Many historical figures appear in The Spirit of Villarosa.
Horace met a Chinese gentleman named Yuan Shikai aboard a steamer ship bound for Japan. Little did Horace know that this man was a Chinese army leader and reformist minister toward the end of the Qing dynasty. In 1912 Yuan Shikai became the first president of the Republic of China in 1912, a position he held until his death in June 1916.
Horace recounts, “Aboard ship, I met a remarkable Chinese gentleman, Yuan Shikai, who became my companion for a daily promenade around the deck. He impressed me immensely with his memory. We would chat, and he could tell me the exact dates and the names of all commanders in every important battle of the American War for Independence and the War Between the States. … Yuan Shikai awakened my curiosity about China and other lands I never dreamed I’d visit. His words inspired me to travel and live among different cultures.”
To discover more of Horace’s adventures, please read The Spirit of Villarosa, www.thespiritofvillarosa.com.
This image depicts Horace Dade Ashton with Princess Houang Ti Teh, daughter of the King of Indo-China in Paris, 1932.