In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 92, 15 October 1927, Page 31

In the Public Eye

King Boris of Bulgaria. Tho marriage of Europe's bachelor kings and princes is always a matter of .public interest after the havoc played by the war among royal families. There is only one thing short in the announcement that King Boris of Bulgaria in his recent European tour has met his match and succumbed to the Allurements of prospective wedlock, and that is: Who is the lady? The publication of the name of the future Queen of Bulgaria is left for the win-

ter, though no reason is stated for this peculiar precaution. King Boris himself has been a bachelor as long as the Prince of Wales, which is unusually long for a member of a reigning family, where it is customary, as in the case of the Duke of York, to marry at least in one's twenties, if not in one's 'teens. The young King of Bulgaria was born at Sofia on 30th January, 1894, so he is nearing his 34th birthday. That he has not been married long ago is really a matter of money. His father, the late King Ferdinand, was and is a very wealthy man, but.he took care, with the caution of his race, to invest most of the royal funds in other countries, and when he abdicated the throne and left the country* he left his son and successor very poor indeed for a king. In fact, Boris was long supposed to be looking to America for an heiress to exchange her millions of dollars for a crown. Boris himself is a man of considerable charm and the possession of wit, courage, and individuality. Ho served as major in the Balkan War of 1912, bat during the World War was kept well under his father's wing on account of his known predisposition towards the Allies and his opposition to tho Central Powers against his father's choice. Following the abdication of Ferdinand on 4th October, 1918, he was proclaimed Boris HI., King of the Bulgarians. After his accession he lived as a constitutional monarch at the Palaces of Sofia, Vrania Eurinograde, and Sitnyakovo. He displayed great courage oh several occasions during his stormy earlier years when Stambulovski, the Premier, was murdered, and the Communists rose and later in the explosion which wrecked the Cathedral at Sofia. He is a great linguist, speaking fluent Bulgarian, French; Italian, and German, with an acquaintance with English, Albanian, Russian, and Turkish; He is a naturalist of merit, being specially fond of botany, and he is a born engineer with a gift for invention. He has travelled in Asia Minor, along the Mediterranean Coast) in North Africa, and the Canary Islands,, as well as recently over Europe.

Senor Don Enrique.Balmaeeda. The fact that Don; Enrique Balmaeeda, son of President Jose ManuelBalmaceda, should be Premier of the first Cabinet; organised by the new Government of Chile has a special political, and historical significance. His

appointment is characteristic of the spirit and aspirations cherished by the country in order to free the Government from political anarchy, administrative disorganisation, and finr ancial chaos which have long absorbed the rul-

ing power in phile. For it ia in the revolution which in 1891 overthrew the Government of President Balmaeeda, and _ in: the exaggerated and disintegrating, parliamentarism which then ensued, that the origin of the extraordinary . situation through which Chile has passed in recent years must be sought. Whatever judgment history 'may pass upon these happenings, it is an undeniable fact that Parliament opposed President Balmaceda's programme of deruocratie reform and imposed the will of Congress, tending to nullify the authority of the Executive, and admit more each day of the disturbing influence of party politics into the administrative sphere. There has accordingly been a constant division of political groups, an instability of government, frequent changes of Ministry necessary to satisfy Parliamentary cliques, and considerable disorganisation of public Departments. A new Fundamental Charter has now been proclaimed by popular vote, however, and in this the authority ot the Executive has been re-established, the independence of Congress has become assured, and the powers which had, as an effect of the revolution of 1891, been denied to the President, have been restored to him. Don Enrique Balmaeeda, the new Premier, with steady faith in historical justice and unflinching loyalty to the traditions and principles which led to his father's sacrifice, has gained political distinction as a man of independent character and incorruptible honour. There is little doubt but that there is real historical importance in the circumstance that Don Balmaeeda figures as Premier in the first Ministry formed to carry on the work of national reconstruction, which the country has entrusted to the new Government under the, Presidency of Senor Ibanez. . ;

Count Yon Luekner, r , ' , Recently, it -vraa announced that Count Felix Yon Luekner, tne daring German raider- of the (Jreat-War, was on his way out'to 4New Zealand and the South Seas. His exploits during the war are well known, and his is one of

the most picturesque figures th>t have emerged from the naval op c rations of that period. His adventurous and hazardous voyage in the auxiliary Bhip Seeadler, :or in English, . Sea Eagle, from Bremerhaven, through the cordon of

British war vessels patrolling the sea to the. north of. Scotland, his successful exploits against British and Allied vessels, in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, his adventures and eventual capture in the Western Pacific, and his sensational escape from Motuihl, an island in Auckland Harbour, form an epic of the sea outrivalling the famous Alabama raids during the American Civil War. The ship which he so successfully commanded sank many British and Allied ships carrying cargo of great intrinsic value in ordinary times, but it's loss during the war period was incalculable from the point of view of food requirements and for manufacturing purposes. Leaving Bremerhaven on 21st December, 1916, the Seeadler slipped through the blockade line disguised as a Norwegian schooner laden with timber. Armed with two 4in guns and manned by sixty-eight men, she then cruised off the coast of South America, where she sunk at least eleven British ships, and then rounding Cape Horn disappeared into the Pacific. It was not long before she got equally busy in these waters,

and several British ships were quickly sunk and their crews transferred to the Seeadler. The vessel had now been cruising for many months, and the members of her crew were getting worn out with constant anxiety, while the vessel herself was sluggish owing to a barnacle-covered bottom. Captain Yon Luckner therefore decided to seek out an island where he could careen his vessel and cleaa her up, giving his men a month or two ashore as well. He selected Mopiha, a small island in. the Society Group, but a tidal wave drovo her ashore and the vessel's back was broken. Now without a ship, Captain Yon Luekner and his crew managed to capture. two small vessels, and _et off in them looking for further adventure, but they were eventually captured at Wakaya and brought to New Zealand on the Talune. Escaping from Motuihi, Captain. Voa Luekner and his men captured the scow Moa, but were recaptured by the cable steamer Iris and returned to* New Zealand, where they remained closely watched until, in company with many other prisoners, they were returned to Germany on the Willoehra.

Sir John Monash. During the present week the cable news has contained a deal of discussion about the merits and demerits of English and Australian soldiers, the result of the publication of what was thought to be an authentic history of certain I

incidents which happened during the occupation of Gallipoli. Sir John Monash, who commanded the Australians during the Great War, was quick to speak .out in defence of • the men he commanded, and in doing

so made_ certain charges- against British soldiers, which have been just as loudly denied. Sir John Monash, the soldier, was a signally successful leader and organiser of men, and left his mark on the history of the Great War. His interests have always tended to the serious business of life, and have immersed him in ceaseless activity. He is essentially a man of action. From 1884 to the close of the war he allied himself heart and soul with the defence system of Australia, and followed it through all stages until in 1914 Sir lan Hamilton found him in. command of an infantry brigade in a camp of compulsory training at Lilydale. Professionally his chief interest in the years immediately preceding the war was in the development of the use of reinforced concrete, and it was his proud boast that it was an accepted method of building construction .in Australia befor it was similarly established in Great Britain or the United States. Sir John has been nicknamed the "Godfather of the Tank," and it was largely due to his steadfast encouragement of what was in those days largely an experiment that the mechanised arm has since become an integral part of the British Army. He was born at Melbourne, and had • a-brilliant scholastic career. He graduated in arts, engineering, and law, and later became assistant engineer-to the Melbourne Harbour Trust, as well as indulging in private practice. In 1901 he won a gold medal for military writings in the Commonwealth Military Journal, and at the outbreak of the Great War Sir John was appointed Chief Censor for Australia, but this he found far too tame an occupation when great things were happening, so that it was not long before he was taking active part "in things military. He commanded the Fourth Infantry Brigade of the Australian Imperial Force at the landing on Gallipoli, and remained in charge until the evacuation. The following year he " attained the rank of major-general, then commanding the Third Australian Division, and in 1918 he was appointed to supreme command of the A.I.F. Among his great military undertakings were his work in the Battle of Messines, the Third Battle of .Ypres, and .the defence of Amiens. He received numerol* war honours, including the American Distinguished Service Medal, and was decorated twice by France and Belgium in addition to his British honours. :

The Earl of Onslow. The present Earl of Onslow was only twelve years old when his father took over the Governorship of New Zealand in 1888, remaining here for four years. The title is an old one, the family claiming descent-from Roger, Lord of

Ondeslowe, in the liberty olShrewsfcury in the thirteenth century. In those far-away days the title was that of knighthood, which was raised to a barony in 1716, when Sir Richard Onslow was Speaker of the House of Commons, and

later stiii uiianctjiior of tbe Exchequer. He was the uncle of Arthur Onslow, the famous Speaker, whose only son George became the fourth Baron Onslow. He had entered Parliament in 1754, ana was very active in the House of Commons. In addition to this he was Comptroller and then Treasurer of' the Kbyal Household, and was present at the marriage of the Prince of Wales, afterwards George TV., with Mrs. Fitzherbert in 1785. In 1801 he was created Viscount Cranley and first Earl of Onslow,- dying in 1814 at his beautiful Surrey residence. The second earl was his son Thomas, whose son Arthur <seorge, the third earl, died without surviving, male issue in 1870, and was succeeded by his grand-nephew, William ■ Hillier,' 1 who- eighteen years afterwards became Governor of New Zealand. The present earl, whose memories of Hew Zealand are of the scantiest, as he was only sixteen years old when the family "returned to England, has had a brilliant career in the fields of diplomacy, war, and public life. In the course of his service throughout the Great War he was' appointed Assistant-Director of Staff Dnties with'the British'Expeditionary 1 Force, and was three times mentioned in dispatches. He represented the King at the funeral of the Crown Prince of ■ Sweden in 1920;,and'was the British delegate at the Arms Traffic Conference at Geneva a couple of years ago. His diplomatic career has included service at Madrid, where .he was in 1910, and afterwards at Tangier, Petrograd, and Berlin. Immediately prior to the war he occnpied a post at the Foreign Office, and since then his public duties have included the office of Civil Lord of the Admiralty (1920----21), Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture, and Minister of Health (1921), chairman of the Board of Education (1923), and TJnder-Secre- ; taTy of War (1924), a post which he still occupies.