RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS
passing by in single file, the Municipal Band in the Park before the Palace played American music, from the latest ragtime back to "Swance River," interspersed with well-rendered classics and a few gay, lilting airs peculiarly Spanish.
On the following afternoon Mr. Morgan tried to outdo the affair at the Palace with a reception in our honour at his house, and succeeded admirably. Mr. Taft had written of Mr. Morgan: "He is something of a sybarite. He has a very fine house, a French cook and all the luxuries, and we are being exceedingly well taken care of;-though I do think we eat too much!" In fact, Mr. Morgan is a true host, combining imagination and great ability with the wish to entertain. His house at Havana was like a scene from some tropical grand opera. Standing in the midst of fine gardens heavy with groups of big drooping palms and ferns, and bright with wide spaces of green lawn, it seemed like a veritable story-book house. It had wide corridors and a quaint, moss-softened patio, in the middle of which a foun- tain played over a mass of brilliant tropic plants. The spacious rooms were filled with curios and art treasures from all parts of the world, and I was especially interested in a splendid collection of brass-bound and inlaid Korean chests. Mr. Morgan was America's last Minister to Korea, being transferred from Seoul to Havana when Japan established. her Korean protectorate.
Although it was nine miles out to Mr. Morgan's house, everybody came, and it was said to be the most representa- tive gathering of the city's leading families that had been seen in many a day. Of course there was music and dancing and refreshments and all the elements which go to make up an enjoyable entertainment, and even though there was a general celebration going on in the city, the crowds took their departure reluctantly.
The general celebration was in commemoration of the
300
