOSEVELT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 319, 19 February 1910, Page 9

QUEEN STORY OF MISS ALICE ROOSEVELT.

Fraulein Emmo Kroehle, a Onnan woman who was the chief mistress of ceremonies ;it the Court, of the Emperor of Korea in 1905. appears as the author of a hook, published in Berliii. which contains sections dealing with the visit of the then Hiss Alice Roos'evelt to Korea in that year. In her account of the official reception to .Miss Uoosevelt she snv*: iei'-'-iag that the Uoosevelt party had been invited to the Court of the Mikado, the Korean Emperor hastened to extend the hospitality of his modest establishment to the distinguished American travellers'. Acceptance of His Majesty's invitation came with such astorishing promptness that the Court -■-■•• i ili'evvim how to get a suitable wstoome ready in time. The Emperor finally decided to bestow upon the daughter of the President of the United j States the highest honor at his com- | mand —namely, a reception at the grave- ; f'de of his departed consort the Empres's. ' An imposing suite of dignitaries and flunkeys was accordingly despatched to the grave, in a picturesque and secluded

spot a mile outside Seoul, with utensils Vor a State banquet. Shortly after the suite arrived a tornado of dust iuira't upon us, out of which a cavalcade of equestrians emerged. At their head rode a dashing young horsewoman, clad f ,n a scarlet riding habit, beneath the lower extremity of which peeped tigntiitting red riding breeches, stuck into glittering hoots. In her hand she brandished a riding whip, in her month was a cigar. It was Miss Alice Roos'evelt. We were flabbergasted. We had expected a different sort of apparition. Everybody was bowing and scraping in the moist approved Korean Court fashion, but the Rough Rider's daughter seemed to think it all a joke. As the mistress of ceremonies 1 stammered out •a. few words of greeting, and the guests of honor mumbled a word of thanks, but no tiling more. She was mainly interested in the colossal effigies of gods and the mammoth stone images of animals which hold watch over the graves' of the departed members of the Korean dynasty. Spying a stone elephant, which seemed particularly to strike her fancy, (Alice hurtled off her horse in a flash, *was astride the elephant, shouting to Mr. Longworth to snapshot her. Our

suite was paralysed with horror and Astonishment. Such a sacrilegious at *o holy a spot was without parallel in Korean history. It required, indeed. American ways to produce it. It was a critical moment. The suspense was relieved only b ythe passing ot tea and other refreshments. Alice remained oblivious to what wa> going on around her. Not a word of thanks for her reception was forthcoming. She chatted casually with the wife of the American Minister, Mrs. Morgan, and partook bravely of the champagne and other delicacies. Suddenly she gave orders for the saddling of her horse, and galloped away with her male escorts like a Buffalo 'Bill.