Show J behind the scenes workmen smooth path for sovereigns on american trip this month white while house solves banquet problem french canadian barber prepares to tackle the royal whiskers by WILLIAM MASTERSON john Q public just puts on his hat and goes traveling aveling tr but when their majesties king george and queen elizabeth set out for a months junket to north america theres enough behind scenes bustling to shame a dozen circuses from london to vancouver from toronto to washington unseen hands have been smoothing the bumps since last autumn making certain that britaina Brit ains sovereign couple will have clear sailing from their arrival at quebec on may 15 until their departure a month later from halifax from the kings official barber to the chap who will seat guests at the white house banquet this vast army of cc stagehands stage hands will work ahead and clean up behind as the royal entourage glides gracefully on its way from coast to coast untroubled by the petty details that bother you and me when we go sightseeing sight seeing to the Britis hers canada will be not nearly so much a problem as the united states where customs defy the traditional english standards where photographers rush pell mell to shoot every visiting notable 7 V J il K ax an fn X GESTAPO ETC albert canning chief constable of scotland yard who carries an umbrella like a typical englishman will watch out for the sovereigns safety during their five day visit in the united states his system is just the th e opposite from that of the A american mer secret service british detectives tec tives will mingle with the crowd watching the king hing and queen the secret service sticks with its president and where theres apt to be a dearth of the ceremony customarily attendant upon a visit of such esteemed guests scotland yard intervenes this problem falls principally on two people chief constable albert canning of scotland yard and george head of the state departments protocol division both now immersed in plans for the visit which starts when the royal train crosses the american border at niagara falls on june 7 and ends five days later when george and elizabeth emerge once more into canadian civilization at montreal late in april mr canning arrived at washington and went into conference with the secret service concerning the 1500 mile american itinerary of the royal train his first act was to hush bush mrs franklin D roosevelt who had planned to tell reporters about the royal suite prepare prepared d in the white house with funds no other appropriation pria tion was available to provide maximum protection the royal tr train ain will follow a pilot train carrying reporters from the border to washington at all public appearances the most dangerous of which win will be new yorks inevitable ticker tape shower mr cannings men will keep guard to prevent trouble unlike american secret service agents who cling to the president and watch the crowds for danger 9 er signals scotland S yards 20 agents will mingle in the crowd itself mr canning says hes found the most successful way when in rome mr summerlins lins jobs can be roughly lumped under the heading of etiquette but they include meeting the monarchs at the border and providing official entertainment until the day they leave things like curtsying to the queen and seating arrangement at the white house banquet were sticklers klers until alan frederick lascelles the kings secretary called one day and announced noun ced we will be guests of your country and you naturally set the customs to be followed mr will see to it that secretary of state cordell hull and mrs hull meet the royal train at niagara falls he must arrange tor for a double line of marines down which the party will walk from the train shed to the waiting automobiles automobile i tor for in an ar army my band to play god save the king and for a motorcycle escort to precede the party on its triumphant ride to the white house the white houses chief behind scenes workers will be mrs henrietta nesbitt official housekeeper mrs james helm who is mrs Roosevel ts social secretary A B tolley a member of the white house staff and H C cere 4 k 1 I t OX 1 I 4 M BARBER paul emile tasse tass ev who promises not to press a shampoo or hair tonic on his royal customer will travel in the official train in recent weeks his chair in the basement shop in in the chateau laurier at ottawa has been usurped from regular clients by rubber necks eagerly stretched Aed for the hands which will shave the royal to y al face and cut the royal hair officer of mr summerlins department everyone gets a seat thanks to mr lascelles carte blanche the seating problem at the white house banquet has been solved under En glands system the president and queen elizabeth would sit at the head bead of the table with the king and mrs roosevelt buried among lesser lights at the toot foot no way to treat a king so by substitute arrangement all tour four personages will sit facing each other across the center of a long table mrs helm will make up the guest list and send it to mr who will worry several days over who sits next to whom according to custom american officials run down the line with the president first vice president second followed by ambassadors supreme court justices senators representatives and whoever else is left mrs helm must decide among other things what ambassadors justices and congress men get precedence in sitting closest the president next the list will go to mr tolley who perfects the seating arrangement by cutting out a cardboard dummy complete with miniature place cards so much tor for the banquet just another banquet the food linen and household problems surrounding a royal visit fall on mrs nesbitt who staunchly refuses to worry about the king and queen of england any more than she would about a weekend week end personal guest of mrs roosevelt Hoo sevelt mrs nesbitt plans all her meals in advance on a large chart leaving a block of space for each meal designating the hour and number of guests since she customarily handles handies several large banquets a year there were 94 at the last diplo matile clambake the mere matter of visiting royalty is nothing to get excited about only for mrs nesbitt mr Surn merlin et al this is a busier than average social summer the two world fairs are bring bringing ing enough european personages to keep the roosevelt family busy dragging out their guest silver both at washington and hyde park and the protocol division must be just as active at the latter place as at washington the king has a barber perhaps the most colorful behind scenes worker on the entire british schedule is one monsieur paul emile tasse who will be king georges official barber from quebec to vancouver and back bohall to halifax As barber in chief for the canadian national railways be has shaved everyone from prince chi chibu brother of the emperor of japan to joe doakes private citizen since the announcement that he would shave king george M tasse has received fan mail one letter addressed t to 0 the K B it which means lungs kings barber even though you wont find it in burkes peerage his shop on the royal train must X housekeeper AS the nations first housekeeper housekeep 6 mrs henrietta nesbitt must be prepared to meet any emergency that may ma y arise when king george and queen elizabeth arrive next month since the Roosevel ts are a large as well as a generous and impulsive family and since the white while house is the center of the co count rys hospitality mrs Nes bitts bites emergencies sometimes come quite frequently calling for a meal serving either three or guests accommodate all men on the official entourage therell be lots of them so ill be busy all the time the king perhaps may want to be shaved in his own room and maybe ill do some ot of the others like mr mackenzie king canadian prime minister the same way M tasse figures hell scrape the kings chin while the train is standing still because if I 1 cut the throat of a newspaper man theres always two or three to take his place which a very nice thing to say it if the king wants conversation with his morn ng shave M tasse will give it to him but not uninvited and theres another nice feature about having your own barber M tasse wont try to sell his majesty a shampoo or hair tonic western newspaper union |