Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-12-20

densburg, farewellr (My beloved Ere
densborg, farewell)? There were
many at the time who made gloomy
predictions concerning the marriage,
for the Princess Dagmar had been be-
trothed to Alexanders eldest brother,
who had died a Nice. and only con-
Sented to marry her present husband
in accordance with the dying wishes
of her tiance. 1t must be admitted.
however, that she benefited by the
change. for the present car was a
man of noble and sterling character.
No breath of scandal or intrigue ever
clouded their martial relations. A
more affectionate and devoted couple
than the emperor and empress of Rus
STA it would have been impossible to
find. A more devoted wife no en-
peror ever had.
The empress was a lovely woman, "a
years of age, at the time of the cor
onation, on May 81. 1888. That cere-
mony was one of unequaled SplendOr
and took place in the cathedral Of the
Assumption in Moscow, the most Sa-
cred ecclesiastical edifice in the empire.
Amid the joyous clang of hundreds Of
bells in all the churches of the ancient
capital, the magnificent procession es-
corting the car and czarina passed
from the historical palace of the Krem-
| lin to the church, cheered by scores
and scores of thousands of loyal sub
jects. During all this splendid cere-
| mony, lasting four hours, the empress
sat, her eyes OftentimeS filled with
| tears of joy. as she glanced affection
ately at her children and at the car,
and listening intently to the wonderful
| voices of the choir. After the crown
| had been assumed by the emperor
| there followed a very touching scene.
| The empress rose from her throne and,
| her train being borne by eight cour-
| tiers, knelt before the car, bending
reverently her head, upon which the
| emperor rested his crown for a mo-
ment, symbolizing her share of his
glory and his woes. This was a beau
tifully touching scene. Then four
grand ducheSSeS approached the car
ina and assisted in the placing of the
small and beautiful crown upon her
head, where it rested, a mass of
sparkling light. Rising from her kneel-
ing attitude she approached the ear
and bent her head on one side to re-
ceive the imperial kiss. tears the while
filling her eyes, and the great, strong
man, deeply touched, with misty eyes,
too, bent down and kissed lovingly and
| tenderly the white earnest face that
looked up to his, and that seemed so
expressive of mingled happiness and
tender anxiety.
The empress was with the car when
he had a very narrow escape from as
! sassinatiOn in 1887. Another hair
| breadth escape occurred in the follow
| ing year, when the imperial train was
| wrecked near BOrki while returning
| from the Crimea to st. Petersburg.
Twenty -one persons were killed and
SO wounded. The car in which were
the car and the imperial family was
| built of steel. The roof was lifted out
| of place but it did not fall. The fam
| lily was in the dining car seated for
dinner. A sudden shock sent them all
down on the floor; a second and the
sides of the carriage were down on
them, the roof across the whole;
third, and a dead stop-a terrible 81
! lence, broken by the shrieks of the dy-
| ing and the wounded. Those who were
there said there was neither time to
think nor even to feel. Their wounds
and bruises they discovered afterward.
One man said he only found that he
had lost the half Of his finger an hour
| later. The empress was one of the
first to extricate herself from the
wreck, and her terrible cry, "Where is
| the emperor? Where are my chill
dren?' was more heartrending than
any words can describe. But heaven
gave them all back to her-all-out
from that heap of ruin, and almost I'M
! bruised. The empreSS's right hand
was badly bruised and the left slightly
cut, but she went at once to tend the
wounded as they were eXtricated from
the wreck. For nearly four hours she
sat in the drizzling rain on that sop
ping bank, binding up their wounds
or soothing them.
| The cZarina was from the first day
of her marriage the most devoted of
wives and mothers. A touching story
is told Of the time when, in 1869, the
eldest child of the present imperial
family died, aged three months. The
empress was inconsolable, and insisted
upon carrying the tiny coffin, accord
ing to an old Russian custom, on her
knees in the carriage from the palace
to the fortress Of SITS. Peter and Paul,
where the ROmanoffs are buried.
''That which every woman Of the peo-
| pie may do ought not to be denied
me-" she said. The winter was terri
| bly, cold, and the empress, in carrying
out her resolution, injured her health
seriously, and was invalided for many
weeks after. The empress's high moral
tone has Influenced the vast empire
from end to end.