Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-10-31

| NeoA "a tuhh hHioi III 6iONoos
as If he had been detailed to serve
as an orderly to the dead emperor
The soldiers who fought in Napole-
on's armies are all dead long ago,
and their places are now taken by
the oldest veterans from the soldiers
home.
The monument to Alexander II. Is
one OF the finest structures of the
kind erected within recent years. and
compares favorably with that to the
memory of Kaiser Wilhelm the Great
In Berlin
The palace of the car of Moscow
Is splendid building, an approprI-
ate residence for the ruler of the
most populous of nations. and three
of its halls. dedicate1 to the three
orders of Russian Knighthood-Alex
ander Nevskol, st. George and St
Andrew are considered the finest
apartments in Europe The hall of
st. George is 200 by 26s feet In size.
that of Alexander 1O3 by 16S feet,
and that of St. Andrew l60 by l6s
feet. The Hall of st. George is
lighted by 5000 electric candles of
st. Andrew by 2,O95 and Alexander
Hall by $500.
| What is known as the treasury con
tains probably a larger value of per-
sonal adornments and pricely baub-
les than has ever been assembled
elsewhere. For 500 years it has been
the custom for almost every success
sive Gar Of Russia to have new
throne. new crown and new scep-
| In Of %
ders to which he belongs These
are used only at the cornation. which
always takes place in the Kremlin
At the close of the ceremony they
are placed in the treasury. with the
valuable gifts received by each par
ticular czar at the time of his corona.
tion and during his reign from his
| fellow sovereign or other persons
| Thus in the treasury you have an
epitome of the history of the Rus
| sian Empire written in gold. silver
and precious stones
| cannot take the time To enumer-
ate the wonderful and beautiful col
| lection. II would require a volume
to do 1t Justice. There is u success
| sion of crowns upon pedestals stand
| ms Nht empty tHlOUth III
those who wore them; also the crowns
and thrones of Poland. Siberia
| Astrakan. Kazan. the Crimea and 9th
er nations which were formerly indie
pendent, but have By force of arms
been added to the Russian Empire
All are covered with jewels, some of
them among the largest and the most
precious in the world-'crowns upon
crowns, thrones upon thrones. scep-
ter upon scepters; rivers of rubies,
cascades of diamonds, oceans of
pearls" some one has said. The
present czar decided sensibly not to
have new throne, but from the
large assortment of those belonging
to his predecessors selected one
made of ivory filagree work and ex-
qnisite carving which was brought
from India in 1913, and the czarina
selected a gorgeous throne of ebony
heavily incrusted with jewels which
| was captured in Persia in 1906. 1t
| bears 876 diamonds and / 1928 rubies
besides many other stones of lesser
value.
In another room are the corona
| ton robes that have been worn by
| the several czars, of materials that
are almost priceless. A large hall
| is filed with the carriages In which
| they have ridden from one part OF
the Kermlin to another on their cor
onation days. all covered with gilt
and exquisite carving The panels
of some are painted with appropriate
pictures by famous artists OF their
| time. Others have the Russian coat
| OF arms or the monogram of the soy
| ereign for whom they were made, set
| with diamonds, rubles. sapphires.
pearls, turquoise and other precious
stones. One which belonged to Cath
crime the Great has the hubs OF the
wheels covered with entirely
Persian turquoise. Millions of dollars
are thus lying idle in the jewels
upon the carriages and ornaments.
A saddle presented by the Sultan Of
Turkey to Catherine the Great is said
to carry 100000 worth of precious
stones.
| Several large rooms are filled with
cases containing gold and silver plate
presented to the several sovereigns
Of Russia during the last five or six
centuries. They represent the high
est art and skill Of the gold and sill
yer smith OF all nations. and their
intrinsic value, were they melted
down. would be enormous. Here also
are suits OF armor worn by Russian
sovereigns in ancient days. many of
them being heavily mounted with
gold, silver and precious stones.
The largest emerald ever known
Is In the crown of Kazan. surround
ed by 100 other precious stones of
great value.
The largest ruby ever found Is in
the crown OF the Empress Anne,
which was originally made for Cath
crime l., the peasant wife of Peter
the Great, but some reason was not
used at her coronation. This ruby
was purchased at Peking in 1876 by
the Russian ambassador. 1t origin
alIy came from Burmah and is price