Bottle Battle

U. S. diplomacy in Nazi-networked Bulgaria last week was hardly on the sleek side. The U. S. Minister to Bulgaria is husky, 220-lb. George Howard Earle. A deceptively sleepy-looking native of Philadelphia's archconservative "Main Line," in 1932 he shocked his background by loudly turning New Dealer, shocked it further in 1935 by becoming the New Deal's liberal Governor of Pennsylvania.

The independent, assertive Minister to Bulgaria is very fond of night life, and one night last week he went to a cafe in Bulgaria's capital, Sofia. The conditions of World War II have often reminded the Minister of World War I, when he was a U. S. Navy lieutenant and got the Navy Cross for risking his life to save the crew of his burning submarine chaser. In the Sofia cafe last week the Minister felt reminiscent and asked the band to play Tipperary. It did so, and many people sang with the Minister. But there were also hisses, and a sabre-scarred German in civilian clothes protested to the Minister that the song was anti-German. The Minister replied that he liked the song, that Bulgaria was neutral, and that he would comport himself as he pleased. Thereupon the German threw a champagne bottle at the Minister who, in warding it off, got a six-inch bruise in his forearm. The Minister promptly socked the German in the face, knocking him down. It was the Minister's third personal cafe tangle with the Axis since taking this job.

Later the Minister stated: "I . . . retaliated by injuring his features. The incident was regrettable, but I saw no other course."

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