Show 1 w a kin peter s hard lot special correspondence of peter king ol 01 bervia it Is impossible to say much beyond that he Is lineally descended from a parricide that his father was convicted by the supreme court of hungary of having instigated the brutal assassination in 1868 of milan s uncle and predecessor on the throne of servia and that he was educated at the military college at st cyr in france uneasy lies the head that wears a crown Is particularly applicable to the ruler of servia and it Is indeed questionable whether he would not rather be peter the private gentleman than king peter since the day of his arrival in bel grade to mount to the throne of the murdered alexander he has been beset by intrigue surrounded by spies and the very center of a boiling cal dron of political scandal he becomes more and more convinced dally that he made a mistake when he gave up the life of a private gentleman for that of monarch of such a state servia where he enjoys few of the privileges and dignities of kingship where he reigns without governing and where his life Is so unsafe that the insurance companies ask an absolutely prohibitive premium for a policy upon it he Is systematically snubbed by most of the other rulers of europe and by none so markedly as by great britain which has absolutely refused to have any diplomatic relations with servia since the brutal tragedies of last he receives by every post a variety of disturbing predictions as to what Is likely to happen to him and therefore deems it wisest to have a fire escape attached to his bedroom win dow and several guards who how ever he cannot trust about his per son the king s appearance of medium height gray hair bushy eyebrows piercing gray ees slight military figure gay disposition he car ries his 68 years well in uniform and specially on horseback he looks ev ery inch the soldier that he Is A graduate of st cyr he went from there to the military staff college whence as a lieutenant he joined the famous foreign legion which became attached to the army corps during the franco german war and became notorious for its hard fighting and daredevil dare devil military tactics he Is a great sportsman being especially fond of riding and shooting even in a country of good shots he carried off many prizes with rifle and revolver at the numerous shooting compete alons held every year he Is also a collector of curiosities and of ancient arms of which he has a rarely able collection princess zorka of montenegro the late wife of tie king was a hand some woman whose portraits show her to have resembled her mother princess allena queen of montenegro and her sister elena the present queen of italy his three children helene born tn 1884 george in 1887 and alexan der in 1888 were educated in geneva after receiving a thorough ground ing there the two boys were sent to military schools at st petersburg to quality for the russian army prin cess helene Is remarkable for her great beauty and she and both the boys are great favorites with the czar and czarina and were often invited to the royal palace on festive oc A personal friend of king peter bays of him he is extremely up only by one aide de camp at 7 he returns and Is shaved at 8 he be agias gias his dally work first of all he receives his private secretary who has to submit to the kin his letters and other mall matter next the chief of police of belgrade makes his report to his majesty and that official has to inform the king of all occurrences of importance or interest within the allm its of the city of belgrade and he gen brally has a full portfolio then comes the first aide de camp who also acts as court marshal and finally the chief of the royal house hold the latter has to submit a dally account of all the money expended on account of the civil list the king checks every item most minutely and at his suggestion bookkeeping by dou ble entry has been introduced in the royal household at 10 clock the king Is generally visited by his friend colonel the marquis de hose with whom he discusses private affairs the marquis was his schoolmate at st cyr and his comrade in the war against ger many and since the colonel has re servian peasants tired from the french service he has been almost constantly with peter means to govern wisely after this visit the king receives his ministers and other persons who have requested an audience or he reads the newspapers nearly all those published in the servian language and some german and french jour nals he insists upon the entire pa pers being shown to him and Is not satisfied with mere clippings at 12 30 lunch Is served for the king a meal in which the marquis de rose and two of the officers of the household participate this meal Is a most simple affair and consists mainly of servian and french dishes the king drinks nothing but mineral water on account of an old internal malady which however is now grad bally disappearing at 1 clock he retires to his vate rooms where he remains until 3 clock when he again receives his pravate secretary and disposes of his correspondence before dinner his majesty sometimes takes another arve around the city pinner Is served at 7 clock and seldom occupies more than one hour after that the king Is usually mccu ald with literature he reads most ly books on military or financial subjects in industrial matters too he right and open in all his dealings he hides nothing and if anything he is outspoken to a fault his ideas are very liberal and he has a determined character the serviano ians will have as their king an honorable disinterested man willing to do all in his power tor the welfare of his not of royal blood like alexander the last fated holder of the title king peter is only royal by position not by blood and the same may be observed of his sons of whom one has taken the title of prince the sons will b able to boast though that they have right royal cousins the children of montenegrin aunts who have married into old reign ing families and when young george now an heir apparent is old enough to marry an attempt will doubtless be made to secure u princess tor him who will at least be a serene high ness by birth the private life of peter I 1 hus hard ly undergone any change since his ao cession to the throne lives as simple and democratic a life as did the exiled Karageorge at geneva he observes court etiquette so long as it does not conflict with his demo cratic convictions he rises evera morning at 5 clock and takes a drive around the neigh boyhood of belgrade accompanied shows a lively interest and does hi best to induce foreign capitalists tc invest money in servia king peter I 1 Is generally regarded as a good natured and energetic man ot strong ruling capacity and aamir able tenacity it will readily be seen that he combines all the essential qualities of a good monarch but his people are not what he could wish them to be and they will yet provide him with many a difficult problem tc solve |