The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 9, 1905, Page 17

Pages I7t024’ B NS A UNDAY, APRIL 9, 1905, HENRY American Diplomat Says He Is Much Overrated. Truth and Superior Genius Lacking, He Asserts. New Theory as to the Plans of the Discoverer. ng work of first time the of the discovery of ,aud says, shatter ( genius and leave hinm strument of a great deed DISCOVERER'S INTENTIONS, 1 have not sought to attack Colum- but to separate fiction from his- tory,” Vignaud said when I questioned sneerning his ideas and intentions The object which I have hafl in mind ry of Columbus is imperfectly known, hat the mgst erroneous ideas pre- 1 to the true causes of the dis very of America. Like “all men who bave left notes nd papers on the events in which they ave played a part, Columbus arranged things as he wanted them to be known. It is with the utmost difficulty critical study has succeeded in setting aside from this doctored history numerous facts which Columbus and the interpreters of his ideas had intro- duced. This work of rectification pro- gresses slowly. It commenced long since and still continues. My ambition is to complete it. “The conclusion which I reach is that Columbus never intended to go to the that The glory of Columbus is certainly | diminished by these studies. As a man, | or many years is to prove that the his- | DIGNAUD N BELITTL \\§< SR e onm ar em ES THE THE PARLIEST 1osOWN PORTRAIT OF COLUMPUS DY AMPOISE TARDIEU . miec o EncRmANNES e T T TR anius™ CHENRS VISNAUD. . I A ROOM AT THE | UAMERICAN TMOASSY 5 TARAS - ! T IN PARIS, WHO, AFTER YEAR 2 1S SUPPOSED TG HAVE BEEN OF INVESTIGATION, EA A PICTURE OF THE DISCOV] THAT COLIMBUS WAS BY NO MEANS ERER AND A DRAWING OF A SHIP BY | Indies, and that it was only after his voyage, when he thought he had reach- ed India, that he announced that he al- ways wanted to go there. What new lands, concerning which he ught he had information. he was neither truthful nor of superior attainments. Columbus can only be called a great man if we understand by that term those who have accomplished great things. But if one means a man whose intelligence can grasp the hid- den connection of things, which gives prescience and which is the veritable form of genius, then Columbus was not a great man. WHERE HE WAS SUPERIOR. He displayed superiority in tw things ‘alone. energy and perseverance, qualities which are often characteristic of mediocre men. In his whole career, Columbus never took the point of view of genius. He was mistaken in all his previsions, and persisted in his errors even after making discoveries which should have sufficed to open his eyes.” “But,” was interposed, “might not an objection be raised? The sources of Columbian history are surely accessible to every one. Washington Irving, Harrisse and Fiske, to mention only the American authors. must have been acquainted with them an?” “However enlightened one may be; there' is always something to learn,” answered Mr. Vignaud. “This is par- he | ped to accomplish was to dis- | | ticularly true of history, which consists not cof material facts alone, but whose importance depends upon the meaning with which these facts are invested. “For a long time the history of Co- { lumbus, which is that of the discovery of America, was known solely through Columbus himself, that is to say, through the papers which he left, and which were set forth by his first two biographers, his son Fernando and Las Ca: The hooks which these two wrote gave us our Cclumbian tradi- | tipns and served as foundation for our | bést works on Columbus. But little by | little it was observed that many facts iadvanced from this source were er- 1roneous, and with time the number of | facts thus contradicted by criticism be- | came sc great that it was necessary to evise carefully all that tradition had | to say about the discoverer of America | and his work.” | CAREER OF VIGNAUD. Henry Vignaud, who is now passing | & green old age in peaceful diplomatic | work and historical research, has had a most adventurous career. Born at | New Orleans in 1830 of an 0ld Louisiana family, he started teaching in the pub- | lic schools when he was 22 years old, |and four.years later turned his atten- | tion to newspaper work, editing first | “L’Union de Lafourche"” and then “La Renaissance Louisianaise.” At the outbreak of the war he en- listed in the Confederate service and | was appointed captain of the Sixth Loulsiana Regiment. Captured and — restored to provisional liberty in New Orleans in 1862, he lcarned that he was about to be arrested by the Federal au- thoritles and sent to Ship Island as priconer on account of his strong sen- timents. Before the arrest could be effectéd he bribed an official to supply him with a pass enabling him to leave the city and he escaped to Paris, Vignaud was appointed secretary of the Confederate Diplomatic Committee in Paris and retained this post as long i @s the Confederacy required his ser- vices. During this period? feeling ran high in Faris among the Americans set- tled there, and Northerners and South- erners were divided as sharply as in the United States. The measires taken by the Gevernment after reconstruction . | be thought of it. | DUCHESS OF MALBOROUGH ! LEARNS SLEIGHT OF HAND/ | | Performs Card Tricks at Function to the Great Dclight of the & King: o B LONDON, April 8.——Realizing, probably, what a bore the ordinary i dccemplishments of society women have become, the Duchess of Mari- 'hamugh has acaquired one that- is| | strikingly novel, whatever else’ may Her Grace has gone | in for conjuring.. For some time she ! has been taking lessons of a skilled prestidigitator and can now perform clever tricks that mystify tiae unini-| tiated and proyide-much more amuse- | ment than th» usual amateur form of entertainment. | s of legerdemain have jong pos- ctien for “her.« a frecuent visitor at Bgyp- . long famed as the “Homre " but which has now been | ndoned to make way for a bigger !ding. . t was only some six months ' ago. however, that the idea came to her'of | studyig sleight of hand ‘on hsr own | {account. And she kent the matter | quiet until she was prevared to test ! {her skill. The opportunity came at| | & racen’ entertzinment at which the King'and Queen wers present. Among other artists a professionai conjurer had been engaged. Hi' repertoire in- |cluded a = card - trick} which = was felowed by the usual chal- ilenge tosanvbod: to show how it was | | done. “To the surnrise of all the com- pany the Duchess stepped forward and performed the trick herself. . His | Majesty condescended to be very much tickled. R A R e ol Mrs. Spender Clay Alds Blind. LONDON, ‘April 8. —Within the last few ‘days the clerical staff of Bass' big brewery ‘at Burton-on-Trent has been strengthened dv the services of a typewriter who has been blind from his birth. His name is Alfred T ner: he is 22 years of age and he can do, fifty. words a minute easily. Mfs. Spender Clay got him the job. Astor has for several vears taken much in- terest in institutions carried on” in England for the benefit of blind per- sons, and it appears that his daugh- ter i3 now following his example’ - 2 ————— Diamonds From the Czar. PARIS, April —Two young girls who live in the little village of Longvic, near . Dijon, are the possessors of two hand- #ome diamond broaches,” sent’ to them. by Emperor Nicholas of Russia.- On the birth of the present heir.to:the l,thrime it occurred to the voung women, pthat’it would-be a proper token of good J RS W /| LADY SUFFOLK KIND TO HER OLD FRIENDS Remembers With Open Purse Former Postman and Domestic in England. LONDON, April 8. —When Miss Dalsy Leiter resided with her sister, Lady { Curzon, at the old prinory at Reigate she was a favorite with rich and poor alike. It is not surprising, therefore, that as the Countess of Suffolk she should renew acquaintances with her old neighbors. A few days ago she drove around in a luxurious motor car, visited séveral shops where she was in the habit of making small purchases and spoke freely to eevry one whom she recognized. She visited an old women who used to do some light cleaning at the priory and left'her a substantial money gift to remind her of old times. The local postman who ‘used to deliver her mall looked her up when he heard she was in the neéighborhood, and congratulat- ing her on her marriage he, too, was left Vignaud free to return home when | Vill to present his Imperial Highness | presented with something handsome. he wished, but he had by this time es- tahlished firm ties in Paris. In 1369 He was appointed secretary of the Roumanian Legation in Paris. . His splendid diplomatic work attracted the attention of his own countrymen, then reunited. and he served on the Alabama Claims Commission in 1872, In Febru- ary, 1875, General Grant wiped out old scores and paid a generous tribute to Vignaud's ability in appointing him secretary of the American Embassy in Paris. = . g In the successive changes which have passed over the embassy Vignaud has been the only man to remain constantly at his post, while Embassadors have retired or other secretaries have besn .with a piece of embroidery they: had just completed. This they did, and the diamond brooches were recejved in: ra- turn-as'a mark of the Emperor's pleas- yure. % i e PN T L V"develop from a simple ministry to an important- embassy, -and” he has con- tributed'to making ifs/nistory. So ab-- j sorbed is Vignaud- in his diplomatic | work that he has never been known to i take a holiday. Perfectly content to-re- | main at the embassy on' week days ‘from ten until three, he spends his evenings and Sundays . quietly. at ‘his’ home-in Bagneux, a charming suburb of Paris, where he has had a remark- able library, modeled after the big p Lady. Suffolk and her father used to ‘be fond of taking long walks through the fields in the neighborhood of Rei- sate and were accustomed. to call regu- ri{larly at'a farmer’s house, where they would have'a glass of milk. The Countess. did . not.forget this farmer's cottage during her recent visit, ———— French Rafl Fare Raises Ire. PARIS, April 8. —Americans are ery- ing out against the price charged on the train that leaves at 7:30 p. m. and is due in Nice at 10:30 a. m. The fare is 325 and a berth is obligatory at an additional cost of $16, or rather more than a dollar an hour.: Frequently the electric light is extinguished at night, transferred to other points. ~He has| lic libraries, constructed to contain his { leaving the passengers in utter dark- seen American representation in Franes ! rare collection of books.’ : ‘ ness, 1 X | | PICTUEE I ™ SHIP PRAWN &Y CHETTOPHEL COLUNPYT oo JTORY OF COLUMBUS DOWRY IS AGIFT - FROM DUKE ' Connaught to Sup- | ply Funds for the Princess. No State Aid Asked | for His Daughter | About to Wed. Special Cable to The Cail, LONDON, April 8.—In these demo- cratic days English folk are getting | very eritical concerning what they have | to pay to enable the scions of royalty | to maintain themselves in style. The | intimation made that there will be ne E request for a grant to Princess Mar- garet of Connaught to help her along | when she sets up housekeeping with Prince Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden 1s doubtless inspired by this knowledge. Her father, the Duke of Connaught, and brother to the King, was granted | | | | | ol O ’ s = 1 875,000 a year when he came of age in 1871; and when he married twenty-six years ago Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia an additional $40,000 annually was bestowed upon him. His wife's marriage portion was a moderate one, but on the death of her father she came in for a snug sum. As neither the Duke of Connaught nor his wife has been addicted to extravagance they should be pretty well off by this time, and will give their daughter a comfortable “dot” on her marriage. And a popular princess who becomes a bride nowadays can.confidently expect a fortune’s worth of jewels in presents. It is interesting to recall that the Princess and her mother probably both owe their lives to the good old Queen's prejudice against ‘new-fangled fix- ings.” The birth of the Princess Mar- garet at Bagshot Park was followed by alarming symptoms which greatly troubled the physicians. The Queen drove over from Windsor to judge for herself what was wrong. She insisted that poisonous air must be penetrat- ing into the room of the invalid from the washhand basins in the royal dressing-room. Experts were sum- moned and the presence of the foul air was proved. It was a case of faulty plumbing. It was clear that the Duchess . was being poisoned and the infant's life jeopardized in that sumptuous house. The Queen insisted that both mother and child should be removed to her own old-fashioned apartments at Windsor. It was the depth of winter: the distance little short of fifteen miles —a desperate risk, the doctors said. But the Duke of Connaught added his authority to that of the Queén, and in half an hour a well-warmed carriage with four swift horses was at the door, and the young mother and the baby Princess were safe at Windsor before that short day’s close. o e DT Bl 20 M I B M o SR SRS SR, A