King Of Greece Murdered At Salonika; Slayer Mad; Political Results Feared.

New York Times 100 years ago today, March 19, 1913:
Shot While Walking in Captured City — Dies in Half an Hour.
THE ASSASSIN IS A GREEK
Said to be a Socialist — Declares After Arrest He Is Against Governments.
QUEEN ALEXANDRA STRICKEN
Collapses on Being Told by Princess Victoria of the Death of Her Favorite Brother.
KING IGNORED WARNINGS
With Full Confidence in His People, He Walked About with Only One Attendant.
KILLED WHILE VERY HAPPY
His Last Words Were of Delight at the Success of the Greek Arms In the Balkan War.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
Dispatch to The London Times.
    SALONIKA. March 18.— The King of the Hellenes was shot while walking in the principal street of Salonika, at about 5:15 o'clock this afternoon. Half an hour later his Majesty was dead.
    Since his triumphal entry into Salonika the King had been accustomed to take an afternoon walk, either to the famous White Tower or to the cavalry barracks.
    The King's confidence in the people was so great that he went about freely attended by a single equerry. The dangers of this habit were apparent to his entourage, who repeatedly but without avail requested his Majesty to permit the presence of civil guards.
    A few days ago four gendarmes were ordered to follow the King, but their presence was considered so objectionable by his Majesty and so out of keeping with that affection which he felt for his subjects, old and new, that the number was reduced to two, who followed at a long distance.
    With Col. Frankoulis, he was returning to-day after a walk to the White Tower. He was in a happy, contented mood, and as he walked along talked of the war, of the success of the Greek arms, of the capture of Yanina and Salonika, and of this fitting climax to his fifty years' reign.

The King's Last Words.
    "To-morrow," continued the King, "when I pay my formal visit to the dreadnought Goeben, it is the fact that a German battleship is to honor a Greek King here in Salonika that will fill me with happiness and contentment."
    These proved the monarch's last words, for at that moment a shot rang out from behind.
    Col. Frankoulis sprang around and seized the hand of the assassin, which was already pointed at him. Covering his royal master with his body he grabbed the assailant by the throat and held him fast until passing soldiers ran to his aid, but the first shot had found its mark, for King George had already sunk to the earth.
    His Majesty was placed in a carriage, his head resting on his arm. He continued to breathe a short time, but before a hospital was reached life was extinct.
    The bullet, fired at a distance of two paces, had entered the King's back below the shoulder blade and made its exit from the stomach. There was a great hemorrhage, the jeweled cross which the King always wore being smothered with blood.
    The assassin is Aleko Schinas, a Greek of feeble intellect, who states that he was driven to desperation by sickness and want. The crime, therefore, was without motive.
    As the tidings spread, groups of grief-stricken people gathered at street corners and conversed in muffled accents. The troops were recalled to barracks, the shops and cafés were closed, the tramways were stopped, lights extinguished, and Salonika to-night has a dead and deserted appearance that fittingly expresses the sorrow at the loss of a ruler who in so short a time had made himself beloved by one and all.
    As I write, this church bells are tolling and the shrill call of the Last Post echoes along the deserted street.

Died Before Reaching Hospital.
    SALONIKA, March 18.— King George was assassinated while walking in the streets. The assassin was a Greek of low mental type, who gave his name as Aleko Schinas. He shot the King through the heart.
    The King was accompanied only by an aid-de-camp, Lieut. Col. Francoulis. The assassin came suddenly at him and fired one shot from a seven-chambered revolver.
    The King fell into the arms of his aid. Two soldiers ran up on hearing the firing and helped to support him.
    The tragedy caused intense excitement. Schinas was seized immediately and overpowered.
    The wounded King was lifted into a carriage and taken to the Papation Hospital. He was still breathing, but died within half an hour.
    Prince Nicholas, the King's third son, and other officers hurried to the hospital. Arriving first, Prince Nicholas summoned the officers, and, speaking in a voice choked with sobs, said:
    "It is my deep grief to have to announce to you the death of our beloved King, and to invite you to swear fidelity to your new sovereign, King Constantine."
    The officers responded by shouting:
    "Long live the King!"
    Prince Nicholas is the only member of the royal family in Salonika.
    The Greek Governor at once issued a proclamation announcing that the oath of fealty had been taken.
    Crown Prince Constantine, who succeeds King George, is at Yanina, recently captured by the Greeks. He will, it is expected, come here with all possible speed.
    The assassin of the King is an evil-looking fellow, about 40 years of age. On being arrested he refused to explain his motive for the crime. He declared that his name was Aleko Schinas, and, in reply to an officer who asked him whether he had no pity for his country, announced that he was against Governments.
    Schinas maintained a perfectly impassable demeanor, his manner suggesting that he is not responsible for his actions.
    Notwithstanding the rapidity with which the King received attention, he was found to be dead on his arrival at the hospital.
    Precautions were at once taken throughout the city, and perfect order is being maintained.
    King George, who had taken personal command of his troops during the earlier period of the war, had been here since December, when the Turkish fortress was occupied by the Greeks after a short siege.
    Queen Olga has also been here and has paid great attention to the care of the sick and wounded.
    King George in December had a meeting here with King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, at which, it is supposed, they discussed the fate of the captured Turkish territory after the war.