No Cause for Alarm--It’s Only the Royal Ambiance

King Hassan II’s state visit to Britain is off to a hot start. Smoke alarms sent staff at the exclusive Grand Hotel in Brighton, England, rushing to the King of Morocco’s rooms, only to find that the culprit was incense being burned during a royal feast. The false alarm was not the only out-of-the-ordinary aspect of the trip. The feast was prepared by six of Hassan’s own chefs, part of his 180-member entourage. He travels with a small divan with an electronic rocking device, 50 crates of personal possessions and 50 boxes of official papers. The king seemed satisfied with his accommodations--three floors of the luxury hotel. “It looks lovely up there,” he said. “Shelves are filled with flowers and sweets. It really is fit for a king.” After a night in the hotel, Hassan took a train up to London and arrived right on time at Victoria Station to be greeted by Queen Elizabeth II and members of her family, including Princess Diana and the Duchess of York. The punctuality pleased British officials, who said that Hassan kept the queen waiting for two hours in the desert when she visited his North African nation in 1980.

--It’s just like clockwork. Twenty-four times a day for the last year or two, the clock in the Schley County Courthouse in Ellaville, Ga., has struck 13. City Councilman Clarence Way, a computer businessman who tries to keep the clock running, says it is nearly worn out and parts are no longer available. The clock was installed as a wind-up model in 1901 and converted to electricity in the 1930s, Way said. It was recently stilled for a time, but was restarted when residents complained that they missed its odd chiming.

--For all those adults who are convinced that teen-agers are a bunch of animals, the Utica, N.Y., Zoo has the perfect exhibit--the Homosapien Juvenilus Americanus. Michele Stofle, the zoo’s public relations director, says the new exhibit was inspired by a traveling Modern Man display, which featured a man in a business office. The Utica exhibit of the teen-age animal, commonly found in shopping malls and rock concerts, features such things as wrinkled clothes, a Duran Duran poster, a TV and a telephone. Ten teen-agers take turns being on display in a former lion cage for two-hour stints. Zookeepers feed them burgers, french fries, pizza, soda, candy and ice cream.