Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-13
LATE GREEK KING
HARD T0PROTECT
Objected to Surveillance and
Enjoyed Giving His Guards
the Slip.
AAlTc60 llllA Tile nl0ll=
WATERS WIN THE RIGHT
TO WORK FOR NOTHING
Paris Restaurant Keepers Had
Charged Them From 81 to $3.50
a Day for Privilege.
PARIS. Anril = 1919

PARIS, April ). 1915.
The late King George of Greece was
particularly averse to being under the
surveillance of detectives, and he often
derived amusement. when travelling
abroad. in concealing his movements from
the men who We're assigned to watch and
protect him from just such attacks re-
suited in his death at the hands of an
assassin at Saloniki last month.
French detectives tell many stories of
the kings devices to elude them 1t was
MS maJestys custom to go every year to
AlX-les- Bains for the waters and the
French government always charged it,
i self with the responsibility for his safety
Inc king would from time to time seek
out the men charged with his protection
and eXpostulate on the futility of follow
ing him. The answer always was an
apology. coupled with the explanation
that the orders of superiors had to be
obeyed
One day at Aix-les-Bains King George
was walking along the road up Mount
reward when he noticed two men of the
Paris political police shadowing MIN:
Here was an opportunity to play the
sleuths trick. The king entered. lit
tie roadside wine shop. placed[1fs hat,
stick and gloves on the siuLsf an open
window, sat down at a table just out of
sight of the window, and ordered glass
of beer. In a few moments he slipped
quietly out back-door pulled ou; of his
pocket cap to take the place of the hat
he had left~behind. climbed a fence and
got away unnOticed.i
r Chatting With Woodchoppers.
take and began at once search for the
froi hoy lii,
later talking to some woodchoppers on
the high cost of living.
The tragic death of King George has
brought out many other "reminiscences of
this democratic monarch. Another is
centered in photograph which shows
the king climbing over the seats of
railroad passenger car in an endeavor
to catch a canary bird fluttering against
the roof.
The scene. took place in the express
from Paris to Frankfort. An old lady
was travelling in company with her pet
open. and the bird escaped The king,
travelling incognito, was in the next COM
partment. Hearing the clamors of the
old lady, he came in and after long
chass-s,scceeded IN capturing the fugitive
bird and restoring it to it's delighted
owner. In the meantime some one took
a snapshot of his majesty.
The little incident is characteristic of
the unaffected kindness and courtesy of
the late king.
Walters Need Not Buy Jobs.
Paris restaurant keepers have discon-
tinued the custom of charging walters
from 81 to $50 day for the privilege
of serving their customers: henceforward
walters may wait for nothing SO far
as the owner iS concerned. and keep all
TIL:
siderable Increase in pay, and walters
today are about their business with
cheerful faces.
The walters fight for the right to wait
for nothing. however. has been long
one and bitterly fought. 1t took several
years of agitation to bring success. the
owners captivating only when convinced
they were beaten.
Another concession gained by the men
is the right to eat their lunch elsewhere
than on the premises. Now a waiter need
no longer eat the food he sees prepared
in the kitchen and served for the house;
he can go home. or to another restaurant,
for his lunches and dinners.
Decrease in tuberculosis.
Lecturihg before the Lyceum Club of
France, Prof. Metchnikoff declared that
tuberculosis was decrea sing, and had been
doing SO steadily. for the last forty years.
This satisfactory state of affairs was
particularly noticeable in London, Bos-
ton. Copenhagen and Hamburg the pro-
fessOr said, In the last-named city the
number of cases has dropped from
~ to 13 per 10000 inhabitants in eleven
years. NJ. Metchnikoff believes that the
unconscious absorption OF attenuated
virus has a great deal to do with the
immunity noticed among persons living
In constant contact with centers of in
lection. Tuberculosis will probably dis
appear. he said. in the same way as
leprosy. which has long ceased to be con-
tagious. That day, however is a long
to be done by scientists In the laboratory
and physicians in the sick room.
Place Not a Sinecure.
The post of permanent secretary of the
French Academy, to which M. Etienne
Lamy has just been elected, is by no
means a sinecure.
1t is the duty of the secretary to or
ganiZe and supervise the work of the va
rious committees, which every. year dis
tribute between $4,000 and SIS GOO in
literary prizes: to allot something over
$4,000 year as rewards for meritorious
actions; to seek out and offer suitable as
sistance to authors whose work may be
deserving of encouragement, and to de-
wise means of helping numerous hidden
talented sufferers, whose pride forbids
them to make their hardships known to
the world.
One of the permanent secretary's hard
est tasks is to read the very considerable
number of books which are submitted
every year in the various literary compe-
ttions fathered by the academy.