Birmingham state herald., 1897-03-04

sultan at Constantinople, which interna- tional jealousies would prevent any one of the great powers from retaining in its own hands
 Queen olga, of Greece. is the only pet tieeated admiral in the world. There are queens. expresses and prineesses of the blood who held the rank of colonel of cavalry and infantry, and not only IS Queen Victoria the chief commanding or ficer of the crack regiment or dragoons in the German army, but she has even been known to review her own troops at A1dershot arraved in the gold embroid- cred scarlet tunic of a general. with en- blems of that rank adorning her shoulder straps, cuffs and collar. Queen Olga, Of Greece, however. is the only she-admiral in creation, and owes this unusual dis tinetion to the late ezar, who attached her in that honorary capacity to ms Mediterranean fleet. The queen Is pas sionately fond of the sea, uses her yacnts as constantly as other women do thelr carriages, and enjoys nothing so much as a stiff breeze She has passed with flying colors the examination required in order to secure the diploma Of fuIl- fiedged sailing master, and is certainly infinitely better equipped from protes- sional point of view for the grade or ad- miral than her sister sovereigns are qualified for their colonelcies in the army
 It must not however, for one moment be imagined that Queen Olga's entire ex- istence is spent on the ocean wave. very great portion of her time is devoted to philanthropy and not a day passes in which she does not devote at least couple of hours to the great Evangelis- mos hospital at Athens, which sne created and which she manages In per son. She supervises everything, ana eacn contribution to the funds of the insttu- tion, no matter how insignificant passes through her hands before reaching the treasury, while, no matter how busy, she makes a point of writing in her own hand an acknowledgment for each do- nation received. It is needless to add that she visits the sick, especially those who, being of foreign birth, feel them <selves abandoned in strange land; and, as an instance of her Kindness of heart, it may be mentioned that she invariably keeps on hand supply of earth brought from Russia for the purpose of sprinkling on the coffin of those of her compatidots who die in Greece. Not only the Evan gehsmos hospital, but every other char itable institution in the Hellenic king dom, owes it's origin and foundation to this excellent queen, who is daughter of the late Grand Duke Constantina Mic olaewitch, of Russia, and sister there fore of the disgraced Grand Duke Con- stantine, who for twenty years has been confined as a close prisoner in one of the Asiatic fortresses of the czar for stealing the jewels of his mother of the imperial chapel of St. Petersburg in or der to present them to the Philadelphia adventures, Mrs. Hattie Blackford
 Only one of Queen Olga's two pretty daughters survives, Princess Alexandra having died under tragic circumstances at Moscow a little over a year after her marriage to the Grand Duke Paul. It is probably due to the domsStic miseries which preceded the death of this univer- sally beloved princess that King George and his consort are so reluctant to fix the day for the marriage of their r. maining daughter, Princess Marie, to the Grand Duke George, of Russia, to whom she is affianced.
 In conclusion, it may be said that King George, who is son of the king of Den mark, was serving under the name of Prince William on board an English man of-war in the lowly capacity of midshdp- man at the time of his election to the throne of Gresce. Indeed he was up aloft, mastheaded by way of punishment for some piece of mischief or other, at the very time when the representatives of the Athens government, as well as of the great powers which have guaranteed the integrity and independence of Greece, arrived on board to hail him as king of the He1lenes, an honor for which he was totally unprepared. This took place little over thirty-four years ago, and ever since that time the ex-midshipman has administered the government of his turbulent little Kingdom with rare sa- gacity, and with advantage, not only to his adopted people, but also to himself. For, from having been almost penniless at the time of his accession to the crown, he enjoys the reputation today of being one of the wealthiest princes in Christen- dom.
 Since the Tribune's articles appeared, it is reported that Queen Olga has re- fused to keep the honorary position of admiral of the Russian navy because of the recent hostile demonstration of Rus sia together with the other powers in the Cretan trouble.