The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-03-13
QUEEN Y"iCTORIA'S LIFE.
Railroad Journeys, and Precautions
Against Cbservatton-The Daily Routine
Of The court-How Her Majesty Receives
and Dimes with Her Visitors.

ana Dimes with Her Visitors.
In July last, when the Queen hat
fixed the day of her departure from
Windsor, she unexpectedly postponed
1t says n correspondent of the N. Y
Sun. Such a swerving from all estab
lished precedent was as startling as il
was new, aud gave rise to the most con.
ficting ~conjectures. 1t was promptly
ascertained that the delay was moi
caused by the health of the Duchess Of
Albany, and while speculation was still
rife, the reason became suddenly ap.
parent. Her majesty would not leave
the castle before personally visitin.
Lockwood. a recently engaged foot .
man, in the privacy of his home as
st. Marks place in the royal
borough, and condoling with him and
his family on an accident that had hap
pened to his little child. In the same way
the return of the queen from Balmor-
al did not take place till Thursday last,
despite the severity of the season, be-
cause she had to attend to the funeral
OF Mr.. Willie Blair, her highland tid-
dler. This parsonage was 90years old,
and besides moderate musical talent and
the enviab1e fact of being the most an
Gent %inhabitant of the village, he does
not appear to have been distinguished
by any quality OF achievement-to have
run q career OF such particular useful
ness as to justify his entombment in
Craithe ch~urchyard. The graceful COM
plement must, therefore, be viewed by
the country at large merely as a
proof that the sovereign can occasionally
withdraw herself from her mournfnl
retirement, if not to associate with the
mobiles, of her great empire, to grace
public ceremonies, or delight her cap
ltal with her august presence, at least
to honor servants, shepherds, and gillles
with attractions all the more. flattering
that they are so exclusive.
The habitual precautions for isolating
the Queen from the curiosity and de-
m~onstrations of her subjects. and maxi
ingthe transit from one royal residence
to another monastically secluded, were
perhaps eve intensified during the
journey of Friday last. With one SOL
ltary exception, the stations we're virtu-
ally unapproachable while the, queens
special train was in sight. Once only,
at Ferry Hill station, the Great North
ern Company Used tickets enabling
some privileged individuals to enter the,
sacred precincts and to feast their eyes,
at a respectful distance, on the mid
night pageant. These, tickets were
only obtainable with great difficulty,
and after searching investigation into
the postulant's antecedents. 1t is not
said whether gate money was taken, and
who benefited by the proceeds.
At Windsor, in broad Daylight, when
the train arrived from Scotland, q
guard OF the Third Battalion of grena-
der guards lined the Castle Hill road,
andt the whole constabulary force of the
borough patrolled the way between
the Great Western station and the pal
ace, a detachment of the Metropolitan
police had been additionally sent from
Paddineton. and the eompanv's staff
i~ealously guarded the station, rails, and
viaduct arches, so that ut IL rough COM
putation it was estimated that the num-
Der of officers emplo yed to protect the
Queen against her loyal subjects ex-
ceeded the gathered spectators by a
not inconsiderable figure.
Apropos of the journeys of the royal
family of England, it is not perhaps
generally known that its members, al
though endowed with considerable civil
lists, do no bear the expenses of their
Continental excursions, in so far that
the budget is charged to the amount of
E40 for every trip across the Channel,
payable to the steamer that has carried
them across. Last year the Prince of
Wales and his o n crossed seven times,
the Duke and Duchess of Edinburg five
times, the Duke and Duchess Of Neck
1enburg three, the Duke and Duchess
OF C~onnaught the same, the Princess
Imperial of Germany twice, the Ouch
ess OF Teck, the Duke of Cambridge,
and Princess Beatrice respectively
once, running up bill of e92O, de-
frayed by long-suffering, but discon-
tented ratepayers.
Tie dull, regular, uninteresting rout-
inc Of her Majesty's daily life, so try
ing even to the enduring patience of her
last remaining daughter, has once more
begun, unrelieved save by the homely,
almost lowly, incidents recorded above,
and which constitute the only commun-
ion between the nation and herself.
Time was, yer after the castle had
been virtually closed for all festivities.
that guests were hidden to it for the
three days visit so dear to the British
heart, and during their stay enjoyed
the privilege of revell;ngin the priceless
accumulation of pictures, tapestries, OBJ
lects of art, rare books, rarer engrav-
ings and %unrivalled specimens of china
one little table with rose Dubarry
medallions alone being estimated at
Eos 900. Now the invitations rarely
extend over N evening and night,
and, although they are to oil intents
and purposes commands, sometimes on
ly reach the recipients a few hours be-
fore the time when their attendance is
required.
A fast train brings sou down from
Paddington station in forty minutes. As
nc carriages are %habitually sent to meet
yon, you have to trust yourself and SER
wants to flies or cabs to reach the castle.
Pages OF the Queen, lads belonging to
the best families in the kingdom take
charge Of you and, consulting a written
list, conduct you to the apartments set
aside for your use. These consists of q
complete suite of rooms. the only fault
being that in winter they are apt to be
insut1iciently warmed, as the Queen is
constitutionally averse to heat. Shortly
after the arrival OF a guest, he receives
the visit of the Master of the House
hold, Sir J. G. Cowell, who brings hun
IN invitation to have tea with one or
other of the ladies in waiting.
Full court dress is de rigueur for the
dinner. AS early as s o'clock the guests
assemble in the great gallery which
runs around the quadrangle, and
which forms an immense picture gallery,