KING OF GREECE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 552, 22 March 1913, Page 5

KING OF GREECE.

ASSASSINATED.

SHOT FROM BEHIND. A MADMAN'S ACT. By Teleeranli.—Press Association.-Co pyrigM London, Wednesday. Details of the tragedy chow that the King was walking at Salonika, when he was approached from behind by two men.

At a distance of two yards one of them, a Greek degenerate named Alexander Schinaa, who is believed to be demented, fired a pistol, loaded with seven slugs, at the King.

The slugs inflicted ghastly wounds in the back of the King, and the loss of blood was so great that, despito all efforts to staunch the flow, hia Majesty bled to death, dying, according to a message from King Nicholas of Mon~ tenegro, who was also in Salonika at the time, within half-an-hour.

The army officers have sworn fealty to the now King, Constantino.

Queen Alexandra was prostrated on hearing of the death of her brother, while his Majesty the King was deeply shocked at the news. The Lord Mayor of London and the Mayor of Windsor expressed their condolences.

Lord Selborne, speaking at a meeting of the Colonial Institute, said that it was unnecessary to express what was paramount in their minds — the deepest sympathy for Que<m Alexandra in her loss.

A MODEST MONARCH.

FIFTY YEARS A KING. William Christian Alphonso George, King of the Hellenes (of the Greeks, not of Greece), sat upon his volcanic throne for fifty years, having been

elected to the monarchy on March 30th, 1863, at the age of 1(5. Ho thus ruled longer than any other living European monarch, with tho solitary exception of the Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria Hungary.

He was the son of the late Christian of Denmark, brother of Queen Alexandra, and uncle of the Czar. A STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.

King George went to Greece as a stranger and a youth after others, including an English Prince, had refused the crown from sheer dread of the passions of the most turbulent people on earth. Hi" unfortunate predecessor, King Otho, son of tho devoted phil-Hellene, King Ludwig of Bavaria, had been compelled to relinquish the throne by a rising in Athens. President Capodistrias. who had ruled the country with a hand of iron for seven years before Otho's accession, had fallen a victim of assassination.

It was a difficult task for anyone coming to a country that had been divided by internal strife, after expelling its ruler, to reign over a turbulent race as yet unused to anyhigher authority. Happily the King adapted himself to circumstances, and aided by a natural gift of foresight and keen intelligence won the respect and devotion of his subjects. He assumed for his motto, "My strength lies in the love of my people," which pleased every Greek heart. In his younger days King George was a great athlete, whose feast of strength are legendary in Athena. Even in his later years ho waß agile, and his tall, slender figure and smooth features gave him a very youthful appearance. ~ a THE NEW KING.

The new King of the Hellenes is Constantino, who has been taking an active and successful part in the war, his recent exploit in capturing Janina being the subject of enthusiastic congratulations all over Europe. He is married to the Princesa Sophia of Prussia, sister to the Kaiser, and is 45 years of age. The second son of the murdered monarch is Prince George, formerly of Crete, and physically the Anak of old-world royalty. He is married to the daughter of Roland Bonaparte, one of the proprietors of Monte Carlo. The third son, Prince Nicholas, is married to. the Grand Duchess Helen of Russia, sister of the Grand Dukes Boris and Cyril. The fourth son, Prince Andrea, is married to a daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg. Prince Christopher, is unmarried, and the only daughter of the house, the Princess Marie, is married to the Grand Duke George of Russia.

SCHINAS SEEKS NOTORIETY.

Received March 21, 5.5 p.m. London, Friday. Further particulars of tho outrage at Salonika are as follows:—Schinas, who was shabbily dressed, was waiting at the corner of a Bide street. He fired two bullets from an old fashioned revolver, resembling a horse pistol. The bullets struck the king. Schinaa

attempted to shoot Fraknoudes whose revolver missed fire. The king fell across a table outside a ehop. The Bfaopkeeper lifted him, and soldiers running UP carried the King in thoir arms to a hospital in *uo vicinity. The King was unconscious when Prince Nicholas arrived, and died in his son B arms. The body was wrapped in the Greek flag- Officers in the ovemntf oarried the body to the Palace. Prince Nicholias and high dir,nit»«B °* * ho State and church followed with howls

uuncovered. Sehinas is a notorious drunkard, half wilted degenerate, hall Gvook, half Slav. Ho recently delivered Socialistic harangues and lived by begging. He was half starved, and subsisted chiefly on milk. The examining magistrate aßkod him his reason for committing the crime, and Sehinas replied that ho had to die soon, anyway, and wmheri to die famous. WIDESPREAD SORROW. BUSINKSS-MKB MONARCH, Received this day, 10 a.m. Copenhagen, Friday. It is reported that the lato King of Greece, left 454,000,000 invostol in London, Paris and Vienna. Constantinople, Friday. The Turkish newspapers express abhorrence of the assassination of King George, and pay a warm tribute to his memory. Athens, Friday. World-wide condolences have boon received concerning the death, of the King. Parliament has decided that a national monument shall bo erected to his memory.