The times., 1901-05-26
KING GEORGE OF GREECE.
Endeared to His Subjects by Sim
pIicity and Kindness.
(From the New York Sun. }

(from the New 1Ork sum-
The Greeks adore their present ruler.
They delight in telling stories of his sim
plictty, kindness. and easy-going paternal
ways. In this estimate they are at once
right and wrong. King George is simple
in his habits but though very affectiOnate
toward his family, he Is a martinez.
The King was fifty-six years old in jan
uary. His daily life always follows the
same routine. He rises at 7, and after an
hour spent over the newspapers he pro-
ceeds to strangely unroyal performance.
He makes his own coffee. A tiny silver
spirit lamp is on table of inlaid wood in
corner of his study; next it is the briki
or little lidless Turkish coffee pot filed
with water: and silver Jar, decorated
in enamel with the royal arms, holds just
two tablespoonsful OF finely powdered Mo-
cha. The King does not like to see any
one in the morning until he has smoked
couple of Egyptian cigarettes over his
inilnitesimal cup OF very strong Turkish
coffee, with the grounds forming an inch
Trick deposit in the bottom Of the cup.
This desire OF unbroken matutinal solitude
causes him to make his morning brew
himself.
With his coffee and cigarettes he pores
over the journals till 10. Precisely at
that hour he mounts to the Queens pri-
Nate salon, on the second story of the
palace. Here the whole royal family is
required to be present without fail. Every
one, even the Queen, rises when he en-
ters, and there is a chorus of Good
morning, father" in Greek from all the
princes and princesses. For the King in
sists on the use of the Greek tongue in
the home life of the court. though he is a
Dane and the Queen a Russian.
In the Queens salon the King tndulges
In light family talk while the Queen and
young folks eat the first breakfast. The
meal, amply sufficient in that climate,
consists of tea served in the English fash
ion, with clotted cream, and tartfnes of
bread and butter, with some sweet bis
cults. The King himself never eats any
thing until the heavy midday lunch. a
stroll in the gardens follows the break
fast.
The King never forgets to keep one eye
on the palace clock. At a quarter past
he sobers down and becomes the practical
man of affairs He returns to his study
and irnmerses himself in state papers and
in documents concerning his personal bus
mess. For he is very much Of a business
man. He is also q very rich one. Not
because he is King OF poor little Greece,
but because he has a commercial genius.
His allowance as King is a very small
matter, scarcely enough to enable him to
build and occupy brownst0ne house on
Fifth Avenue. II he were private Ameri-
can citizen But by business ability he
has made himself a multi-millionaire. One
might saw he was many times a King.
Besides being King OF Greece, he is, in
his own country, a dairy king, a railway
king. a raisin and olive king, and, above
all, sea king. The fact is that his cap
ital, judiciousiy invested in Greek ma
tive industries increased so rapidly that
ne mas IDdty betH dDlS 10 tDTHtE lliS
most profitable produce of his kingdom.
He owns vast dairy farms and planta-
tions of grapes and olives all over the
land. Nearly the entire railway system of
Greece is under his control and pays a
big percentage directly into his money box.
and he personally owns a large feet of
merchant vessels engaged in a very lucra-
tive carrying trade OF the Levant, be-
tween Greek, Turkish, Egyptian, Austrian,
Arabian. and French ports.
He has invested a great deal of surplus
capital in English and American securf-
ties. and buys and sells on the market
with sagacity. If he loses his Greek
crown and all his Greek properties tomor-
row. he would still be an exceedingly
wealthy man. And If he lost all HIS
wealth the day after that he could com
mand royal salary from any big specu-
lative or commercial and industrial mag
nate in need OF an expert agent.
1t has been said that the German En-
peror, whether casually or with direct
sarcastic intention. referred once in King
Georges. presence to the "unroyal habit
of making money" To which King
George answered, with simple directness:
II see nothing unroyal in making mon
ey. It's great deal better to be a rich
merchant than bankrupt king"
If he himself had not the ability to
make money a perpetually bankrupt king
is Just what he would have been.