The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-07
JULEPS WITH THE CAR.
GEN. oURTIN,s WAY OF PLEASING
AN EMPEROR.

- hhUNNtuINCtuCe OF btptbNahNA
der II. or Russ,a-Tho CSnr q Keen Lever
OF DnrLs Anecdete ana Diaiect-Tcn Barrcis
or American whtakey for Hts Cellars.
ut was in Paris" said Col.'W. +. NJ. Me-
Carthy Of this city, that 1 became acquainted
with an aide Of the Car Alexander H. rho
Russians are greatly Interested In applied
chemistry aud novel mechanical devices Tor
warfare. l had some ideas on these subjects
which nm aide asked mo to put before his SUI
poriors. The Grand Duke Constantine wns
there and I was presented to him. Our inter
views finally led to my going to st. Petcrsourg'
where l was presented TO the Gar himself.
81 first met the Emperor in tho Winter Palace
one morning at o o'clock. Ho was an early
riser, and the machinery Of the court was all in
operation by that hour. His Majesty received
me kindly ard at once put mo at my ease. 1
love Americans he said with q smile, and l
soon learned that this was true. Andrew u.
Curtin OF Pennsylvania was thon Minister
from tho United States sat the imperial court,
and there was nobody in whose society the Gear
took more satisfaction.
III never forget tho mysterious GRAND upon
which I was despatched one cold and stormy
night by, and 1 may say with, Gen. Curtin, as
he was universally called in st. Petersburg.
My entry into the EmpeTor's secret service
had by that time become an accomplished fact.
1 had become q Russian, had sworn allegiance
to the Car, spiritual and temporal, and had
been entered on tho official list Of the chanoel-
lerie as Vasili Makroh. William #. Mason
Mccarthy ceased to exist from that hour, at
least in Russia. A messenger had come asking
me to the American Legation at 8 o'clock that
evening, without uniform These words
naturally excited my curiosity. wore the i'm
pcrial crown on the collar Of my uniform coat,
and in that dress passed at will through the
streets of st. Petersburg, by day or by night.
For l was supposed to be all the while on my
imperial masters business. When I got to.the
embassy learned TO my surprise that the
Minister and l were to visit the Car incognito.
Gen. Curtin had n parcel under his arm
, whom we reached the palace, and to my amaze
ment he was promptly admitted, without qucs-
ton, to the Cars private apartments. / fol.
lowed after him. The Emperor at once dis.
missed his attendants, gave us hearty hand
shakes and babe us'bc seated in front of n CHEEKY
coals fire in n large comfortable-looking sitting
room. Gen. Curtin was evidently very much at
home therc, and from the packet under his arm
he now produced a large black bottle. A ser.
want brought lemons, cracked ice, a silver bowl
containing a magnificent bunch Of mint, loaf
sugar, Vermont and brandy. And thereupon
in my presence the American Minister gave the
Gar lessons in the art of making mint juleps
and whiskey cocktails.
THE whiskcy was old Monongahcla rye. sent to
! Gen. Curtin from the State of Pennsylvania, of
which he had been Governor. His Majesty said
he had nercr tasted anything so good in his
life Us the juleps, and he forthwith commissioned
Gen. Curtin to order for the imperial cellars a
large quantity of the rye whiskey, which he had
never heard OF until after the arrival of Curtin
in st. Petersburg. Ten barrels of Monongahela
rye were shipped from Pennsylvania not long
aftCrward to the Gar. You'd never guess my
part, in the festivities. 1t was nothing more
| knew plenty OF them, having been brought up
in the South in ante-bcllum days, and the Gar
a aeSSef the btfea quaint al he canVersa ahem' bs eo,Etore ia 5n r!ss
rabbit and Br'er Bar delighted him. After.
for ali at ths The so Sksr Of f fS|s Sssc ! SsRs to I S Gould i sst.
Gen. Curtin won the affection of his Majesty
by his genial personality. his fund Of a~necdote,
at many Of which Alexander laughed as
plants; He was heard to say, more than
those passed In this way with Gen. Curtin.
The peculiar affection for the United States
dislike for foreigners in general, is a national. a
religious sentiment. In every Russian church
astounded- by the prominent position in which
ae beholds three, great portraits. displayed with
that, Of Peter the Great, the father OF Russia His. as IS
we know it. The second is that of Abraham
cxander. That was an evening to be treas.
mEea up in memory, But ! spent one mornin-
wy used use to report ptS to his Majesty ajost " for "rders
every morning At 8. This particular morning,
TO accompany him out into the palace grounds.
which cover, suppose, the equivalent of about
four four N SiNi,t York k. city blocks !, II , was lust then
were suspected on all sides. AS VIC walked
that the Silvertown Cable Company proposed.
through a representative sent for that purpose
palace by a steel barrier, which was to be
charged with powerful alternating currents Of
upon favorably, and the company agent had
been authorized TO build an experimental sec
mont of Destruction, bby but littIe u ind rs~ shSi had
more than once been hurled over the walls from
tho street and exploded som minutes there.
after by n time fuse.
Many innocent passers.by had lost their lives
from the explosion and sections of the wall had
been thrown down, the culprits escaping to n
safe distance. before the fuse burned down to
the bomb. The nearer approach of these mis-.
creants was to be apprehended by digging I'M
der the walls or burrowing up through the sew.
crs or lands. II this company's device would
render it impossible to tunnel under the walls
the imperial Government would undoubtedly
pay a large sum OF money for 1t. Russia is
900 rubics, about $4,000. All this i learned
I'VE found the barrier buried fifteen feet un.
dor ground, reaching to within a foot, perhaps
of the surface. II was in turn inclosed in a
wooden box. and the earth over IL was packed
so as to leave no indication of its presence.
Four powerful dynamos were erected in
the palace grounds. Their currents were con.
vcycd to the barrier. which was in turn so con
nected with an elaborate system of alarm gongs
in the palace that contact with the steel net
work would not only be fatal to the person
touching it, but would at the same instant sound
the alarm in the palace.
''The Car, in n few words, asked me to make
him an expert report on it. I agreed to pass
the barrier without difficulty, provided he
would allow me to use two or three laborers
and the ordinary tools of an electrician. He
agreed. 4 couple of labOrers were sent at
once to dig out the earth from the trench in
which the barrier was buried, exposing an area
four or five feet square of the Enclosing box.
With Il tcnon saw ! now cut out a circular
section, some four feet across from the box, eX-
posing the steel netting within. The Car all
the while stood looking on.
From tho kit OF electrical tools I took some