The Indiana State sentinel., 1894-11-07
Ragged Observation-Disclosures dat?
William Goat-Where am at?
Weary Walker-Where did you git dat goat,
Ragged?

the father, was crushed by the RUE of the
sOp; the press. which, though restricted,
had a faint semblance Of freedom under
the old. was fettered absolutely under the
new regime; Siberia, bad enough always.
became the horror OF the century: the
Jews whose lot was never a peasant one
in Russia, became the subjects of the most
malevO,ent persecution.
With private citizen the presumption
is for innocence till guilt is proved; with
n hereditary ruler the chances are even,
but with an absolute ruler. especially a
Romanoff. the presumption is always that
he is GespOtic We may. therefore, with
perfect safety, reject all the excuses made
for Alexander III that he was kept in
ignorance of the horrors of Siberia; that
the real condition of his subjects was
carefully concealed from him, and that he
was only cruel where ii was cruel neces-
Sity. That he was a devoted husband
and father is TO his credit; some of the
worst prosecutors have been so. The
hard. cruel fact remains that he reversed
all the liberal movements of his father,
gave the penal laws a sharper edge, treat
ed the Jews and Poles with atrocious
cruelty, adopted the worst features OF so
called panslavism and to the very last
quarreled bitterly with his son for not
being equally bigoted and intolerant.
Fortunately Married.
He was most fortunate in his marriage.
royal family is the peasantest in the re-
cent annals of Europe and is delightfully."-
colOred with romance. King Christian TX
and Queen Louise began life in quite
humble rank comparatively, for he was
merely the fourth son of Duke William
of Sleswck-H -Holstein, but when the old
royal line became extinct the great powers
combined to eXtinguish jealousy by MAX
ing this younger son king of Denmark,
and he took the throne Nov. To- 1863. His
oldest daughter IS now Princess of Wales.
and his second the widowed cZarlna. His
second son is King George 1 Of Greece,
and the other daughter and two sons are
most royalty connected So little Der
! mark largely because 1t is little and not
dangerous, is prolific, of royalty.
Maria Dagmaa'f became Maria Feo1o-
roma when she married the czarewitch,
gave up her ierman protestantism and
became a member of the Greek catholic
church, and by all accounts has nitro
duced a much-needed element of nlildness
within the blood of the imperial family.
for among a thousand contradictions it isl
at least agreed that her son, the successor
of Alexander III, isl purely GdTnan-t 1
Danish and quite eifnlike his father in
form and disposition Five children were
born to the ear and czarina-NichOlas
Alexandrowitch, born at st. Petersburg
May is, 1868: George Alexandrowitch,
born May 8, 1871; Zenia Alexandra VIVA,
born April 6, 1875; Michael Alexandra
D..
Alandrowna. born June 13 1882.
OF his children the cZar, as a model
family man, was very fond, and many
stories are told of the methods he used
to adopt to give them pleasure. He was
very fond of amateur theatricalS and
he was never happier than when yetting
up plays in which his children were to
figure as actors. Like Charles Dickens,
he got an amazing amount of enjoyment
out of the details Of improvising plays,
wardrobe curtain and every accessory out
Of ordinary materials and in the face of
serious difficulties. Besides his own chill
dren the actors almost invariably in
cluded the elder children at the court,
young lads who some day might rule
provinces-posslbly kingdoms-and young
girls destined perhaps to be the mothers
Of long lines OF princes and princeSses.
In Religion n Bigot.
in religion Alexander III was a thor
ougn bigot. He never once doubted that
he the Lords anolnted. ruling all
Russia and her subject provinces by d.
vine right. and that Jews, stundists, men,
onites and others who did not implicitly
OBEY his directions were in rebellion
J against God and deserving of little con-
sideration. The Romanoffs have always
| been given To a sort of brutal devotion,
| and the natural bent Of AleXander's mind
| was intensified by the teachings of his
| tutor, NJ. PobiedonotsOff in later years
| the much feared chief Of the holy synod
| Of the Russian church. Nevertheless he
| taught his pupil morality, and it is
| claimed that Alexander III was the only
/ European sovereign of his time who never
| kept mistress. He was frantically de-
vout. and his views on education were
| those of the Russian priests. AS head
| Of the church he consistently opposed ev-
| cry form Of instruction not controlled by
| the priests.
Alexander III was man Of remarkable
| physical force. He stood six feet four
| inches in his stockings, and it is told of
| him that he could take A silver coin of
| the size of dollar and double il between
his thumb and f0refinger. When in 1888
| his train was wrecked and a number of
persons were killed, it is said he saved
| those who were In the same compartment
1 with him from injury and perhaps death
/ by supporting portion of the fallen roof
with his shoulders till assistance came
He was also an untiring worker, got
| down to his desk as a rule by a. M
\ and went resolutely through official pa
| pers till l p. m. Then he had a light
| lunch and took recreation and read till
| a O'Clock dinner. He often wrote severe
| comments on the margins OF papers pre-
| sented to him, and these were glazed over
| to preserve them in the royal archives
| His favorite expressions were: ''What
a beast he isP' They are set of hogsr'
and the like. The Russian word "nezoo-
| teShitelno. which may be Translated
"discouraging,' was frequent comment
with MN. once he was prevailed upon to
allow a very severe comment to be erased
| THE council thought to trick me-" he
| said but they shan't, but may strike the
words out"
He was a man Of unfiinehing courage.
| He proved this in the last war between
| Russia and Turkey, and, though during
| his entire reign he was in constant ex-
pectation of being murdered. he never
] hesItated to show himself to his people
when he thought the occasion demanded
| 1t, and he oftentimes was accounted
| even rash in his manner of doing this.
| For instance, on several. occasions when
members Of his household died and not
ably when his English nurse passed
away, he attended the funeral services