New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-22
THE GLARS NEW HOME.
THE ANITCHKOFF PALACE GIVEN UP m
THE CZAREvITCH.

married. Rumors to that effect have been fres,,
circulated at various times during the past IN.
or three years, linking his name with that now
of one, now of another, Princess They have all
however, come to naught. The present test.
mony is stronger than any rumor, and is, IN.
deed, unmistakable Who the royal lady is IA
whom tho Czarevitch is TO be married is not VI
known. Nor does any one profess to be abb to
tell the date OF the august event But that IA
is to be married, and that in the immedht
future, is assured beyond the shadow Of doubt
The indication which cOnvinces every one az
this fact is that the Gar is vacatine tia
Anitchkoff Palace, and refurnishing it for new
tenant This splendid pile, the Nevskoi
Prospect, in the centre Of the city, has been The
Cars home eince long before his accession To
the throne. But Alexander III is the Amt
Emperor who has thus used it, For it has hitherto
been the home of the Czarevitch, and is still "A
regarded Tho fact that the Car is leaving IL
therefore, certainly means that his son is to Be-
married, and is, consequently, to set up an estsh
lishment Of his own.
It is not to be wondered at that the Gar has
preferred to make this palace his home rather than
any other Of the Imperial edifces 1t is certainly
the best situated and the most attractive Of them
all. The Nevskoi Prospect is the busiest and mot
fashionable thoroughfare in the city, splendid
street extending three miles, from AdmiralB
Square to the monastery Of St Alexander Nevska-
On one side of the palace are the public gardem
in which stands the famous statue Of Catherine II
This statue was erected by the people Of st.
Petersburg. actually in opposition to the desire Of
the Car and his family. The Imperial family in
these times does net care to cherish the memory
OF that ancestress whom Byron described 80 truly
and systematically. But she is to this day
the idol Of Russia, second in the popular hear
only to Peter the Great. The Gar and his family
refused to contribute single kopeck toward the
statue, and even let it be known that they would
rather not have it erected But the Car did not
actually forbid it, and the people went on, raised
the money, and put up the statue. 1t is not .
particularly meritorious piece of art and hence it
has been said that in it the notorious Empress j.
doing penance for her sins.
The feature Of the Anitchkof Palace, however,
most attractive to the present Gar is its garden
This is not only spacious and beautiful park,
but it is surrounded by a high and strong wall
The Imperial family can there walk about and
enjoy the open air without benc seen by the vul.
gar eye, and without fear of the bullet or bomb
of the enterprising NihiliFt. This is highly i'm.
portant consideration to Alexander ILL., who,
despite his hereculean strength of body, has been
in q regular blue funk Of fear ever since the
murder OF his father. IL is doubtless with the
utmost reluctance, therefore, that he gives up this
secure retreat to his son. and il is certain that 10
would not do so were the latter not on the point
Of marrying and thus needing at once the heredi-
tary home Of the Czanvitch
The Anitchkoff Palace was the favorite home
of the present Emperors grandfather, the Car
Nicholas That sovereign dwelt there while he
was Czarevitch, and was so fond of the place
that otter he came to the throne, all through his
reign he went back there every year to spend
the weeks Of Lent Why he was so fond Of il,
however. is hard to imagine. He had no need to
shut himself away from the public And Ger.
tainly he did not love the palace for its appear
ance. For, splendid are its furnishings within,
1t is without a mOnumentally mean and ugly
structure, notable for its great size. Perhaps il
was for its size that he admired it, There is no
country in the world where simple bigneSs is 70
highly esteemed as in Russia
From this mountain Of red stucco the Car
moves to the famous Winter Palace. Indeed. one
might say that lie has moved thither, for he has
actually taken possession of the vast suite of
apartments on the first floor which his grand
father used to occupy and few nights ago he
slept there for the frst time in his reign. Before
lie did So OF course, the entire place was carefully
examined by the police. Poe's detective search.
ing for the stolen letter, did not examine the sus
pected place more closely. The walls were probed
ana the floors taken up. Even solid blocks Of
stone were carefully sounded, to see il perchanec
they mad been followed ont and made receptacles
oi ieohai compounds But everything was found
10 oe all rlsht, and so the Emperor ventured TO
sleep there and slept soundly, so they say.
VI thus edifce, as of the Antchkoff Palace. one
h,natA la
as the exterior is concerned. Big il certainly Is.
Its four stories make it eighty feet high and ia
ground area Is 455 by 1852 feet. Like so many
other Russian buildings, however. its walls are Of
stucco and cheap-lookng stucco at that They
are painted dull red and yellow. and are sir.
mounted by an iron roof painted red. Ginger.
bread ornamcntation is profuscly scattered over
1t everywhere. and the whole effect is cheap and
unutterabS depressing
Many visitors have aved over the splendon
OF the interior of this palace but it is not easy
10 see why. The Ambassadors Staircase which
forms the state-cntrance to the building from the
Neva. is indeed magnificent work II Is Of
enormous dimensions, and is constructed entirely
OF the purest white Carrara marble such as Is
generally used only for statuary. The great room
known as St. Georges Hall, which is 40 by 50
feet IN SIZE is n noble apartment, and its array
or Corinthan columns of Carrara marble. with
golden bases and capitals. has perhaps no equal
in the world BIT apart from these there Is
nothing in tho whole building worth a second
glance. The great salons are cold, cherries and
rcpellent In the extreme Filled with brilliantly
clad guests and ablaze with lights, they may al.
most he admired But when not thus occupied
their dreaiy eApanscs of white marble chill the
beholder and give the place the air of mighty
tomb. Whatever decoration there is is shan
and tawdry. French art prevails, they say; but
it is the pinchbeck and tinsel art Of the Second
Empire.
Occasionally there is q rumor that the Emperor
no longer fears the Nihsts, and that he is about
to come forth from his guarded seclusion and
joste elbows with the people, as did his fore
fathers All toll III, OF