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connection and considerable amusement was
caused during last summer when it became
known that the fruit supplied for the ban
quet breakfast given to the emperor by one
of the swell regiments Of the guards had
been purchased from Empress Friederich's
head gardener, and probably from the en-
press herself.
Grand Duchess Serge of Russia, who was
Princess Elizabeth of Hesse, and who is
the elder sister of the czarina, is,a superbly
beautiful woman, with delicately cut
features, a graceful carriage ani a COM
manding presence. She possesses many ac-
complishments, which is fortunate, for her
domestic life has been a particularly un-
happy one, but her greatest gift is that of
being a born mimic and actress, and those
qualified to judge, who have seen her as an
amateur, declare that in any rank of life
she would have won fame and a fortune
on the stage.
AS the wife of Grand Duke Sergius Alex
androvitch, uncle of the car, and the gov
ernor general of Moscow, her salon Ia one
of the most brilliant in Europe and private
theatricas, often for charitable purposes,
are a leading feature of the seasons pleas
ures. Foreign actors singers and artists
of both sexes are welcome guests of the
grand duchess, and great scandal grew out
OF lne IaCJ Il rev winters ago.
A famous star actress with whom the
duchess was particularly intimate, who was
playing a repertoire at the Moscow theater,
was suddenly taken i'll after reaching her
dressing room, and only few minutes be-
fore the beginning of the performance. 1t
was absolutely impossible for the actress to
appear, and the management was in despair.
At that moment the Grand Duchess Serge
arrived, and was told of her friends illness,
and that there could be no performance that
evening. fastening to the stage, she visited
her friend, and then, after brief conversa-
tion, announced her readiness to take the
leading part If a different play were substi-
tuted, and upon the management's pledge
that her presence and identity should be
kept secret. The leading actor was a par
ticularly handsome man, and the audience
was soon enthusiastic over the unusually
fervent love making of the hero and heroine
on the stage.
Some police or military officials, however,
recognized in the ardent actress the wife of
form him of the fact. In few minutes he
was in his box and in a few seconds more
on the stage, where, seeing him suddenly
appear, the grand duchess tainted the cur
tain was rung down, and his royal highness,
never ld-mannered man, read the riot
act in unmeasured terms, and in the palace
Of the governor general that night there was
an unrehearsed domestic drama, the echoes
of which reached st. Petersburg and which
is said to have been the direct cause Of the
recent recall to the Russian capital.
Another royal amateur actress is the
queen of Holland, and Wilhelmna's chief
hobby is the stage and acting. A few years
ago Queen Wilhelmina had a perfect little
theater built for her own use at her resi-
dence at Het Loo, where plays are per-
| formed under her direction with herself and
| friends in the lnadinrr rnlns