New Britain Herald Newspaper, March 13, 1918, Page 7

NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1918, [l "IJ] A ] traveler on the difficult road of roy- | alty. l: NS “1 was his most loyal subject,” said King Alfonso: and very gracefully said on the part of his Catholic Majesty PUPULAR MflNARfH I have had other talks with his M-;- sty in the same and other surround- L4 4 ings—among them in those of the ltoval Palace in Madrid, perhaps the most magnificent of the inhabited houses of kings. There the setting is %0 claborate that one could hardly be surprised to find the man being a little ‘King of Spain Democratic Ruler, Despite Exalted Position | vt v 12 ok cxmerionce. When: S PoenrR B from hand to hand, Jne tr: along the great chamber | unde glowing canopy of Tiepolo, it w friendly and unaffect- cd graciousness that waited for one and the way to the little ante- where chairs and cigarettes substituted for inclinations and formalitics. By dwelling on what he < in common with yvou, and seem- ing to i the rest, he throws a light bridge across whatever gulfs of race or tate separate him; ) makes it for one whose knowledge of him limited mine to form some upintance with the mind and that lie heneath the smiling New York, March tollow- . same ing interview with the King of the special arran made avail Spain Lon- | led Filson Young for | | room, | “don Daily Mail is, b ment with that paper, tfor members of The A ated Press: | The first time | saw the King of || ain he was running up the steps of Ritz Hotel in London, and the to whem 1 paying remarkec Sritten by vere (raining, may was from my | you Pos- | sinle |« Alfonso taini aod old [is as not wd it moment e Wi characte but (he surface. enough the atti e first thing that strikes one in sympatheti g Alfonso, apart from the fact that indu voung man of exeremely agree- the nners, is a certain modesty of but which T imagine is unusual in t hr rchs. Tt is true he is the and n of Spain: but you feel also that he regards that position as furnishing nhim with the means of his life’s work, rather than as heing itself the end; that he values it much less for the of its privileges than of its op- > | portunitic Tn every serious word he wvs vou realize his own sense that besides being king he is a human be- ing, in a position of great responsibil- ity toward other human beings; that his lot is cast in a difficult time, 1n { which all true men are called upon to exert their whole strength and pull their whole weight. old, ikt ¢ that particularly 1 faithi od words wholiy tow 113 boyish men- iand vas coming t that onough t 'd he for nd anc otege of King him of Miramar. me the honor audicnce. ime I was palacr 1o T ¢ " 1we me in private first touch of autumn was on the mnd (it t be conf the g s of but the ay the ros ed) the palac trden and bright on the shell-iike T very windows of the vacht Giralda we iy mshin ot of - the mooring € the room where T| waited t bu picturc-—an enlarged photc It of a little boy on a her Yittle hoy sitting firm and up- rght in his saddle, turned | to look vith an exp , of “These are not easy times in which be a Kking,” he said to me; ‘“one has to know great deal more and work a great deal harder than in any other time. And if you fall, your fail- ure means a great deal more. I may not be good enough for the post.” he idded, “but anyhow I mean to try my best I quote his remark because T believe it represents no mere affectation, but a genuine sense of his responsibilities and the difficulty of discharging them aright. Tt is not that he has an obsession as to the greatness of his position: Tather that he has arrived at the conclusion along with most men > and spirit that it is none too task to fulfill one’s whole ob- ligations in any walk of life, and that {the complications of constitutional sovereignty ar xactly things that on you straight in ssion of Keyed- though might lie I reg meet before the boldness, as destinies thought, pict , that some must have heen at wo Hile © that the windows of those ey ind the wor cabby came back the sense that umid the ent of roval state. I was about ) familiar friend first, on being ushered into that sense forsook m man who came forward | a touch of formality to grect 1 denizen of the torical rat han the actual and the arched eyebrows, long Hap. burg chin. and the dividedsmoustache, sa la Philip V., under th@ Bng Bour- hon nose produced a strangely fo gn impression which it fow | extract of the eas anxiou whatever Wi, I wrded 0d influences k moulding the out through smiling fearless the London mind and gave forcign coun- nneus ind looked of ne in a mary en- to meet with Just at presence youn with just ) Yoa meemed to His conversation is. T think, less an expression of his own mind than a and angling exploration into the mind of the person he is talking to. He wants to know things, you feel: to inform himself, to fish out and the note of truth from that changing tune of voices, all modulated to onc more or 1 deferential key, with which it is the royal lot to be surrounded. And his methods are vecy clever. He has a trick of starting a subject by suddenly expressing a view, obably rather a startling view, and possibly not at all his own view. in to hear what vou have to say, much more interested if you gree with him than if you agree: and I am sure he takes a sly pleasure in the embarrassments of those who desire, but are afraid, to disagree with him. And he successful in his method. At the end of a conversation he will probably know much more about you than you know about him. But there shines through his inter- cour certainly as I have found it, a certain clear preference for the truth. even though it may not be agreeable, which courtiers are perhaps not very quick to gratify. It is diffi- cuit for an ordinary person, to whom the sources of information on things zene are open and who ap- hes them by the common access, the difference between his views of them and that of a monarch, to whom they are always interpreted in the light of his own position. The he his her world; search took a ess of the mod- er and the well-modulated of the quiet voice to dispel. few moments. faded, and the little boy nd the ith enjoving M hecame so re out the Velasquez the If in Lond T tald him It was obvious that it repr orde the kind of feeling the !¢ fportsman in him would wish to in- dis spire: and the wide, slow smile Wis f ked of London 1ingla specially King 1d » spoke with an af- ion and that were ve touching to a glishman. The love of life that endeared Kdward to his world found a ready echo in the voung he Don Alfonso Ic was my professor,’ the Loy who had never found in the English king on horse = hims sented just spread over and of ward » fec he said, and know a father orldly of the supplement to the lov- ing, though stricter, infiuences of his n circle. He told me of a dozen ways in which King ward, by show- ing a ready sympathy with youthful high spirits, could hold them back from follies of excesses by a single word or hint, and at the same time win the heart of his voung fellow- REMOVAL NOTICE ---CHIROPRACTOR’S OFFICE--- Rooms 16 an 17 Booth’s ail lar patients and of this wonderful work. law to use medicines inter- not necessary in many of and Stiffness in any part of ditions of cither long or short stand- relie wnd resul Come with < and we will talk it over consuitation . A. VOLZ, Chiropracto Hours 9 to 12 m., & to 6 p. m, Evenings, 7 to § p. m Britain, Conn. wisdom I'rom now oiiice Block, where 1 many new ones Chiropr: nally or cxter the following on mv will wiii be pleased to the Lenefits allov.ed Lamenes: painful be o need are not and I Dy that it is Sorencss and co Office Monday, Tuesday, Rooms 16 and 17 2—Tenement Brick House, South Main Street—10 Rooms— $4,000—Cash $500. This is a Bargain. Don’t Wait. enenient-—-With Store on First Floor—8 Rooms on 2nd FPloor—Price $4,000-—Cash $500—Store Suitable for Any Business. Cottage—8 Rooms—Hawley Street—Price $3,750—Cash $500. T w u’fl[]nn[][ BROKER INSURANCE—REAL ESTATE. very minds of men are as difficult for him to know as the streets of his own capital. Both are self-conscious in his presence; they are turned, as it were, to him, and present the aspect which they deem suitable. He secs every- thing in full face, and nothing in pro file. He hardly ever overhears or overlooks; what he hears is spoken to him, what he sces is prepared for him to look at. The King of Spain i perfectly aware of this royal disadvantage, and does what he can to overcome it, partly by seeing as many different kinds of peo- ple he can and partly by the exer- cise of his own very considerable telligence. It is his character, more- over, to be sympathetic; and this, too, | haws its pitfalls, for in atters outside his immediate knowledge he is readily open to persuasion. Perbaps too open, for he secms sometimes to be infiu- enced by views and ideas the b and origin of which cannot be r congenial to his own candid mind. is the weakness of graceful natures, and in Don Alfonso there is an essen- | tial grace of character outwardly matched by {he gracefulness of an at- titude and movement which is re markable even in a country where gracefulne: is a masculine Tather than a feminine attribute. Whether one would say that he is more open to persuasion than to conviction—and the voice of the latest persuader seems to have most influence with him—I say “seems’ because whether this sus- ceptibility to influence is based, in the case of the king, on real weakness or strength, I do not pretend to know. The young tree swings and sways to the winds, but only the storm can prove the depth of its roots or the strength of their anchorage in the soil. It is possible, indeed, that in some things he is too modest. Where his own instinct or judgment would be a true guide to him, he seems at times to act on the advice of those whom he possibly feels to be better informed than himself, and beside whose judg- ment he perhaps deems his own to be insecurely founded. The fear of act- ing indiscreetly is always being in- stilled in the mind of the occupant of a throne; but King Alfonso is in a unique position in which he can do more to influence his country by his own character and example than any other among the diminishing number of constitutional monarchs. We talked about this one day, and he was remarkably frank and clear- minded about it. He loves his Spain— there is no doubt about that. More than once in our talks he has said: ‘“Remember, T am a Spaniard fir: a Spanish soldier next, and a King"— or a pro-this or anti-that—"after- ward.” His first anxiety is to do wisely and rightly for Spain; how to do it and wherein wisdom consists is naturally clear. The army is what best in Spain. Military has been his special study, and role of soldier he takes himself very seriously, indeed. But the mil- lions in his country are necessarily cut off from him personally; between their lives and his life, their difficul- ties and his difficulties, is interposed a peculiar system of government, over which, in fact, ncither they nor he have much actual control; although I like to think that the crowds of poor people who loaf all day in the sun in the very shadow of the palace walls, who bring their meals there and play in- their games there, symbolize an in- timacy that exists in the heart, even if it finds no other outward impres- sion, Don Alfonso has this attribute of kingship; that in more than one re- spect he is in advance of his people. In his attitude toward sport, for ex- ample, he comes nearer to the English ideal than possibly any other Span- iard. He has little use for the kind of sport that consists in looking on at bull-fights and betting on pelota matches. He loves the active role. In polo his is a courageous, dashing, hard-riding, and rather rough game, variegated by a streak of stunt shots. In polo, as in motor driving, it is the danger and the pace that he Joves. He is one of the best partridge shots living and an implacable killer. Here, also, it is the pace that he loves and the danger—in this case to the par- tridge. I once said to him that the real danger to a king in his position lay not in the poor people who had not enough to eat, not in the strikers against economic injustice, but in the idle young men of the upper classes who do nothing, sacrifice nothing, cre- ate nothing for the good of their coun- try. “I quite agree with you,"” he said, and proved it by telling me of some of his schemes for training and in- ducing this idle class to take some real part in the work of the country. HYs influence on them can only be for good; but it is an appalling task, even for a king to undertake almost single- handed-—the reformation of a whole class. But here, also, whether he suc- ceeds or not, it will not be for lack of courageous effort. Of course, we talked of the war; but here he asked questions more than expressed opinions, and I can honest- ly say that on no occasion did he say anything as to where his private sympathies lay. But I am entitled to my own opinion, and it was of a na- ture to make me like, and not dislike, telling him about the war as I have seen it by sea and land. His courage is perhaps the noblest and most conspicuous thing about King Alfonso. It is courage of the very finest temper. 1 spoke of the voung tree swaying in the winds, un- tried as yvet by the tempest. Really, I have no doubt as to the result of the trial. Courage like his can bend almost infinitely, but it can also stand firm as a well-rooted tree in the storm. And the storm is coming. When or how, from what direction, I am wise enough not to predict. I can only say that in Spain are ail the elements, ripe and over-ripe, for & ®ommotion of the first magnitude. Yt is often threatened: I have sén him in one moment when it seemed imminent, and found him ready to meet it with | the smiling gravity, the calm but alert ' courage, that has visualized the worst that can happen and finds it neither | territying nor unbearable. When the trial does come, whether it takes the form of violent crisis ar the long-drawn agony of the birth of a new Spain, it will find King Al-‘ FIRST STEEL SHIP LAUNCHED IN SOUTH built | Mexican Petroleum corporation a shown launched at Violet, La. Ott the launching. Tt is [\‘csscls of similar type are being built essel of 3,000 tons, | The launching of the first steel ship labama-New Orleags | was a gala occasion and many per company for the |cons of prominence attended. first stecl ship cver of Newport News is The south here just after the Mexoil, a built by the Transportation his true hour, his supreme oppo: unity. At any rate, to hope so is t vish him well in the highest and bes fonso ready and resourceful. He is not afraid of the coming storm. Per- haps—who knows?-—he may find in i We Are Splendidly Ready With the Season’s Most Attractive Spring Styles In Ladies’ and Misses’ Apparel Yesterday we picked the first wild violets, and saw, on the branch of a tree, our first robin—surely these are signs of spring’s return! But we have still more pronounced evidence in our store where the first ““Spring Flowers of Fashion’" are on exhibition. It is a worthy collection of stun- ningly beautiful apparel, and we invite every lady to view it this week. 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