Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-12
.F|BST MINISTER FROM GREECE
Mr.. CoRoMILAs TELLS OF HIS
STUDY OF ENGLISH.
Notes With Surprise the. Scarcity OF
Marble Buildings in This
Country.

The first resident minister from Greece
to the United States arrived In Washing
ton this morning and Is at the Airing
ton. This addition to the diplomatic corps
is L. A. Coromilas, who was consul gen.
eral at Saloniki until King George Sc
lected him for the American mission.
Mr.. Coromilas received a reporter from
The Star this morning, and at first seemed
surprised that his arrival should be .
subject of interest to the readers OF a
newspaper, but he finally said that he had
been prepa red to find America so big and
so unusual that nothing would astound
him.
The new minister is a man of distin-
guished appearance with gray hair. beard
and long mustaches brushed out in the
fashion of the Germans. He appears to
De little more than fifty years of age.
AS he puffed a cigarette in a huge
clouded amber holder, he said: II can,
OF course, say nothing In my official ca
pacity until have been presented to your
President, but as an individual can say
that ! am very glad of this opportunity
to visit America, of which l have heard
much from my friends, and read more.
l am great adrnirer Of English and
American literature, and you may notice
that my English is that of books, since I
nave read 1t more than have spoken II.
When / determined to learn English de-
cided that, to begin with. a grammar in
the old Ollendorffian way would not be
interesting enough, SO / started to read
Mark Twain with a dictionary, and after
him l read kipling. That was my intro
duction to English
Mr.; Goromilas' English is precise and
scholarly, accurate in pronunciation. but
bookish. as he said: but he is confident
that If he persists in his determination
TO avoid conversing In French or Ger
man his English Will become diplomatic.
a ~ lnH Nnk 1,trx,& l. a.
from the University of Tuebingen, Ger
many. and studied in Paris at the school
o. political science.
The lack of mant marble buildings in
America struck him forcibly. When it
was suggested that perhaps ma rabIe did
not Weathe-" well in this climate, he said
polished.
The old Greeks" he continued. used
encaustic as a preservative on their
statues and buildings, and that prac-
tice should be continued. Wax was
spread upon the surface of the marble
ana rubbed over with hot iron. caus-
Ing the composition to enter the stone
10 that is due the peculiar sottness.
statues"
Two ENJOYS. at least. have come to
this country from Greece before Mr..
Coromlias. but they came on special
missions. and were never ministers res
ident.. These were Mr.. Rangabe and
Mr.. Gennadis. the latter of whom was
sent by Greece in 1888 or 1889
Mr.. Coromilas would say nothing of
any special reason that had influenced
Greece to establish q ministry here at
this time, but from certain remarks 1t
may be conjectured that 1t is n recog-
milton of the mission which this coun-
try has SO long maintained in Greece,
wherH, Mr.. Coromilas said the repre-
sentatives of the United States have al
ways been held in honor and friend-
ship.
The new minister is a bachelor. and
| has not: yet decided where he will es.
tablish his legation