The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-07-28
ABOUT THE KING.
EDWARDVII HAS STILL MANY PRE-.
negatives or ROYALTY.

Expects 10 Have His $1O,OOO.OOO of
Debts Paid on by Parliament.
Many and Various Requests Left
to IIim-IIe Is n Practical CobIer
and Has Made His own Shoes-Col-
lectinR Crystals Is His Hobby. and
Clothes His FnvOrite Topic of Con-
versntlon-Owns the Most Magma
cent Dinner Service, the Finest
Yacht and the Most ORNATE Cnr-
riaEe I'm the WOrId-HOw He Trav-
els.
London. July 1S.-Ruler of the largest
empire the world has ever known, Ed
ward VII of England, the mightiest of
monarchs, reigns over about AGO.
900 people. or a quarter of mankind. In
other words. nearly one person out of
every four owes allegiance to him.
AS Prince of Wales, his income was
about 100000; as King he gets about
$4,000 a day. His debts incurred be-
fore he came to the throne. aggregat-
ing $10,000,000. he expects to have set
tied by Parliament.
Whether in England or on the con-
tinent. the King receives by telegraph
every night an abstract of the work
of the House of Commons. His tele-
grams average forty daily. and the let
ters are numbered by the score, many
of them being written in French and
German.
The King, the Lord Mayor and the
Constable are the only ones who know
the password of the Tower of London
This password is sent to the Mansion
House quarterly, signed by His Majes-
ty, and is a survival of an ancient Gus
tom.
Four men in London, all of respectable
standing in society. so closely resemble
King Edward in appearance that ii is
often a source of embarrassment to
them. They carefully dress as little
like him as possible. to avoid curios-
ity.
Erward's usual incognito when trav-
cling abroad has been Baron Renfew.
He has also been known as Mr.. Moul-
ton. and in Constantinople. where the
Prince and Princess of Wales visited
soon after their marriage, the Royal
Highnesses were dropped and as plain
Mr.. and Mrs. Williams the pair went
about through the baZaars.
How long will the King liver" That
is an interesting question. There is an
old gypsy saying that the Prince of
Wales would die by violence as soon
as "a great honor was conferred upon
him" The predictions of this gypsy
are said to have come true in regard
to other members of European royal
families. The King has never shown
the slightest fear of assassination, and
his personal recklessness has soreIy
worried those who are responsible for
his safety.
Queen Victoria had not been dead a
fortnight before advertisements ap-
peared in the papers advising the pub
lie to guard themselves against posi-
BILE loss by insuring against the death
of the King. The insurance companies
are rapidly approaching the limit OF
the risk they will accept on King Ed
wards life. His expectation" accord
ing to insurance tables. is 14.1 years.
Allowance for moral hazard"-or the
chance of ination-reduces this
to ten years.
AS a public speaker, the King has
shown a complete mastery of such in
tricate and diverse subjects as art,
literature, dramatic history. military
matters. engineering. shipping, civil
institutions. the study of the Bible and
mission work, the history of Egypt, the
Irish question, the management of life
boats. collegiate education, ambulance
and first aid training, agricultural i'm
provements, live stock breeding, the
retaining of barren land, the man
agement of hospitals, the housing OF
the poor the Darwinian theory. rail-
ways and their management and mu-
steal training. All his life he has been
a good listener to the best that was
within earshot. He has always in
quired exactly what he wanted to
know. and stored up much in one Of
the most portentous memories of his
generation.
Between Jan. 1, and Sept. 1, OF last
year, Edward went to forty-three pub
lie dinners and banquets, to twenty
five garden parties and concerts, thir-
ty times to the opera and theater. to
twenty eight race meetings, eleven
times he was in attendance at the
House of Lords, and he fulfilled forty
five official and charitable engage
ments.
In his own set, his favorite topic of
conversation has been clothes. over
the fashion of a tie. the cut of a jack
ct, and even the shape of a boot, he
will grow loquacious. The way he dis
covered Poole was by the merest acct
dent. 1t was when Fechter was play
ing Robert Macaire. The adventurous
coat was apparently mass of rents
and patches, but the Kings keen eye
quickly noted that the garment was
singularly we'll cut. After the play
Fechter was sent for, and asked the
name of his tailor. The actor replied
that Mr.. Poole made the coat he wore
in the play. The tailor was sent for
the next day, and, since that time was
a made man.
The King is an expert shoemaker, a
handicraft he chose to learn when a
boy, being obliged by his royal parents
to learn some trade. He has worn
shoes OF his own make.
One of the happiest moments of the
Kings life was when he won the Derby
with Persimmon in 1896. This had long
been the ambition of his life. His rae
ing colors have always borne a spotless
repute through runs of bad luck and
good. No one in the British empire is
a better judge of a horse.
Shooting, the King places above all
other entertainments than can be Of
fered him, and his principal visits have
always been paid in the shooting sea-
SON. Yachting he understands thor
oughly. He is a keen soldier, anxious
for war office returns, and he has seen
more OF modern German army maneu-
vers than any other colonel command
ing an English regiment. An enthusi-
astic playgoer, who pays handsomely
for his box. he is easily amused at
light plays and quickly interested in
stronger forms of dramatic art.
srha Zinc a. fpuetarafa ap1okpr