New-York tribune., 1921-03-06
MOnOcle i'm Demand
Since Restoration
Of King Constantine
Eyeglass Is Re.
garded as the Hallmark
of Return of 'sTino''
TO Throne of Greece

LONDON, Feb. 26.--Trade in Athens
has been profoundly depressed by King
Constantine's restoration. SO that some
merchants waver between tears and
suicide, says Sir Percival Phillips, the
London Daily Express special corre-
spondent at Athens, but there is an
unprecedented demand for monocles.
81 am assured by one who knows his
Athens thoroughly that the single eye
glass may be regarded as the hallmark
of the restoration" says Sir Percival.
at is rimless, and worn without a cord.
The gilded youth of the capital have
been practicing in private, with trial
performances in public, and on the
whole their progress has been fair, al
though apparently painful.
"The boom in mOnocles seems to date
from the arrival of two princes who
came from Lucerne to test the rebuilt
what tempestuous journey up from
Piraus. hoisted on the shoulders of
their admirers. Christopher was blue
with cold, and Andrews collar and tie
were askew. Both looked uncomfort-
able, but their monocles rode out the
storm. Young Athens was impressed;
visiting America forgot to jeer. One
American correspondent cabled
monocle story to his agency at urgent
rates.
"a mild demand for single glasses
was apparent in the optical trade be-
fore the Weekend BY Plebiscite Sun
day the market was strong with an
upward tendency. AS the drachma
went down more monOcles went up. The
man with the wrong -kind-offace who
made futile attempts TO coax coy bit
OF plain glass into place was perhaps
the most miserable individual in
Athens. Excepting. Of course, bankers
and tinanciers, who watched the rock
ing Boursc without need for artificial
aids tt the sight
at appears that the monocle did not
flourish greatly under the austere 2ule
Of NJ. Venizelos. Here and there an
undaunted royalist faced his enemies
with a CLASSY stare, but mostly the
9dherents OF q cause (then) lost
eschewed the more frivolous appur-
tenances of social life. Pince-nez for
the really afflicted were the chief
stock~]n-trade of local opticians
Ihe real test of proficiency seems to
be tango tea, where the wearer goes
through late afternoons dance pro-
gram without foul. One afternoon |
bet heavily on q youth at the Russia
lea Rooms IN University Street; he
danced and drank and kissed hands and
danced again without a flicker of his
monocled eye. But in moment of alb
sent mindedness he forgot it, and the
internal thing fell into his tea cup.
The other man stared at him in the
usual blank way-some of them do it
very well-and | regret to say the
women laughed. 1t was an embarrass-
sng moment, but he persevered, and
will yet make a success of it.
"l have only seen one woman with q
monocle. The princesses, Of course, do
not wear them. The lorgnetto habit,
however, has many victims in court
circles. You should see a Constantine
ist lady turn her batteries on Veni-
zelist lady across the lounge of the
smart hotel. The effect is devastating
Athens looks forward to a gay court
season. The monocle is only a symp-
tom Of the ultra-smartness which s ex-
pected TO mark the restoration hear
of new motor cars being ordered by
the new-rich, and there are representa-
tlves of Paris dressmakers here, taking
all the orders they can fill. Royalist
society is practicing its genuflections
before the returned exile-none so low.
however, as that of the diminished
drachma"