Necessary Tapping

One of the first acts of gossipy and amorous Carol II, after the coup which made him King, was to order torn out the private telephone line connecting the boudoir of his mother, gossipy and amorous Dowager Queen Marie, with the night table of her favorite, Prince Barbu Stribey (TIME, June 23, 1930). Not since then has Rumania had such a telephone scandal as last week.

Abruptly the King's secret police pounced on Manager Geoffrey Ogilvie and other U. S. officials of the Societatea Anonima Romano, de Telefoane, an affiliate of I. T. & T. Hissed Minister of Interior Eugen Titeanu: "They have been wire tapping! On the premises of Mr. Ogilvie was found apparatus for wire tapping. They have listened in even upon private conversations of His Majesty!"

Amid a sensation in Parliament, the U. S. officials were accused of tapping state secrets. Ignored was the fact that most telephone operators everywhere enjoy themselves in their spare moments by listening in, which they can do on standard switchboards by the mere flick of a key. Thus many a Bucharest telephonist knows that the King calls his red-haired Jewish mistress not Magda but "Bibi," that she is putting on weight.

"I like you plump, Bibi. I hate bean-pole women. You are just the right size, dragutzo!" (petsykins).

With dignity Manager Ogilvie informed his Bucharest inquisitors that, while of course there has been no wire tapping by the company, it is necessary "for technical reasons" to listen in on most Rumanian long distance calls. Impressed, His Majesty at once ordered a special contingent of military electricians to move into the telephone plant at Bucharest and do the necessary eavesdropping in a disciplined, soldierly fashion.

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