HIS PERSONALITY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 111, 3 February 1908, Page 7

HIS PERSONALITY.

QUITE AN, ADMIRABLE CRICHTON. i PISTOL AND PALETTE; Various writers > have contributed to tlio j small talk about King Carlos, especially during .the last few months, when the constitutional crisis has attracted a moro thanMisual share of "the fierce light" to the Throiio.. of Portugal. " Gossip," observes one chron-\ icier, "has been busy of late over'.the . ac-1 tion of King Carlos of Portugal m dissolving his Parliament and taking the Govermnciit moro or less into his own hands;. but his Majesty's popularity will stand him in trood stead, and certain sinister rumours r of his. relinquishing thc throne are likely to prove quite 'groundless, iow reigning sovereigns aro more versatile than Ki»g Carlos,) for besides being an all-round . sportsman, he is aiv artist of 110 mean skill, possesses' a fine singing . voice, is a keen - student of Shakespeare, a scientist of , exceptional abilities, , and. the author of sevoral works on marine..exploration and deep-1 sea soundings. He is also a good billiard j nlnycr; • is ; fond of bridgfe.and could givoj uianv Englishmen points at la\ra tennis. From another soured it is learned thati Kiiiix Carlos was " devoted to fishing, shootiiig^and,Yachting, and. th ? j has*, gained while cruising around,tho Portugueso and Spanish coasts;has enabled lnm to write-, more tliau one important work oft. marinescicncc.? . '' '

A Splendid Shot. . : '] But it is as''an'unerring shot that 110 V is most by sportsmen, and his prow- 1 ess with the gun is indeed remarkable. Ho can shoot "as well'with his left-hand as with , his right, and ho; has established tion'as a shooter of fish, for ho delights in.) standing by the water's-siaa. until theJsM come to the surfaco, and then firing rapidly? at them beforo they.havo timo to disappear.. , , . Pio-Don shooting', however, socms to bo his • favourite sport, and, owing to his initiative,, Lisbon - has. becomo famous as a pigeon-Shoot- j ins centre. ' v ■ ' v :i -' " His skill witli ;shot-gun, , rifle, or revolver ] is such that- it would 'tako- a. very good man, indeed to beat him. He gave a wonderful J enhibition of his skill, in this respect some., three years ago in Pans, at a mooting of the | Le Pistollet Shooting Society, when hehit sixteen dolls at a; range of fifty yards v tli ) ti revolver, and carried off the Gast 110llonctto meda| by. putting no fewer than twelve bullets into the body of a rabbit.. The following day he'scored. 33' points out of apossible 36 with; the pistol, and with the sporting rifle'scored a Jlozen hits within the ; third - circle of a small moving target, five of •. which were bull's-eyes.'.' . , A Peculiar Prejudice. ; The King had one strange peculiarity which is not generally known. Ho,had v footed objection to drinking more than: onco out of the same,vessel,-and during a royal banquet tho servants had their worlt cut' out; in keeping .with ■ a sufficient lumber of' clean glasses. , His Majesty had more than a slight tendency to embonpoint. , and it is said that Queen Amelie-who, by , Y .,v is a fully-qualified doctor of medicine—bad tried all sorts of remedies to reducetho weight of her Koyal husband. .; ; King Carlos failed to stnko a writer in the "Irish Times", as being the; . sort of. Monarch to go in for .coups do otat. >Not . only is he oxtromciy stout m build and of an ea'koing, p'casuro-loving deposition, but ho smokes from morning till;, night.. He affects chars of the largest size, lights one of them before ho goes to his bath, and keeps up tho succession until lio goes to bed. Or course, a great smoker may alscrbo a determmed statesman; for is it not to Id of. Bismarck thai he once vmoked the-whole , way from Panu. • to Berlin, .lighting each now weed from ths stump of its prcdecessoi. i i: ,

In the Bull, Ring. l ono timo ho was . shooting wild boars, when lie' suddenly camo: face to. face with a savage wolf, and, without a moment s liosi- • tation, dispatched; it • w.th his gun. But Sablv the'advehturo which most endeared, Eim to "the excitement-loving PortnguMO oc-, cilrred before his accession to the ■ throne As tho Dulio' of Bragaim, lie once entered' flfn rina at a bull-flglit, and confronted a, bull with its boms unpadded. - It' was; said |; that ho did this becausc one' of.-the Court ~ ladies had dared him-to;., but, however this mav be, the Duke had a close shave, for he > slipped and fell. and. only just succeeded il : escaping from the ring, before the enraged. lovo of sport- has sometimes "i.„ded him «> dangerous .corners, but his nluck has : always coroo to his aid, and,, up i to tho prosent; ho has escaped any serious ininrv On ono" occasion, when ho was out J huntuig, bis horse!got the bit between .its tooth-and bolted, and it seemed to the -affrichted- onlookers-that ,an accident was A inevitable. With marvellous, presence of mind, however, the King roso m his stirrups and the galloping animal a tremendous ' iilow between' tho ears with Ins clonchcd fist, which had tho effect of stopping it m its nid careor. Whon tho attendants hurried to their sovereign's sido, lie quietly ordered . thorn to say nothing about tho mattor to the,: Oucen, and, mounting another horse, went ou with tho sport as if nothing whatever had happened." "... . .

What impressed Him Most. His 'Majesty was said to bo extremely fond of everything English, and the following story has boon told in this connection.; During one of his visits,to England King Carlos was asked what.had impressed him most during his stay. "Well," was tho reply, "I think that English roast boef-is very delightful.'.', When pressed to say what ho' most admired

after that, he- thought . for a moment;- and then said, laughingly,. "Well, English boiled beef 13 .iilso>dolightful.V : 'A compliment-. to- , John Bull's cooking which perhaps few foreigners would echo. : .i, : ' <