Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-12-05

aUfte bomb auder the carriage, WAlle the
tar was seated there, the tzar was not killed.
Almost every Russian tsas since history was
written has had to devote part Of his reign
to devisiue means Of self defense against his
own subjects.
With tho present emperor things seem,
however, to be more aeuse, and require more
time, and more thought, skin, engineering,
latent and fruitful imagination to keep up
with the times Effective means are needed
to protect him from afsr, ON the land and on
the seas, from NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
from above-from those clear spheres above
which, however, may carry and drop down
large and suspicious looking aerohoes, or
small, deadly bullets Should the tar in
tend to leave bis palace to walk along the
streets Of 81. Petersburg biz safety is insured
by thousands Of detectives, gendarmeria,
soldiers and police, lining thsstroets, serua-
mixing the passers-by, watching the windows
Of every house, that no man or woman should
dare to put his or her head out Of it. The
very roofs Of the houses are guarded
When be travels by railroad, soldiers with
fixed bayonets and loaded guns line it, no
matter how long she-Eoad, 1oon1aes or 1000.
Curiosity, however strong, cannot tempt
man to risk his life BY approaoA;rg the road.
All the railroad switches are so sealed that
no one can turn them the wrong way will
fully or Internationally. But those arelnot
the only precautions to,insure personal safety
in travel. OF recent years no employa
of railroad along which the emperor
travels is allowed on his train except the
regular engineer, who, however. has mo
say" of his own in the presence of personal
l.x,< 6 r.. ~ ~
movements of the throttle valve. In like.
manner conductors, baakemen, theslookout
and firemen are replaced by members Of the
imperial suite and their attendants. This
system, however, has proved unsatisfactory.
The recent catastrophe on the Caucasus
railway. near Borkz station, on which occa-
zion the imperial train was derailed through
msInanagenent, the tar aad tzarina re-
ceivfng injuries while many others were
wounded and some isi43e1, plainly showed the
innpracticabihty Of setting ''shoemakers to
make candies" At frss the enraged tzar
ordered all the Offenders to ba tried, and ap-
pointed large number of different commits
Bioners to investigate the matter. But he
soon softened, seeing from the reports of the
commissions that the poor fellows merely.
tried to do their best, and iss.isd his pardon
to all concerned. SO much for the firm
ground and airy space protection.
A few lines on the marine protection of the
emperor viii not be out of place.
Of the Russian imperial yachts, the latest
built is the Lwadia-a namesake of the i'm
perial summer palace in the C7imea. She
was built In England-it is always safer to
trust such secrets as the designs Of imperial
ironclad trains and ironclad pleasure yachts
to foreigners-in accordance with the plans
of a prominent Russian admiral named Po-
potf. The principle followed in the design of
this yacht is the same as that upon which the
two men-of-war commonly known in Russia
as 'PoTsofkos," and forming part of the naval
squadron OF the Black sea, are constructed
The two boats-screw propelled-are true
cylinders. Although their engines are very
powerful, they never venture far from the
Shore the intense heat in their holds soon
driving up the sailors to the pure air on deck
But in turning round their vertical axis
they act wonderfully quick, presenting to the
enemy gun after gun radiaIly projecting from
their cepters.
Very likely the yacht Livadia would not
have been built at all were the Popofkos Of
any use to the emperor in case Of emergency.
All they were expected to do in time Of peace
was to occasionally leave Sebastopol and go
to the Livadia palace, some thirty miles or
so distant, and anchor there, but they failed
to do even this In times Of peace, while dur
ing the Russo-Turkish war they rested undis-
turbed in the harbor OF Sebastopol A COM
pany of Russian NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
contractors-requested the government to
lease them the Popofkos, intending to trans
form them into flour mills, but the PROPOSE
ton was not entertained. Unlike the Popof
kos, the yacht Livadia is more vessel like in
shape, its length being slightly greater than
the width. It is more like ferry boat
However, the intention to give her the great
est maneuvering ability was far from being
neglected in her design.
To turn round quickly was one of the prin-
cipal objects of the designer, only that those
waters being much more dense than the air,
the ship naturally could not turn round and
face the enemy with its narrow side, as could
a man The yacht was lavishly decorated, at
an immense expense, and, though internally
provided with ironclad chambers and case
ments for the safety Of the imperial traveller,
she proved an unseaworthy vessel, and on her
maiden trip to the Black sea she nearly went
to the bottom before reaching Gibraltar.
or's intention to start on his yearly trip to
Copenhagen, the crew, marines and officers
of the selected man-of-war ere surrounded by
a horde of detectives, watching and following
everywhere the unfortunate tars-men in
whose fidelity to the cause of their country
no doubt is entertained. But they are
and subjected to all the indigni-
ties which in Russia are inseparable from
suspicion.
The presence Of the tar or one Of his fam |
lily in foreign city affects first, and most OF
all, his own subjects who may be residing
there. The governments Of France, Ger |
many and Denmark have repeatedly expelled
those of them who seemed to be suspicious, |
aud instituted a vigilant watch over the |
others. But the government of England |
never consented to resort to such means, not |
the threats and irtimidations |
which the secret agents of the tar lavishly |
employed to scare the English police.
Some six years ago, while brother of the |
present emperor of Russia was visiting Eng |
land, Russian secret agent residing in |
London named Trogh.ine resortsd to de-
vice calculated to excite public opinion |
gainst some nihilist refugees-mysef among |
them-who were at this time IN London. |
Troghaine placed a dynamite cartridge on
the line of the Great Western railway, which |
was discovered just before the grand duke
passed over the road Troghaine fed from |
London 70 the continent, leaving behind ali
us effects. A few moments delay would |
nave placed him in Blackwell prison. for the |
Scotland Yard authorities had already proofs |