Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1902-09-24

nitaries of the old world TO the ex.
tent that they pronounce him out
OF balance mentally.
No doubt that ALI. Is a some.
what alecky lad whose head has
been swelled a couple Of sizes by
his elevation to the kingship, but
there is no evidence that we can
discover that he is ready for the
bughouse.
The first evidence cited to show
that AlphOnsO is off in the upper
story Is the report that he has de.
cided that he does not want to
marry any European princess.
He says that what he wants is to
hunt up the daughter Of a South
American millionaire and marry
her. The boy gives two reasons
for wanting to do this which
seems to us to show that instead
Of being of his mental trolley he
is really shrewd for one of his age.
He says first that he wants to in
trOduce some new blood into the
royal family, and in the second
place that he wants to secure a.
few millions to dump into the
Spanish treasury. Both reasons
are good. The good Lord knows,
If reports are to be credited, that
there is need Of some new and
healthy blood among the royalty
of the old world and especially in
the royal house at Madrid. Any
change of blood there would help
it some. In the second place the
Spanish treasury certainly needs
the money. ALI. is right about
that. Some South American ma
bob who has a lot Of cash would
no doubt be glad to put up fifteen
OF twenty million for the purpose
Of being the father. in.law of a
king. We wouldn't envy him his
sOn-in law, but then we have some
prejudice against the Spanish ga
lOots, anyway.
The second incident cited to
show that AlphOnsO's headpiece
is not running regular is that Of
his visit to a place where certain
sacred relics are kept. Here the
cardinal or abbot, or whoever had
the thing in charge, showed ALI.
what he claimed to be a toe nail
of Saint Peter. He also showed
him a lock of hair of Saint Paul.
The young king was not wrapped
in religious awe when he saw the
toe nail and the scalp lock as the
abbot had expected. On the con
trary, he asked the e~cclesiastic
what he was giving him, and if
the said ecclesiastic really believed
in that sort of nonsense, for his
(AlphOnsO's) part, he didn't.
The abbot was greatly shocked to
hear such opinions from the king
of Spain. He was the first person
who had ever dared to doubt that
the nail had ever been attached to
the toe of Peter, or that the lock
Of hair was one that had been
saved from the head Of Paul.
There is q ira tition that Paul was
a baldheaded old bachelor who
hadn't enough hair on his head to
make a pillow for a chipmunk,
but that tradition had never
shaken the faith OF the ecclesiastics
in that lock Of hair. The fact that
there is no recorded evidence that
Peter ever shed his toe nails had
never caused a wave Of doubt to
roll across the peaceful breasts OF
the keepers Of that sacred nail.
The abbot was shocked; of course
he was shocked. From a inan-
cial standpoint this break Of the
young king was a bad thing for
the keepers of these sacred relics.
For centuries pilgrims have been
visiting that monastery and pay
ing an admission fee for the privi-
lege of gazing on the only remain
ing toe nail Of Saint Peter and the
hirsute adOrnment Of Saint Paul.
They went away satisfied that
they had seen the real thing and
the priests we're also satisfied, for
they had the pilgrims coin. Now
that the king Of Spain, however,
has expressed the opinion that
the relics are humbugs, pilgrims
are liable to begin to doubt and re-
fuse to cough up the price Of adj
mission.
The next incident cited to show
that AlphOnsO is mentally unbal-
anced, was his conduct when he
Was forced to stand like an auto
matOn for several hours ct some
sort Of q reception, while the fun
merry Of such occasions was gone
through with. ALI. announced
that the thing made him tired and