The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1874-01-26
Alexis on America.

VIZ AAAAe@AN ~
The st. Petersburg correspondent Of
the Baltic Gazette has seen advance.
aheets Of the irst volume Of the Grand
Duka Alexis's account Of his voyage
round the world. The frstyolume is
exclusively devoted to . description Of
the Grand Dukes adventures in the
United States. The aforementioned
correspondent writes rs follows about
IL. aiin' alg ,f'rft p apcl ifai
"This is certainly very curious
work. To Judge from what I have read
Of It whether his imperial highness
wrote II himself, or whether an ADLER
pen did 1t for him-the book is. in
iensely interesting. The Grand Duke
says that his reception in New York al.
most stupeHed him. Up to the last
moment he had not thought that 20
brilliant an ovation would be rendered
in republican America to the SON Of q
monarch he was very weak when he
landed in New York, and during his
progress up Broadway felt like fAinting.
But everybody was 90 kind 10 him that
he tried hard to look pleased, as he
was in his heart Of hearts. Broadway,
he says, in his opinion, Is the finest
thoronghfare in the world. because
everything there, houses, shops, and
the people look not monotonous, but
gay, lively, and bright, What amused
him perhaps more than anything else
was that the bands, upon catching
sight OF him, struck up, not the regu-
lar Russian anthem, but the so.called
'Dirge OF ST. Catherine, which Is
played in Russia only Of the funerals Of
q member OF the imperial family The
cheers Of the people were more deafen.
ing than any. he had heard in Europe;
from which he playfully concludes that
lung diseases cannot be very prevalent
in the New World. As to the soldiery,
the variety OF uniforms struck him as
extremely odd he says he saw, peace
fully side by side, helmeted Prussians
and 'kepied Frenchmen, relocated
Englishmen and Irish troops bearing
the banner Of the Green Isle. y
1.-THE Grand Duke cannot praise too
highly American hotels. American
fare, he thinks, however, is too rich.
There is attheiri tables, he exclaims,
nAiyely, always too much Of q good
thing. asked for the peculiar dishes
Of America, and at the hotel they could
not give me any. Their cooks we're
Italian and French. The landlord
shrugged his shoulders when asked
him about II. Out west, however, my
desire was at once grati6ed. j dined
one day on baked pork.and-bean a
very palatable dish, which would GER
tainly bear transplanting TO Russia.
american manners, the Grand Duke
thinks, are o little awkward and angular,
but decidedly pleasant on account of
eyerybody's frankness. BE tells a
number Of curious anecdotes on his
experiences with aborigines! In Wash
ington he was told that the Irish ser.
want. girls attheresidence ofM. oataeazy
were dying, 10. see him, He put on a
cap and an old trayeling.coat, and went
unheralded down into the kitchen
\ among them. He was not recognized
by the Biddies, and chatted with them
for hRlf an hour. he found out that
not one Of them had an idea Of where
Russia was situated, and one Of the
girls even asked him II the Gar always
wore q crown on his head, adding that
abe knew the Queen Of England always
did. Equally amusing is the account
Of his reception at Omaha, in Nebraska
where member OF the Legislature
congratulated him on the successes Of
his father in the war with France !
Another Legislator OF that state wanted
to know il Il was always cold in Russia
These funny episodes in the west,
however, were amply made up for by
the extreme kindness and consideration
with which the army officers there
treated the Grand Duke. For General
Custer and his subordinate officers the
Grand Duke has words OF the warmest
gratitude. General Clusters photograph
| Is published in the volume, which Is
most sumptnously printed and profuse.
lly illustrated. Only few hundred
copies Of the book will be issued"