The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-04
THE RUSSIAN EX-ENPRESS.
Notable Incidents Illustrating Her
Character.

The czaIina-Marie Feodorovna-was the
brightest, prettiest, most charming Of
clever old Queen Louise of Deumarks
daughters. Had she any inkling of the sad
fate in store for her, when on the morn
ing of her departure from her fathers
palace at F'redensborg, to become the wife
of Alexander AleXandrowitch Of St. Pc
tersburg, and drew a diamond ring from
her finger and scratched on the window
pane of her little boudoir: Nit elskede
Fredensborg, FAREWELL (NIy beloved Ere
densborg. farewell? There were many at
the time who made gloomy predictions
concerning the marriage, for Princess
Dagmar had been betrothed of Alexan-
der's eldest brother, who had died at
Nice, and only consented to marry the late
ear in accordance with the dying wishes
Of her fiance 1t must be admitted, how
ever, that she benefited by the change,
for the car was a man of noble and
sterling character, No breath of scandal
or intrigue ever clouded their marital
relations. A more affeetionate or devoted
couple than the Emperor and Empress of
Russia it would have been impossible to
find. A more devoted wife no emperor
ever had, says the New York Herald.
The empress was a lovely woman, "a
years OF age, at the time of the corona
ton, on May q. 1888 That ceremony was
one of unequaled splendor and took place
in the cathedral of Assumption in Mos
COW, the most sacred ecclesiastical edifce
in the empire. Amid the joyous clangor of
! hundreds n bells i'm "a II the churches a
the ancient capital the magnificent pro-
cession, esCorting the car and czarina
passed from the historical palace of the
| Kremlin to the church, cheered by scores
and scores. of thousands of loyal sub
jects.
Amid all the stately ceremoniousness
attached to coronation fetes," so reads
the cabled story to the Herald of May 26,
1888, "the intense love of people of Mos
COW to the persons of the car and cZarina
is very striking During the procession on
Tuesday peasants knelt down the CZar
passed and children We're held up to watch
the passing of the empress, as she sat
in her gilded carriage. The czarina
seemed extremely happy, bowling contin-
ually in acknowledgement of the over
whelming bursts of enthusiasm that greet
ed her Besides her sat her daughter, the
Grand Duchess Zenia, a young girl of 10,
dressed in white and looking at the sight
with all the wonder and delight of a child.
The scene was a beautiful picture from
fairyland. Eight white horses, yelled in
cascades of gold fringe, drew the splendid
carriage in which the lovely empress was
seated in her imperial robes"
The emperor and empress entered the
church beneath canopy borne by thir-
ty-two officers of high rank, and were
met at the portal by the chief dignataries
of the Greek church. The Metropoli-
tans of NovgOrod and Kief Sprinked the
oneriaI Dair with bOlW and
scented to them the holy cup to be kissed
They were then conducted to the ancient
throne, before which were placed the in
sigma of imperial power. In the presence
of many foreign princes, all the repre-
sentatiYes of friendly powers, the great
church and state officers and princes of
the empire, the car, having repeated the
Lords Prayer and the Apostles Greed
and received the blessings of the MetropOl-
itans, was invested with the imperial
mantle and handed the crown, which he
placed on his head. and assuming the
scepter and the orb. took his seat on
the throne of the Car Vladimir Mono
muque. Then he placed upon the head Of
the empress his crown as she knelt before
him. She was invested with the i'm
perial mantle, and as the car and car
ina, reseated themselves the archdeacon
chanted God Save the Gar, which was
thrice repeated by the choir, and then all
the bells of Moscow announced that the
imperial coronation was accomplished
During all this splendid ceremony, last
ing four hours" wrote the Herald's cor
| respondent, the empress sat, ner eyes
oftentimes filled with tears of joy, as she
glanced affectionately at her children and
at the czar, and listeningly 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 courtiers, knelt
before the czar, bending reVerently her
head, upon which the emperor rested his
crown for a moment symbolizing her
share of his glory and his woes. This was
a beautifully touching scene. Then four
grand duchesses approached the czarina
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 kneellng attitude she approached
the car and bent her head on one side to
| receive the imperial kiss, tears the while
filing 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 assassina-
ton in 1887. Another hatEbreadth escape
occurred in the following year, when the
imperial train was wrecked near Borki
while returning from the Crimea to St.
Petersburg Twenty-one persons were
killed and thirty-siX wounded. The car in
which were the car and the imperial fam
ily was built of steel. The roof was lifted
out Of place but it did not fall. An Eng
fish correspondent who visited Borh soon
after the accident wrote at the time
THE last three carriages. out Of 49,,
were still on the rails, but the fourth was
driven sideways, and overhung steep
incline Of some 80 feet or more. Beyond
we saw nothing but a second class car
rage IN fragments half way down the hill.
a number Of bodies covered up, and bro
ken timbers planks and general wreck
on the banksde II was out Of the crushed
woodwork of the one most completely
ruined that three and twenty living souls
were rescued, with one or two eXcep-
lions. almost unbruised It was the dining
saloon, and there their imperial ma
jesties, with every child Of theirs save the
little Grand Duchess Olga, were seated
with the suite at 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: n