Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-06-03
KING GEORGE NOT
A DRUNKARD, SAYS
ENGLISH WRITER
Gossip Concerning Habits Of
Ruler Prevalent Among All
Glasses of His
People.

ANC" ioNhb ~ -NE W 10 l.
Stead. writing to a local paper from
London, says:
King George has now been on the
throne for two weeks, and it is about
time the truth was spoken with en-
phasis in order that a mass Of lying
calumnious statements about him
should be dispelled once for all.
am not a %courtier, and am so far
from being a persona grata with the
new king the last time that he ex-
pressed an opinion about me n my
activities it was with the bluntness of
the sailor man, and with explosives
which are more familiar on the quar-
ter deck han in the palaces of kings.
/ have, therefore, no personal reason to
defend the king against those who
speak i'll Of him, but in the interests
OF truth and of justice it is necessary
to characterize as they deserve the
abominablc libels which are being fire.
uuently repeated from mouth to mouth
by the kings own subjects.
1t is pure ignorance, no doubt, which
may or may not have had some origin
in fact in the remote past, but the story
now current hat the new king is a
confirmed drunkard is neither more nor
less han an Internal lie.
Most Abstemious Monarch.
So far from the king being a drunk
ard he is nearer a teetotaler than any
.iCE who has assembled the English
throne. For years past l know, on
first hand authority, from those who
have lived in his house, dined at his
table and Travelled with him at home
and abroad, he has been one of the
most abstemious of men. He has never
claimed this as a virtue on his part.
The simple truth of the matter is
that the kings digestion is very bad.
A very little thing upsets it, and when
he suffers from indigestion his lips be-
come livid, his nose reddens and mis-
hands grow cold. These symptoms,
which are very familiar in certain
forms of indigestion, have led unthink-
ing persons to imagine that the king
was suffering from intoXication, when
in reality he had never touched either
wine or spirits.
l was told the other day by those
who know him we'll that it is nearly
two years since he touched a drop of
alcohol. About that / can say nothing.
All that ] know is that those who
know him best are the most indignant
at the persistent circulation Of stories
as to his fondness for strong drink.
Ideal Home Life of the King.
Equally false are the stories that
nave been circulated about the married
life of the king and queen. Their home
Is simply ideal from the domestic point
of view. They are both devoted to
their children, and are never so happy
as when they can shut all the world
out Of doors, devote themselves
to each other n to their children.
But of this devoted couple the most
incredible falsehOods are circulated by
people who accept them without any
malicious desire to believe them true
simply, hearing them continually re-
peated, assuming that they must be
true.
The other day two workmen stood
before buckingham palace and began
to talk of the two kings. Said one to
the other:
1T is a pity the old mans dead. He
was a good sort, was Edward"
Much better" said the other, thar
the new n who, | hear, goes to bed
drunk every night"
All" said the first, the sooner that
chap a his head taken off the bet
ter"
But even this was not so monstrous
an instance of the prevalent impression
as to the habits of the king as a letter
which / have received from a boot
maker in Plumstead. After referring
to his reasons for believing that l per-
sonally was acquainted with the habits
of King George, m correspondent con-
tinued as follows:
Prayed for the "Drunkard King"
81 thought perhaps you would kindly
tell me whether it is true, as reported
quite commonly both here in Woolwich
and PlumStead, that King George is a
drurkard, and that his home is a poor
drunkard's home. This and other things
on the same lines are current topics
here among Christians as we'll as
others. l was present at a prayer
meeting last evening, and heard a
gentleman pray for the king and Queen
aC nnnr HrIlnka r1G pfr nf which 7 fnlf
indignant"
The contrast etWeen the universal,
almost sloppy ~outpouring of alteration
which has flooded the press for the late
king n his successor and the extra
ordinary, imprinted, but almost univer-
sal impression of opinion as to the
character of George V. is a very notable
phenomenon. 1t is ar amazing fact
that three out of four that you meet
will tell you hat King George is a
drunkard, but every person who knows
him., without exception will assure you
that there is not an atom of founda-
ton for the universal calumny. Such
widespread SANDER is difficult to kill,
n when people are so convinced
about the matter as to take to praying
publicly for the conversion of 9TH
drunken king" 1t is is evident that the
aureole with which the late king has
been invested will be assumed with
some difficulty by his son and sue
ceSSor.
l deem ii my duty to do what / can
to stamp out this cruel SANDER, and l
assure the American public that there
Is not one word of truth in the story
about the drunkenness of the king. IL
he tried to drink ii would kill him, and
If he were to survive the attempt and
persist in the experiment his occupancy
of the throne would be brief. But, for
tunately, the new king has no dispos-
ition to make so fatal an experiment.