The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1868-09-30

| "Look at that fool" said he "What cour
age! Run and see what motive he has for 81
exposing his life" ea
The aid-de-eamp learned lee the particular
and retgrAss. -
"SiFe, Re ia peasant Who has bet he woult
cross the Aeva for twenty-five roubles and il
trying to gain the reward" p9G
"Give him twenty-five lashes." replied Nj
cholas 90 man who risks his life in thi
miserabl e way would be capable Of anything
for money.
| ORIGIN OF THE GREAT NICHOLAS RAILaQAp
To desperate caprice of the same kind il
due the construction of the railroad from st
Petersburg to MosaoY, called the Nicholas
railroad. The emperor had ia his coprta Ger.
| tain general, Kleinmichel, disagreeable per
son, exceedingly unpqgYlar, and Of equivocal
fidelity, bnt who pleaasgsaa BY Ais raticcnce and
promRtHsss in eYaeHting ordars When tbs
road was decided upon by council Of minis
ters, and its erection considered urgent, amaI
Of B ussia was brought to the pgar who was
asked to look over the course designated by
the difercgt engineers and give his preference
Nicholas without saying word, took the map,
marked straight line from Moscow to St.
Petersburg and said tR the stupe6ed engineerrgg
s'This is the line of the railroad.
"But," they all cried, impossible. Your
majesty will find no one to undertake such a
work. Il would be TO hide treasures in des-
ert." l8l a-6,aa, ssssiasi1ps is.
"No one undertake it when I command it
to be daqe r said Niehelas. eve shall SEE. =
This is a n ew railroad propose construct
ing in my empire" - ssi5's - .7s'i' '~'
"Sire, it is magnificent r sslisa is-sss'
"You think so! VIII yaa charge yoHF.elf,
then. with the execution Of my orde RS {" ...,;
aWith the greatest pleasure, sir, if your
Majesty orders it, But the funds, the funds 2
Don't be troubled about them. Ask for
all the money yon want. aaaae 9as
And turning to the enginsaFs; s
f. "You see" said Nicholas to them, II can
get along without you. will build my own
railroad" 60
rs And the construction Of this road lasted ten
years. It did not deviate an inch from the
line marked out by the imperial finger; and
lerving on one side, at about the distance Of
ten leagues, the Villages # Aoygored, liver
ant, it traversed in the midst IF marshes and
woods, nothing but mIlm!renae s9lltRdes seven
hundred and sig Kilometres of iron rail cost
Russia, four hundred million francs-a little
more than half a million kilometre with
the dsgqta4 KlenmIfiisehhel, hHt Fbbst as matter
ever, was right in saying nothing could resist
him.
ApLDNEss OF TIE POET poUcHK1NE.
Ina few instances the Gear tolerated q
degree of frankness in the speech of those a
round him him. Menschikoff who commands
at Sebastopol, was alwas privileged CHAR
acter.- Sometimes, but rarely, others ap-.
preached tho Emperor familiarity. The eel
ebrated poet, Pouehkine, for example, dared
to express himself in his presence with a
frankness which even in accidental Europe
and in a constitutional state, would pass for
audicity. In the RalaSa IF the Hermitage,
Why're ebay wsTe walking togeathsr, the Emp
err had led the poet iuto gallery Of pictures
that contained the portraits Of all the Roma
noas, from Michel Fedoroyiteh tn fha last
reigning sovereign, AND had pgYaerad hin him to
improvise some verses on EACH.
Ppuehkine obcyed but coming to the porr-
trait Of Nicholas Re was s siilleaHt
"Well, Pouchkiae,' saia the Emperor,
what have you to say Of me? es 4
ssSire!'' esaf y kL eAfs '4
"some Aattery, Of course? 1 dept wish
to heart hear i; e tel the as, truth ,,
Il order you. Believe in my Imperial
word you shall not suffer-
$50 be it, SIRE
And lie wrote tho famous distich:
From feet to head the picture is admirable:
From hoad to feet the Gar is dstestable.
The Emperor made no reply, but he asked
Pouchkine for na more verses
CONTRAST OF CHARACTER.
With brutality unworthy sovereign and
at times delicacy astonishing in man Of
such character, the most contrary qualities
and defects reproduced themselves ina hun
dred acts of his. For instance, one night
/ saw him fstcuff poor Jew in the face, and
accompany the act with the most sonorous
oaths, because, in giving lights to the postil
lions of the Berlin imperial, he had awakened
him with start, by throwing the light Of his
where he Went to isssye IL Kiqs Of
and the Emperor = Of Austria, he toek Francis
Joseph into his arms to force him to occupy
the seat of honor in his osrriage, which the
yonng emperor was, unwilling to accept; q.
courtesy, according to the Cosssaak, that would
have exactly suited him. '7I's% sis ''
Yet this man, SO rude and naughty, evi-
denced occasionally great delicacy Of senti-
ment. One very cold day, returning from
Stopped At IL House ola lady whom 5e knew
to Be- il i'll health, and met the aoetoar! in the
waiting groom. y
"How is madsme--?" said he to the latter.
Every poorly, sire. The cold Of St. Peters
burg is killing her" s,.-.
aAh the cold is ii,njjuriinagg her Feel Feel my
hands. They are frozen, arc they net e
avery cold, sire" IS .isl - %. = si1- Z
"Weh, I will wait here until they are
warm; would not fe9Fl II the world increase her
maady." g.e es.i ,.g
And the emperor waited in this sort St an
ante chamber, talking to the doctor: until his
hands resumed their natural warmth.
Stran re character Curious mixtures of