Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-07
'ST0|cAt ,LOND0NtRS
Good andBad News Received
Without Emotion.
ILLNESS OF THE KING
CAME AS A INNING BLOW TO
ENGLAND.
Pecuniary Loss Resulting More Talked
OF Than the Chances for
Recovery.
ILLNESS OF THE KING
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

pSSh AiioiC unexpected llldll lHe ppotpOiC-
ment of the coronation. If the sky had
fallen it would hardly have caused greater
wonder. No one believed. at first. the grim
news. because it seemed impossible that
any doctors. being sane, would let things
go so far, let the king come within two
days of the eliminating point in his career,
let preparations that cost so much money
go forward. let hotels fill and thousands
come to town for the great sight. 1t seemed
too much for belief that with every sign of
readiness about that the chief actor must
be absent and. not dead. Only death was
believed to be able to stop a coronation.
1t has been freely stated many times re-
Gently that only the death of the king
could interfere with the state function The
death of the queen or the Prince of Wales
would shear the occasion of much--of its
festivfty. but even such events would not
stop the act of corona ton. once fixed.
The Phlegmatic Londoner.
But while he doubted, anu, when con-
WINGED of the sad fact, wondered yet the
true Londoner. who is without visible feel
ings. only said. what pity" The Lon
doner is of a phiegmatic nature: he may
feel grief. but nothing can make him show
1t; perhaps he cannot. He goes about his
business quietly, Is not fustered, wastes no
time in useless mourning. but calmly ac-
cepts the fact. takes off his festal coat and
turns to his work again. The wheels of
life must go on and the great cltys wheels
must turn every day, though kings and
queens die or have their Illnesses unto
death.
The British are FOND of INVITING Ameri-
sans about dollars and the eternal thought
Of money, but it is characteristic of the
Englishmen that as soon he had time
to turn over the thought of the kings H.
ness In his mind his next thought was about
the enormous sums that would be lost by
spectators in stands to view the process
SionS, caterers, railways, hotels and the
like. Side by side with columns telling
of the kings condition, his operation and
his chances weres equal columns in the
first days papers endeavorng to calculate
the losses of money over the disappoint-
ment and while the columns about the king
have dwindled dayfby day the money and
disappointment columns have grown. This
is only atura1. of course, and 1 only allude
to it because our cousins like to charge us
with this sort of thing.
Stolid in Disappointment.
However, that is not what I started to
say-that is only diversion, by the way.
l must say again that one can feel moth
ing but admiration for the manner in which
this nation takes its disappointments, and it
has hac enough during the past three years.
The war brought >fearful news at first,
and the days were very dark, yet the people
only grit their teeth and waited. The queen
died and now the king is i'll and the func-
ton of his life postponed, perhaps aban-
doned. and yet the people show the same
pluck and strength of mind of their king,
who would have gone through torment to
spare the public and himself the blow that
has fallen.
They take good and bad news in nearly
the same way. / have seen London a great
moments in all moods. | have seen its
quiet grief when the Duke Of Clarence died;
81 ef ,.f1fn IN, h
Africa, at the passing of Queen Victoria
and at the dead queens progress through
her capital; at festal moments. such as the
diamond jubilee, the weddings OF the Prince
of Wales and Princess Maud, and at the
coming of the news of peace. and always
deep feeling has been hidden behind IN
emotional CO.ntenance.
The Present Situation.
/ cannot remember, however. seeing such
a oneness of feeling, such common sorrow
touching the same chord in each heart of
the millions of mighty and multitudinous
London as al present. The kings pluck and
his evident intention of going through with
the thing is what most people are talking
about. This touches them. and on all sides
you hear praise of Edward VII as man
after the heart of the people. 1t even soft
ems the disappoint ment and makes the use
Iessly bedecked town less of mockery.
London is thinning. The royal guests
have left or are going back home. They
came with fanfareS of welcome only few
days ago. but are now leaving with little
or no public notice. No troops. no bands,
just quietly melting away. So with the
crowds All the trains, north. west, south.
that poured thousands into town are crowd
mood
Troops that were II line the streets and
walks in procession have marched through
the streets today to railway stations and go
ha n their The w3r-Staiped
Grams from South Africa who were hurried
here post haste to take their humble part
in the coronation festivities have been de-
tanned at Southampton
Holidays have been Cancelled and "busi-
ness as usual" is the universal sign in shop
windows. The great markets are choked
with food stuffs. returned by restaurants
because there is no use for them. Caterers
have been inundated with kilograms cam
ceiling champagne luncheons and so on,
Never was such mix up, and never has
there been probably such feast of litiga-
ton as surely will crop up over this ahan-
doned event.
Gutter merchants selling panoramas of
the procession lat a penny each today are
glad to throw in a tin coronation chair and
an ostrich feather to get rid Of them. Pho
| tographs of the king, however, sell readily.
Hundreds of buttons with his likeness on
them, made in America, are selling I'D and
down the Strand.
Indecison yesterday characterized the
mental attitude of those who had put I'D
stands to view the procession, but TODAY
demolition has begun in earnest, and on all
sides the axs1is masy tearing down expen-
sive stands that only ten days ago the ham
mer was active in-erecting. In the abbey
the heart-brea king, york Of dismantling has
been vigorously begun at the bidding OF
the earl marshal, and all the rich draperies
and hangingaI1an carpets have been taken
down and rolled up preparatory to being
stored away Until II is known whether they
will be required oeinot. The abbey will, Of
course. not BE- opened for public worship
until handed back to the dean and chan
ter, but the Very Fact that it is NECESSARY
to strip the building is by no means reas
sur!ng. IT, 10
What It All Means.
1t means fiat, Anyway. the coronation
cannot take place for some time at least.
There are MANY Who believe that 1t will
never take place. Probably. If 1t does, the
ceremony will be quietly performed, and
certainly London Will not spread itself
again as before. nor will the event be one Of
such universal festivity. These things can
| not be made ready lived The heart has
gone out of the affair. Superstitious people
who see fate in every untoward circum-
stance view with misgiving the fact that it
was on June 25 1880, that George " died.
and that on the 23th Of June, 1885. Queen
Victoria was crowned. the function being