September 29, 1953
FROM THE BRITISH TO THE AMERICANS: London, 28 – According to official diplomatic circles this evening, Great Britain is to either limit or abolish altogether its 44-year-old naval mission in Greece, in order to open the way for a broader American monitoring of the Greek navy. At the same time, it has decided to leave eight anti-torpedo boats at the service of the Greek government. (…) The issue is already the subject of talks in Athens between the First Lord of the Admiralty James Thomas and top echelons of the Greek Defense Ministry. The American military authorities in Athens have advised the Greeks to call for an end to the activities of the British naval mission. The Greeks already appear to be under the impression that the removal of the British naval mission will result in an increase in American aid. GARGANAS’S ELECTION: A by-election in the prefecture of Evros (…) has been won once more by the ruling Greek Rally party, with the election of its candidate Christos Garganas. The Rally party won 48.08 percent of the vote against 50.43 percent in 1952, when only men were entitled to vote. COUNTERFEIT SOVEREIGN: Volos, 23 – C.P., a grocer from Skiathos, was stopped by a stranger who pretended to have found a gold sovereign on the ground in front of him. The trickster sold him the sovereign for 150,000 drachmas as his share of the «find.» The unfortunate grocer found out too late that the coin was a gilded shilling, worth about 4,000 drachmas.
