Eureka!

Roaring down the road from Amaroussi to Athens, throttle wide, came the motor of Greece's goat-bearded Elder Statesman Eleutherios Venizelos. Behind was a green limousine, spitting bullets. Crouched on the floor Statesman Venizelos shouted encouragement to his wife, exhortations to his chauffeur, both painfully but not seriously wounded. From the balcony of the hospital where both were taken Eleutherios Venizelos addressed a cheering crowd. "Everyone knows who is responsible!" cried he, and not a Greek in the crowd but was aware that he referred to Premier Panayoti Tsaldaris.

All this happened 17 months ago (TIME, June 19, 1933). Statesman Venizelos retired to the sanctuary of his native Crete. The Athens police swore loudly that they would seize the assailants.

They did not. As the months passed everyone in Athens heard that the gangster responsible for the attack was one Georgios Karathanasios. He continued to loaf around Athens cafes puffing a hubble-bubble and fingering a string of amber beads, boasting his immunity. Last week Statesman Venizelos' wounded chauffeur and six retired army officers, members of Statesman Venizelos' private bodyguard called the Republican Defense League, seized Gangster Karathanasios and delivered him to the highly embarrassed warden of the Athens jail.

"Eureka !" cried the Republican Defense League. Blushing fiery red Minister of the Interior Yannopulos and the Chief of Police resigned. Premier Tsaldaris promptly declared the Republican Defense League an illegal organization. Statesman Venizelos remained in Crete, smiling. He has been Premier eight times. The new-scandal of last week will help him stage another comeback.

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