The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-01-06
whenever 1t Is Possible He Disre-
CARDS Ceremony and Acts the
Part of q Plain Citizen.
VISIT TO NATIONAL FAIR
AT MINI NovGoROD HE AND THE
CZARINA WE'RE OF THE PEOPLE.
The Czarina a Woman of Strong Char
acter md Queenly Qualities
She Welcomed a Daughter.

Bigness of the physical frame is not nee
| essarily Indicative of a corresponding
mentality any more than the front of
Jove prefgures corresponding strength of
character Brain is measured by the
ounce, Drawn by the hundred-weight.
| Nicholas III, Car of all the Russiasf
is not only held to be of precarious physical
| stamina and the object of no end of So
licitous coddling by reason of his bodily
| slightness, but from the same cause is
| made deducible the view that his power
| to meet the demands of his position is
| inadequate. Light OF build as he unques-
| tionably is, Nicholas exceeds in avoirdu-
| pois, also IN inches, such as biography
ascribes to Germany's mightiest ruler,
| Frederick the Great. If caricatured in
skirts, as was the immortal son of France
| expressive of contempt for suggestiveness
| of the feminine in stature, Nicholas would
| represent a taller woman than did Ma
poleon.
1t cannot be denied that the world is
| prone to the worship of a manly man, as
exemplifed in stalwartness of form and
commanding mien. Heroes are always so
| idealzed statesmen thus fancied to be;
and many a name upon flames scroll Is
there through good Dame Nature having
most materially aided the owner of it to
become distinguished by the gift of an
imposing personality and an impressive
| voice. Nicholas has neither of these pre-
| requisites for spontaneous greatness. His
is good face; one in its habitual repose
| expressive of deep sense of the response
bilities his birth entailed upon him. His
| clear cut features could be termed classical
| in their regularity, and his general air is
that of exceeding gravity and preoccupa-
ton of mind. This enhances the popular
conviction that one so young and yet so
mature, not much more than turned into
the thirties, and presenting so serious
| countenance must be fragile. And of weak
constitution, it naturally follows that his
mental attributes should be in conformity.
| AT Mini Novgorod, the exposition, which
| Minister of Finance Witte made memorable
| as a demonstration of Russias modern
| progress, was held simultaneously with the
famous yearly fair of archaic inception
| and enabled striking comparisons between
| the old and the new. But the attraction
| to the people as a whole was the presence
| for an entire week of their imperial
| Majesties the Emperor and Empress. Their
first born the tiny Grand Duchess Olga,
| was with them, and, though admittance
within the exposition was, for the week,
| limited to the favored few-only those en-
| train, the imperial ministers and especial
| guests-there were daily drives of the
| regnant twain in open carriage through
the streets and the public reception at
the town hall, affording the commonalty
every chance of testifying to its loyalty
| nd aft Rv he nd
| of the Emperor no soldiers were ordered
to Mini for his stay. and no increase of
the force of gendarmes regularly on duty.
| These comprised mounted and foot sec
tions-policemen we would call them-and
at no time was there pretentious show
of protection or precaution Indeed, quite
the reverse. There was seemingly an alb
scnce of both.
| FORMALITY DISMISSED.
AS a matter of fact, the President of the
| United States, however republican his
ideas, would have difficulty in insuring
as little of the ostentatious as signalized
the visit of Nicholas to Mini Novgorod.
There was no escort, mounted or other
wise; no outriders or platoons of police;
no bands of music or four-horse equip
ages; nothing but an open landau with
a single span, and on the drivers seat the
coachman with the personal attendant of
the Empress by his side. Morning and
| evening during the week the imperial
| couple so passed through the unguarded
thoroughfares. the three miles between the
Kremlin-which was the temporary royal
residence--and the exposition. From the
windows, doorways and pavements the ac-
carnations of the populace greeted them,
and the recognition was as it would be In
our own country under like circumstances.
The night of the general reception at the
city hall, a spacious building with ouperbly
appointed salons and contiguous grounds.
1t looked as If the population of Mini was
by common impulse massed at the one
spot
OF the divisions in the assemblage. that
was the more interesting to the stranger
which was made up of the outer OF mere
spectators from afar, as distinguished from
the inner or immediate guests who, though,
as a matter Of course, in their best bib
and tucker, were conventionally CARRIED
and in no especial respect departed from
the fashion marking such a function at
any European court. On the other hand,
nowhere could the picturesqueness Of the
masses be exceeded than at the time in
Mini. The historic fair was in progress.
To 1t, as of yore, had come subjects from
all the Russias the Mongols and the
Manchus from Siberia. the Georgians from
the Caucasus. the Turkomen from the
Transcaspia. the Persians from the Golden
Khorassan, the Armenians from Asia
Minor, the Jew and the gentle. and what
not from out OF the vastness of an empire
whose shores are washed by score of
seas. and whose domain embraces a sixth
of the earth's surface; old merchants and
rich: young dealers and ambitious: these
representatives of the past and the pres
ent alike imbued with nationality finding
expression in garb-if naught else-gave the
color of fabric, the CLINT of tinsel and the
glow of gem. which waved. glittered and
scintillated in and from the surging back
ground of somber robed peasants. The
Kaleidoscope effect. brilliant in con-
trasting hues. was suggestive OF the In
| spirstion of those who have made Russian
AIT distinctive
| One should not go to ST. Petersburg. and
in the completely Europeanized court and
| society circles seek the Russia OF the Rus