THE PEACE ARK.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 January 1916, Page 2

THE PEACE ARK.

THE TOLLY Off FORD. London, Dec. 30. The Foreign Office announces thai /iity-ftve bags -of rubber, weighing 40001b., consigned to Sweden to a wellknown enemy forwarding agent, were .removed from Ford's ship, and that the remainder of tho mails have been handed to the post office for immedjia-te transmission. The newspapers attribute the rubber seizure to "Ford's Ark," i-f. the Foreign Office only states that it was seized aboard the Oscar the Second, included in a parcel mail. The newspapers point out that this' i and Mrs. Ford and her son, Edsal. Bt hind these stood ten thousand howlinjj men and women. And out of these ter. thousand one man went insane and jump> ed into the water. < He jumped saying he'd swim behind the ship to ward off torpedoes. Public opinion was forcing him to do it, he said. Ho made a clear dive right beneath the outstretched arm of Bryan. And then he started to swim. It took the crew of the tug Girard H. Kellar ten minutes to fish tha man out of the cold river. Thev took him to St. Mary's Hospital.

FORD VOtCES HOPES. Just before leaving Ford issued this statement:— "I am sailing with the Arm belief that great good will come of «•*- mission. The delegates to the peace conference lm-e indicated tlufc there is in them the spirit that appreciates the usclessness nnrt waste of war. as well as the horror of unnecessary Killing. ''There is some sentiment behind this project, but also indications that the business world wrnts the thing stopped so that it. may go on its work of construction—that is, all except that part of the business world that is turning out guns, battleships and other useless hut costly products. "Little harm can come of the venture and great good may result. It will keep alive the thought that peace is possible as well as desirable. So long as this is clone the hope of peace exists. I know little of the details of the working plan of the peace conference, but I do know that every effort will be made for honourable peace.

''My heart is in this work of peace, and for that reason I stood behind the trip to help the people reach a common meeting place to discuss the possibilities of peace with representative of other neutral countries. SLUR ON COMEDIANS. "At first there was much so-called fear of international complications resulting from the trip. That was not a hit, so ridicule was brought in to try to stop the trip. That might as weil have been saved for Billy Sunday, Alton B. Parker. Chancellor Day and other comedians who expressed ' themselves as against the plan with the knowledge that it would appear prominent in the papers. "In spite of all this the mission is leaving on time and leaving with the feeling that part of the world at peace, and the part of the world at war that has heard of the plans are in sympathy with the movement and the best wishes of the great mjority go with it. "There is a certain gang of death peddlers that v.-ould like to see this thing 'go to smash, brt I believe they are going to be disappointed."

BANDS PLAY, FLAGS WAVE. Two bands were playing "l Didn't Raise My Boy to Be, a Soldier." .A thousand flags were waving from the crowded decks of the Oscar 11. The mob on the pier wore singing, howling, whistling and crying. Some were hysterical; others were simply leaping up and down emitting roars' of "Peace! Peace! Peace! Peace!"

From the decks of tko liner there fell a shower of red rtses. They descended upon Edison and Bryan. The ?!ev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones, of Chicago, was standing amidships with his hand raised and his lips moving in prayer. Ford was standing in the bow with his hat in his hand and his face turned skyward. Around him were a dozen women singing "America." In front of him cameras were clicking and the cinematograph machines w'nirring.

On the shore a furore that has not been approached since Colonel Roosevelt returned i'rjm Africa was in progress. There were impromptu religious services. Hymns reminiscent of Billy Sunday's PatersoM campaign arose, A wi'ld looking individual with an oldfashioned canvas telescope grip and a grey plug hat raced along the shore crying he had been left behind and that no peace would be legitimate without his sanction.

SHRIEKS OF WOAiriN, Above all this madness there arose the hoarse roar of the Oscar's siren, clanging of police ambulance bells, the shrieks of women who had suddenly lost control of themselves, and the wild screams of the strange man in the water. "Gocd-bye. Bod bless you. Keep your shoulder to the wheel' and do not lose courage. Eight is might and we are right." This was Bryan's last word to Ford as the former left the decks of the Oseav an hour before saiiing time. "You can do no harm by trying, You may not be successful, but certainly your hopes are for the best." That is what Edfton said. Possibly there is peace 'on the Oscar 11. to-night. There was none to-day. ■ The exact number sailing is less than 140. Of these 54 are newspapermen and women magazine correspondents and camera men. Almost everything from t mu/der down attended the sailing. Bryan was the busiest man on board, He was

ft forjbal and official witness to the wedding of Berton Braley, poet, and Miss Marian Rubincam, newspaper girl. He was kissed by an elderly lady who wore many white streamers on which "Peace at any price" was printed. The kiss landed on Bryan's hand. The crowd was too great to permit' access to his ruddy cheeks. FAREWELL TO PILGRIMS. The Oscar was scheduled to sail at 2 o'clock, but the wild pandemonium that reigned on the dock and on deck delayed her departure an lioui and thirteen niinutes. ,Tolm Burroughs, naturalist, and C. L. Pietro, sculptor, were there to wave farewell to the pilgrims. Everybody seemed to have waited uut'ltbe last moment to get the necesWTwSdeiiljals. The Rev. Charles P Aked could not find his tru»k. Neither could Senator Helen Ring Robinson of Denver. Dr. Aked solved the problem by grabbing two trunks that looked like his and dragged them up the gang-plank alone. But Senator Robinson could not locate hers at all. Therefore she did not sail. In her baggage were her papers and clothes. Dr. Charles Pease, anti-tobacco apostle, quit in a huff because his cabin mate smoked in the little berth room. Ford declared he had not invited Dr. Pease anyway, so it was all right. A general search for the doctor revealed the fact that he had left Hoboken very, very angry. As early as 10 o'clock in the morning, the crowd began to collect. There came telegrams, letters, flowers, crated prunes, a keg of mm, a case of whisky or two, patented life preservers, huge' piles of pacificist literature and hundreds of other things usually listed under "too numerous to mention." WOMEN DANCE ON DECK. A lanky messenger came bearing a n.or-i Within the cage were two thin squirrels. - A large placard had it that the squirrels were to be the. mascots for the "good ship Nutty." The name of the sender was not on the card. By the time Mr. and Mrs. Ford and Edsal arrived at the dock the crowd was so dense that two policemen, four husky sailors and four detectives had to batter a path for the pacificist. A furious Chautauqua salute greeted the financier. He woro a fur-lined overcoat and a derby hat. He looked a bit [worn and his face was very pale. He I was hustled to his cabin de luxe. The guards declared he could not be dis|turbed.

There was a band |\n board, and it struck up a fast one-step tune. Likewise there was a score of pretty women on deck, and they could dance.

A moment later there was a fine, brisk dance in progress on the upper deck. Meanwhile the kinematograph men were grinding foot after foot of film, and the camera men were snapping everybody's picture.

Judge Ben Lindsey and his pretty wife were in a corner telling newspaper men about the threats they had received.

"We received all sorts of warnings and threats," declared the judge. "1 am going because of mv great' personal regard for Mr. Ford. But I am not a pacificist. T believe that America should be prepared, and well nrepared. I do not think that this trip will do much good: but I am sure it can do no harm.

"There should be no peace while Germany hold 9 Belgium and Serbia. This war will end when someone is defeated utterly, and not before. Personally, I am with the Allies." The judge would have said more had not there been a tremendous din <■* the foot of the gang-plank. Investigation revealed that two policemen were ejecting a well-dressed man who was nil but foaming at the mouth. He was howling in German. It ••« all but unintelligible: but the general trend of his thought was revealed in his battle-cry: "Gott strafe- Ford!"

The wedding of Miss Rubincim and Braley occurred before the, ship sailed. Lest there be complications, the marriage will be repeated on the high seas. The venerable Jenkiu Lloyd Jones officiated.

The ceremony vrii performed in the first cabin dining-saloon. Hanging in pink baby ribbons, stuffed doves—white peace doves —swung in the air. A cornetist blared forth the durable wedding march from "Lohengrin," and an enthusiastic crowd began singing "Let Not Money Be Our God"—one of the two official songs of the pilgrimage. Ford gave the bride in marriage.

Bryan was called to the table to sign bis name as witness. There was a general move on the part of everybody to kiss the bride, but the bride refused to be kissed.

It was discovered that the- marriage license was issued in New York, and that the ceremony was performed in New Jersey. Several persons got around to discus tho situation. Finally Braley declared that he and Miss Rubineam would be married all over again at sea.

About six college students from Pittsburg were left behind. They arrived a few nvinrites before the boat sailed. They Jiad not i\ceived their passports. Their baggage scattered here and there. The crowd vi-as so dense that they could not get within 1,500 feet of the ship. So they formei} a wedge and began to batter they way,through. But there was a healthy lot on' ihe pier. There were men there just spo*lng for a scrimmage. The result was that 'there was a jam and a rush that resulted fy the utter defeat of the Pittsburgcrs. \ Frederick Bruce Davis! a Yale student, did not go along. It was hard luck. He deserved a berth. He wa\s in California when he decided, a week ago to take the trip, He tried to reach 'iFord at the Biltmore by telephone from San Francisco.' That failed. Then he\rac«l across the continent to New York! and thence to Washington. Ho arrived late last night. He got his passport. IHe hustled to Hoboken from Washington I this morning and arrived just too lattl to get a berth. It was hard luck. But Mrs. A. M. Clarke, of pV.Alto, Cal., got on board at the lasft moment. She is with the party because Davis hustled her up the. gangway before attending to his own affairs. / Mrs. Clarke reached New York at 11/ o'clock last night. She, like Davis, rushed to Washington to get a passport. • -'She arrived in Hoboken a few moments /before the ship sailed. \