The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1897-12-14
THE CARS JULEPS.
MINISTER CURTIN SHOWED THE EN-
PEROR HOW TO MIX THEM.

PEROR HOW TO MIX THEM.
A Reminiscence of Diplomacy Under Alex
ander II of Russia-The Czar q Lover
of Darky AnecdOte and DiaIect-Amer-
lean Whisky For His Cellar.
81 wal in Paris" said Colonel ". T.
M. Mccarthy of this city, ''that I be-
came acquainted with an aid Of the
Gar Alexander II. The Russians are
greatly interested in applied chemistry
and novel mechanical devices for war
fare. l had some ideas on these subjects
which an aid asked me to put before
his superiors. The Grand Duke Constan-
tine was there, and l was presented to
him. Our interviews finally led to my
going to st. Petersburg, where 1 was
presented to the czar himself.
II first met the emperor in the Win
ter palace n morning at 8 O'Clock. He
was an early riser, and the machinery
of the court was all in operation by that
hour. His majesty received me kindly
and at once put me at my ease. L love
Americans, , he said, with a smile, and
l soon learned that this was true. An
drew g. Curtin of Pennsylvania was
then minister from the United States at
the imperial court, and there was no.
body In whose society the car took more
satisfaction.
IN never forget the mysterious err
rand upon which I was dispatched n
cold and stormy night by, and l may
say with, General Curtin, as he was
universally called in st. Petersburg.
My entry into the emperor's secret serv-
ice had by that time become an accom-
plished fact. 1 had become a Russian,
had sworn allegiance to the czar, spir-
itual and temporal, and had been en-
tered on the official list of the chancel-
lerie as Vasili Makroff. William F.
Mason Mccarthy ceased to exist from
that hour, at least in Russia. A mes
senger had come asking me to the
American legation at s O'Clock that
evening, without uniform These
words naturally excited my curiosity.
| wore the imperial crown on the col
lar of my uniform coat, and in that
0AOoS RebcoOo 0O WILL tuIOu&u LIS SIIGeLS
Of st. Petersburg by day or by night.
For was supposed to be all the while
on my imperial masters business.
When l got to the embassy, l learned,
to my surprise, that the minister and l
were to visit the car incognito.
General Curtin had a parcel under
his arm when we reached the palace.
and t0 INV annaxornop+ ho
ly admitted without question to the
cars private apartments. | followed
after him. The emperor at once dismiss
ed his attendants, gave us hearty hand
shakes and babe us be seated in front of
a CHEEKY coal fire in a large comforta-
BILE looking sitting room. General Cur
tin was evidently very much at home
there, and from the packet under his
arm he now produced a large black bot
tie. A servant brought lemons, crack
ed ice, a silver bowl containing a mag
niicent bunch of mint, loaf ugar YER
mouth and brandy. And ~thereupon in
my presence the American minister
gave the car lessons in the art of max
ing mint juleps and whisky cocktails.
1.-The whisky was old Monongahela
rye, sent to General Curtin from the
state of Pennsylvania, of which he had
been governor. His majesty said he had
never tasted anything SO good in his life
as the juleps, and he forthwith commits
stoned General Curtin to order for the
imperial cellars a large quantity of the
rye whisky, which he had never heard
nf until affar tho o~n.xo1 &c N--G.. =
st. Petersburg. Ten barrels of Monon-
gahela rye were shipped from Pennsyl-
vanla not long afterward to the car.
You'd never guess my part in the fes-
tivities. 1t was nothing more nor less
than telling niger stories OF course I
knew plenty of them, having been
brought up in the south in antebellum
days, and the CA never tired of hear
ing them. Folklore tales and the quaint
conversation between Br'er Rabbit and
Br'er Bar delighted him. Afterward,
at the czar's request, l sent to New
York for all the books of this descrip-
ton / could get.
General Curtin won the affection of
his majesty by his genial personality,
LAS AuAA VI 0AOS0ObO anu LIS uudu6CDcQ
sincerity. He would tell story after
story of American life and incident, at
many of which Alexander laughed as
merrily as a ~schoolboy. Il love to be
with men, he would say. Hove Amer
leans as l hate sycophants. He was
heard to say more than once that the
happiest hours of his life were those
passed in this way with General Curtin.
1.-The peculiar affection for the Unit
ed States cherished in Russia, in spite
of the Russians dislike for foreigners
in general, is a national, a religious
sentiment. In every Russian church the
visitor is impressed-if an American he
is astounded-by the prominent posi-
ton in which he beholds three great
portraits displayed with reverence and
deep significance. The first is that of
Peter the Great, the father of Russia,
as we know it. The second is that of
Abraham Lincoln, the liberator. The
third is that of Alexander. That was
an evening to be treasured up in mem
ory. New York Sun.