Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 May 1902 — PAUNCEFOTE DIES AT WASHINGTON [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PAUNCEFOTE DIES AT WASHINGTON

Illness of Many Months Results Fatally, Though Death Was Unexpected. HELD POST FOURTEEN YEARS Demise Comes as a Shock to Official Washington—Diplomat Genial and Popular with All Classes —His Career Had Been a Distinguished One. Lord Pauncefote, British ambassador to the United States, died at the embassy at Washington May 24. The improvement which had been noted in his condition during the past week received a sudden check about 6 o’clock the previous evening, when it wa§ noticed that he was experiencing difficulty in breathing. Dr. Jung, his physician, was immediately sent for, and he decided upon a consultation with a local physician, in the meantime telegraphing for Dr. Osier of Baltimore. In his stead came Dr. Thayer of Johns Hopkins university. The patient’s pulse was still good, and when Dr. Thayer left the embassy at

3 o’clock for Baltimore the ambassador was resting so comfortably that a cablegram was sent to his son-in-law, Mr. Bromley, in London, that there was no immediate danger. Soon after 3 o’clock a distinct weakness of the heart developed and his pulse began to collapse. He died so peacefully that it surprised even his physician, who feared that the asthmatic affection would prove troublesome when the end came. As soon as it became generally known that Lord Pauncefote was dead flags were half-masted over the different embassies and legations. At the Arlington hotel, where the visiting Frenchmen who have come to witness the Rochambeau statue unveiling are stopping, the French flag was placed at half-mast. Julian Pauncefote was the third son of the late Robert Pauncefote of Preston Court, Gloucestershire. England, and was born at Munich, Germany, in 1828. He was educated in Paris, Geneva and at Marlborough college. He studied for the bar, to which he was called, at the Inner Temple, in 1852, and joined the Oxford circuit. While practicing in England he was knighted. In 1865 he was appointed attor-ney-general of Hongkong and he acted as chief justice of the Supreme court of that colony in 1869 and again in 1872. The executive and legislative councils of Hongkong passed a vote of thanks to him for his services to the colony. In 1873 he was made chief justice of the Leeward islands, and In 1874 he was appointed legal assistant under secretary of state for the colonies. Two years later he was given the same relative position in the foreign office, and in 1882 he succeeded Lord Tenterden as permanent secretary of state for foreign affairs. In 1889 Lord Pauncefote, then known as Sir Julian Pauncefote, came to the United States to take the place of Lord Sackville as British minister.. In 1893 he was raised to the rank of ambassador and in 1894 he was sworn as a member ’of the privy council. Lord Pauncefote was regarded as an able and tactful diplomat. He was in Washington during the critical period of the Venezuelan controversy in 1895. when a clash between Great Britain and the United States was narrowly averted. It was he who spoke for the foreign ambassadors in art offer of the good services of their countries to mediate with Spain and prevent the war over Cuba. For this act Lord Pauncefote was severely criticised in some quarters and it was said he felt the criticism keenly and that it was one of the causes of his fatal illness. Lord and Lady Pauncefote were the center of the diplomatic set in Washington and their home was the scene of many brilliant meetings of the leading officials of the capital. Mrs. Pauncefote was born in India. She is gifted as a social leader. Four daughters were born of the union.

Lord Pauncefote.