Omaha daily bee., 1883-02-16
LIFE In GArCBINA PALACE.
How the Gear Contrives to Spend
His Time in the S%eclusion OF
His Palace Fortrese-His
Jealousy OF His Wife.
81. Petersburg Cor. New York Sun.

Alexander became Czar under tn
most horrible auspices. The throne b
had TO ascend was sprinkled with tn
blood Of his father, mixed with tina
Of some innocent victims. For hin
the ~resplendent Winter Palace becam,
q haunted house, and he shuns II q
he would an infected place. For hin
his splendid and proud capital Is but
dark den Of bloodthirsty oonspirators
He would never enter II he could hell
II. But he Is car, and he must disre-
gard his own feelings.
Under these circumstances Alexan
der has selected for his residence /,
small town, Gstchins, twenty-eigh'
miles from this city, and there, In or
old. fsshioned little palace, he tries t.
enjoy life rs best he can, The Cat
china palace was built by the CzsI
Paul, who used to seclude himself
there from fear of his courtiers, who
at length assassinated him.
The further details Of the czar's life
are furnished to me by a person who
daily sees him, but / cannot give ever
the least hint as to his identity with.
out bringing him Into p,ril. The Sun
Is seen In the cars library.
Alexander usually rises at z and
hurrledly dresses himself with the
assistance Of his trusted servant, Ivau
Ssvlieff. 1t Ia Ivan who informs hi,
majesty earlier than any of the official,
of all news of Importance. It Is In
Ivan's power either to set his majesty
In q rage for q whole day or to make
MIN beam with benevolence. The
ministers are fully aware of Ivan's In.
fluence, and treat him a. their equal,
II not as their superior. After he il
dressed, the car enters the reception.
room and receives the report of Gen.
Teherevin, the commandant OF Catch
ina and the chief of the cars body.
guards. Then he takes q long walk
In the palace garden. When In good
humor he enters the palace yard,
throws off his o~veroost, SELVES q huge
az, and chops wood. Thick logs of
oak and pine r one after another
eagerly and dextrously cut and split
by the ~autocrat Of all the lRussias.
How skilfully he Yields the heavy Ak!
How swiftly and nightly he whirls 1t
down upon the thick logs! If he
welded his scepter as nightly as he
does his ak, the shade of Peter the
Great would rest perfectly satisfied In
the tomb. But, alas! Alexander III,
is q good wood chopper and a very
poor ruler: II he were not surround
cd by 30 many loggerhesds he would
be popular. Suppose that, instead of
the picture Of the car dressed lie gor.
geous uniform, they should distribute
everywhere a picture of the ozar with
his coat off cutting wood. The good.
natured Ivans would give up body and
soul for the czar who, like them, was
ohopplng wood.
Alexander has smerry holiday every
time either the Grand Duke Vladimir
or the Grand Duke Alexis visits him.
Then he Is sure he will have a good
time, When czarowitch, Alexander
usually overpowered his brothers
Vladimir and Alexis, whether in
wrestling or In Juggling. But since he
has become ozar he has begun to lose
in weight as well as in strength, and
nowadays Vladimir, who Is two years
younger than the czar, beats his ma.
jesty almost every time they nooun
ter each other. This worries the
autocrst of all the Russiss a great deal
more than the forced postponement of
his coronation.
When Alexander and Alexis retire
to test their muscles the court ladies
find the best opportunity to offer their
incense to she Russian Jupiter. They
coax the czarina to 60 with them to
see the czar wrestle, and under her
protection they enter, Just accident
ally, of course, the czsr's room. They
behold the car and tho chief of the
navy, with their uniforms off, wrest.
ling, struggling and rolling on the
thick carpet.
"Methinks I see Achilles and Hec.
tor on the battlefield" exolaims a
court lady.
"There is Hercules arisen!" exclaims
another.
"The very gods of Olympus could
not have more strength and agility"
remarks o third.
"Here are Jupiter and Neptune
struggling" says'some other lady. And
then they glide away, leaving the Gar
happy for . whole week.
It Ia generally believed that tho Gear
and Czarina love each other dearly,
but their family life is not without
thorns, Many years ago, at the court
balls, the Czsrina used to dance with
q certain Count Stroganoff, a incar.
mated Apollo, q little oftener, perhaps,
than with the other courtiers. Alex.
ander, who Is far from being an Apollo,
felt mortally offended. When he dis
agrees with his wife on some point, the
Czar, who becomes too easily excited,
ungenerously mentions the name Of
Strogsuoff, and many hemstitched
handkerchiefs of Danish linen are
made wet with the Czarina's tears.
Alexander hates everything that re-
minds him Of electricity, and yet a
strong desire to hear the opera with
out exposing himself at the theatre,
induced him to have q telephone put
up In his CATCHING palace, and now
the czrr and c%zsrina, putting their
heads together, listen to the opera
given at this city twenty eight miles
away. They hear the songs, the
reoitatives, the music, and the ap'
piause. No doubt they recall with re.
greet those days when they did moi
need any telephone In order TO hear
an opera, when they were not guarded
like prisoners and not tortured like
| criminals.