The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-10-03
ROOSEVELT WILL NOT BE
 AN HONORARY COLONEL

entertaIns for President Roosevelt and for the people of the United States.
 Several notable instances could be cited where the grant of honorary coloncies has been a source of endless embarrassment to their recipients. Thus the late King Humbert's popularity among his subjects was gravely impaired for many years by his acceptance of a co1oneicy in the Aus trian army on the occasion of his visit with Queen Marguerite to Vienna some twenty years ago. The very name of Austria is execrated in Italy, and the idea that their king should have donned a uniform, the very aspect of which re- vived terrible memories of Austrian ty- ranny and despotism in Italy was deep ly repugnant to all of Humbert's lieges. Indeed, for several years following his visit to Vienna he was frequently subject ed to hissings and to cries of either down with" or 'to death with the Aus trian colony"
 The late King Alfonso of Spain, too. was not only hooted. but actually pelted by the mob in the streets of Paris on his arrival in the French capital for the purpose of paying a state visit, the indig- nation of the co1onelcy of a Prussian lancer regiment from old Emperor VII. liam, with whom he had been making stay.
 Of all the German troops who figured in the invasion of France in 1870 there consequently detested name than the lan- cers or uhlans, and the fact that King Alfonso should have accepted the colonelcy of regiment belonging to this particular branch of the Prussian army seemed to the British mob sort of addi- tional insult Yet neither King Alfonso nor the late King Humbert was in posi- tion to have declined the honorary CO., lonelcies offered to them without deeply affronting the sovereigns by whom the compliment was paid to them.
 While there are any number of honor ary colonels in petticoats, every Prus- sian and Russian princess of the blood be- ing the titular commander of some regi- ment or other, there Is but one feminine admiral, namely, Queen Olga of Greece who. partly on account of her love of the sea, partly by reason of her skill in hand ling a boat in all kinds of weather. but mainly on account of her kindness to Russian sailors in the great hospital which she has established at Athens, was appointed by the late Czar to the rank of honorary admiral of the Muscoyite navy.
 Talking of petticoats serves to recall the strange sdiosyncrasies CT some of the royal princes of Europe, several of whom, mentally unbalanced, carried their ec4 centrieity to such an exteny as 70 decline to wear anything but petticoats.
 Thus Prince Alexander of the Nether- lands. step-brother of the present Queen of Holland, and who after the death of poor "Citron', succeeded him as Prince of Orange and as heir apparent to the Dutch throne, not only insisted on wear ing feminine garments throughout the closing years of his life. but likewise gave explicit directions that he should be buried after his death wearing an orange-quilted petticoat garbed in which he awaits the trumpet of the recording angel on judgment Gay.
 The Saxe-Coburg great-grandfather of King Edward, who died in 1922 was pos sessed by the same species of craze, and used invariably to appear at breakfast dressed in full feminine garb, with dainty little lace cap perched on the blonde wig with which he adorned his head. He was far from good looking, and squinted horribly, so that the spectacle which he presented was ludicrous in the extreme.