The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-01-23
The Gar at Home

A steamer from Odessa and Sebas-
iapool touches at 1alta, now over
crowded with imperial couriers. place
hunters. and tourists. \ few Circas
SLAMS in their brilliant uniforms peram-
bulate the streets with the consequential
air which the member of the imperial
body guard assume. much better salts
lied, apparently. than their brothers on
the opposite side of the Black sea. whom
We lett nj Trebizond. disposing of their
Roumellcn and Bulgarian plumber for
bread. Behind lalta the high hills
rise round wooded plateau like the
sides OF an amuhitheatre. the centre
covered with gardens AMI palaces nest
ling among the trees. OLe Of the most
tasteful. but by 10 means the grand
est, OF these country houses Is Livilia.
the Balmoral Of BabelsberG. Of the en-
perOr and empress OF al the RusSias. a
very unpIetending. bnt still pictur-
es0ua residence three miles from the
port. and farther Of. Orlando. where
the enperor's suite and the minister in
attendance are generally loi gel while
tleir sovereign ! taking his holiday.
Yet i i not much of holiday after all
and the thin. garrt. ANXIOUS eyed own
er OF Llvadia hardly looks as ii lie were
enjoying II. The telegraph connects
the house with ali parts OF Europe and
Russia. and thirty miles off lie the rims
Of Seb@s,opOl. filed with bitter mem
ores fo- the present Russian sover-
e,gr VT is graves containing a hun
Gre3 .aoIsand soldiers who fell while
keepirc lie French. English and Sar-
dina. armies waiting 50 long in the
cold. The er.reror ccc-sio-aiiv makes
a. eIcQr sisa there from Livad:a. 70 in
spec. : ~ vessel, . receive i portion
0: Lis AMY arriving from Tlrker. or %
s..ea- :. service .0r ;he repo-e Of the
b-av@ u tle appropriate memorial
cLape. which Las been erected st Sc
bastopol -ear t. tLei- remains. The
ve-y ap1ear4rce Of this CITY. which j.
llke another Poupeii. aai tue wild.
dre.ry music u tie Russ.au priest. in
the chant OF The Everlasting Re-
-e-n l..I-ce. must send back the pale
AL T. ly emperor - Livadia in a
ST.. more gloomy frame OF mind than
When - EFF It; for he has vivid re-
eo4-ect- of the closing scenes OF that
ce!eJl-ceI seice. and from the northern
shore Vi tie Larbor he inspected til
sOUt-erL half Of the fortress, shortly
after Is capture IL l-j5. o. these oc-
cas.OLs lie r-tires into his private
apart-. erts directly lie returns and is
seen 10 more that lav. not even at the
whist table, 70 which Count Adlerber z
frequently tries to draw him. the game
being often termed the statesman's mar
cotlc, from Its power Of banishing I'M
pleasant memories and producing "a
good nights sleep. Al other times
ministers ana aides de-carlp come for
audiences. and the work If governing
the empire goes on much as if its i'm
peral head wa q. Tzarco- Selo or the
winter palace, Tor a ton load Of boxes
brought the necessary papers by the
same train which carried the emperor.
who Is more than usually equal 20 his
work at L.yadia, as the estate is shaded
from the north Wind. and therefore suits
his asthma better than any place but
the L Our lowers ii the steamy valley
OF the Ems, where for three years past
he has been prevented from soiOurning
by the eastern war.
Ti-Aswas. when any Elglishman who
could obtain an Introduction, which
was not diiii ;ult, was always welcome
at the court of St. Petersburg, aud the
everyday life Of the Gar Nicholas has
been described by at least dozen who
were either entertained by him or me,
him al various noblemen's houses. for
he almost lived IN public. But that
has never been the case since Alexan.
der II. began to reign, for his palace
door has been RICHLY closed against all
foreigners but diplomatists by i'll
health needing quiet wherever it could
be obtained, by family cares, and by
the political troubles which have in
volved the empire several times during
the last twenty five years. He never
partakes of the hospitality of his sub
jects, and in his visits to Berlin Away,
lodges at the Russian embassy. for hi.
recreation has been solitude rather
than the pleasures of society. TIL,
rooms at Livadia are not large enough
to entertain. but are eminently SUITED
for the quiet pursuit of business. Or
the walls are family pictures, with
among them, our queen and the en-
peror Of Germany; but nothing very
new or expensive, for since the begin
A Ia II