Mr. Edwin S. Cunningham yesterday was the victim of pleasant affliction devised by his fellow-countrymen here, His in the foreign Aden acquaintances in the service of the Government of the|pleasanter avd more spacious United States were affectionately haunts of AMmbay, who wa marked in. the presentation of [Among the, foreign diplomatists Tis portrait. painted by a. dis-/at the tinguished American artist, Mr.|Durbar "geaperial Coronation thi in 1911, can Dwight Bridge, The occasion was. properly domestic and intimate. Yet, not only because Mr. Cunningham for long has een the doyen of the Consuls General here, but chiefly because of his own personal qualities, the event thus celebrated has to be taken into account by other than American Shanghailanders. Jast summer Mr. Cunningham received from the highest an: thority In America an unusual tribute to his service. Although, by the regulations, he was due to retire on age-limit, he was informed by the President of the United States, ina persona hardly yilelo'o any America Iknowledge of the ways and works of Englishmen. A man in such circumstances must have obtained a view of his subject in formal and informal pose, on guard and off guard, and every kind of mood. Aden was not kind to Mr. Cunningham. In these days it carries a less fearsome reputation than in his time when, to use his own words, was usually called a "cinder heap." Now in the spartanly equipped club, the verandah of which tries to attain to Riviera elegance (but does not patent; succeed), there is (or used to be) letter, that his continuance in gfice' as Consul-General at Shangghal was regarded as desir able in the public interest, To '4 notification of that kind little can be added in the way of eulogy, It speaks for itself.
munities will be glad the British and of the present opportunity to: place on record their appreciation of the work which Mr. Cunningham has amiably accomplished and of his part. in promoting the social welfare and international harmony of Shang-with the exception of a jars in Norway, his first 16 years of foreign service were spent in one part or other of the British Empire, his British friends are particularly glad to note that vigour and efficiency have not been impaired by long association with official and non-official 8 com munities. And, during his sojourn of nearly twenty years in China, he has been in Hankow land Shanghai where, again, he has, been brought closely into contact with the same nation. it would be foolish on, any Englishman's part to maintain that Mr, Cunningham does not! understand his "British friends. The young lawyer from Tennessee. who started his consular career on that toy cardboard looking island rock, Aden, who was present as America's focal representative at the first oficial dinner given to signalise the opening of the Parliament of the Union of South Africa in, 1906 at Durban, who took his bride—now known a8 one of Shanghai's most, charming hostesses—from South Africa, who renewed his a bold" poster flamboyantly claiming for Aden buoyant qualities as a health resort. Bathing all the year round, continuous sunshine, an ideal hunting ground for spinster (60.35 ihi men to every one woman") and a wonderful water-supply are some of Aden's arguments for its pre-eminence over such inferior resorts as the Lido, Florida, or the Tyrol. Mr. Cunningham, it is true, was clever enough fo be at Aden during the fall of the first rain which that port had known for ten years but Aden parted with him in hospital, and bore the traces of the acquaintance for some years. At: Aden he came indirectly to hear of China for his great friend, the then Politics Resident, General (afterwar Sir O'Moore) Creagh, was tran: ferred in 1900 to be commander of the British forces despatched to join in the relief of Peking.
It was fitting that the British Empire should make amends with Durban where, outside China, Mr. Cunningham has been known to declare hie spent the happiest years of his life abroad. Mrs, Cunningham's presence bears witness that this was not entirely due to the fact that he received an official British {testimonial to his good character in the shape of a much-belated receipt of a letter addressed simply "E. 8. Cunningham, Durban" and carrying among the numerous endorsements of its Postal odyssey, the comforting: words "Not known at the Police Station." In 1912 China loomed nearer the future Senior Consul-General of Shanghai, for, at Singapore; he came to realise the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.