The Wrong Man Presented at Court.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 89, 14 April 1892, Page 3

The Wrong Man Presented at Court.

There is a colored messenger at the department of state who has been attached to the service for many years in one capacity and another, and is valued by officials because of his intelligence and general usefulness. The old gentleman tells an incident illustrating the potency of clothes on either side of tho Atlantic. He was a few years since, as general utility man to a party of distinguished statesmen, on an important diplomatic mission. The party was bidden to an important social function at one of the Continental courts, and as the affair took place in the afternoon, the diplomats started out arrayed in their finest frock coats according to tho best American usage.

Only the colored aid-de-camp, who went along to look after coats and hats, wore the usual dress suit of his place. When the party arrived at tho palace the colored contingent, who did not know the liugo, found himself hustled through the dressing room by a lot of lackeys, and bofoi - e he could realize tho situation was ushered alone into tho presonce of royalty. There is no color prejudice on the other side, and he was taken for the chief representative of the American republic. When he escaped from the unexpected prominence it was to find himself alone in a strange tongued city. The rest of the delegation, as he learned when ho found his way back, had been sternly excluded because of their unconventional uniforms. The old gentleman frequently relates with glee how he carried off the honors for the joint high commission.—Washington Post.