French make Hero Of Mulai Hafid.

New York Times 100 years ago today, August 25, 1912:
Ex-Sultan of Morocco Is the Centre of Daily Attraction at Vichy.
DOINGS CAUSE AMUSEMENT
Frightened in a Tunnel, Wonders at Women's Dress, Very Polite In Answering Letters.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
    PARIS, Aug. 24.— Mulai Hafid, the ex-Sultan of Morocco, is the hero of the moment here. The atrocities which were committed in his name and which attracted the attention of the world appear to be entirely forgotten, and long tales of his doings and sayings at Vichy, where he is taking the cure, receive the place of honor in the dally press.
    One of the most terrifying sensations of Hafid's life is said to have been his passage through the long tunnel in the train journey from Marseilles to Vichy. While in the tunnel the ex-Sultan remained huddled in a corner, muttering texts from the Koran and clutching a talisman in one hand and dagger in the other. Afterward he said that he would even sooner fly in an aeroplane than brave another tunnel.
    Every morning he takes the waters regularly, surrounded by an inquisitive crowd and attended by Dr. Verdon, his Australian physician, who lived in Morocco for fifteen years and wears a magnificent purple robe of office.
    At the hotel where the ex-Sultan is staying he insists on taking his meals in the general dining room, where he gazes curiously at the toilettes of the ladies round him.
    French women, in fact, afford Mulai Hafid a good deal of material for reflection. Their enormous hats particularly puzzle him.
    "Their hair," he said a day or two ago, "is too pretty for them to hide it under those big affairs, which even mask their charming faces most of the time. They ought to wear no hats, or very small ones. How is it that here only men wear small hats?"
    Every day he receives hundreds of letters from all parts of France, asking help of various kinds or autographs. All these the ex-Sultan insists on having answered, and he carefully signs all desired autographs.
    Among his mail yesterday was a small bouquet bearing the label, "From the midinettes of Montmartre."
    After it had been explained to the ex-Sultan what a "midinette" was he announced his intention of thanking them in person during the incognito trip to Paris which he intends to make soon.