The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-07-18
His Lordshlp Is Charged With Being
Responsible for Making tho Cor
onatlon Appear as
a Frost.
LIKE HERD1NG CATTLE
Chilly Receptions to New King and
Queen Not Wholly Due to the
Arrangements Made,
However.

0-NooN' july lS.-hing George OF
england, used to be great admirer
Oh Lord Kitchener. They say he isn't
any more. They say Queen Mary isn't
either
HIS lordship incurred the royal dis
pleasure by being too thorough. He
was entrusted with the policing ar
rangements for coronation day and he
did. Or rather, overdid, his work so
emciently that he spoiled the whole
thing. II any coronation was ever a
worst frost than King Georges and
queen Marys, it isn't recorded in his
tory Current gossip has it that
their majesties blame Lord Kitchener
for it.
His lordship thought there was 60
Ing to be a terrific crush of people to
see the coronation procession. The
arrangements he made for handling 1t
We're suggestive of St. Petersburg.
HIS lordship's idea of handling
crowd seems to be about the same as
the idea he probably has of handling
cattle. The one thing he failed to
take into consideration was that the
King and queen wanted an enormous
enthusiastic throng to welcome them.
lhey were anxious to give an impress
sion OF tremendous popularity. Lord
kitchener's preparations were a mar
vel OF completeness. They were also
absolutely remorseless. ooh, WE'LL"
said the people, eff we're going to be
subjected to this kind of thing, we
won't come. And they didn't. The
coronation pageant was fizzle.
1t was all the more a fizzle on &C
count Of those preparations of Lord
kitcheners. If it hadn't been for
them, the king and queen might have
said they hadn't looked for much of
turnout, anyway. With $4,000 SOL
diers and 10000 policemen on hand to
keep order. however, with store win
ooWs boarded up to prevent the
crowds pressure from crushing them
IN and with scores of streets guarded
by barricades which 1t would have
taken artillery to batter down there
couldn't be any mistake about what
was expected. The contrast between
the ovation their majesties had evil
IDENTITY been looking for and the. one
they didn't get, was perfectly ridicu-
lous. In fact, it was almost pathetic.
There wasn't a sidewalk anywhere
along the line of march where people
couldn't move about comfortably all
the time the procession was passing.
Ihere We're not many places where
late arrivals couldn't get front places
on the curb by doing little pushing.
Store windows weren't in any danger.
The massive gates across the streets
lntersecting the professional route
nobody to bar out
So far as enthusiasm was concerned
it was good thing a "claaue" had
been provided in advance. For even.
with the "claque" the cheering was
very moderate
Lord Kitchener was undoubtedly
partly responsible for the failure of
the coronation day show, but not
wholly Their majesties have met
with chilly receptions SO uniformly
whenever they have appeared in pub
lie since the kings accession to the
throne as to remove any question that
they lack personal popularity. George
is too colorless an individual to arouse
enthusiasm in his subjects breasts.
Perhaps unjustly Mary is very widely
and actively disliked. 1t is also a
certainty that the institution of king
ship is falling into disrepute in Eng
land. Republican sentiment is I'M
doubtedly growing among the British,
as is disposition to sheer at such
pagentry as that of coronation day
as a survival of out-worn customs at
which 1t is ridiculous for grown men
of the twentieth century to continue
| playing.
From the royalist standpoint, how.
ever, 1t Is naturally pleasanter to con
slider that, If Lord Kitchener's meth
DDS had been less drastic, all would
have been we'll.