The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-08
IN PALACE OF A KING
HOUSE IN WHICH osCAn OF sWE-
DEN LIVES is AN INIPOS-
ING EDIFICE
SEVERE IN IT'S SIMPLICITY
Ruler of PeninsuIar Kingdom De.
scribed as Democratic Person
Who Is Accessible to All
z!is Subjects.

The royal palace at Stockholm is the.
largest building in the kingdom and the
most imposing. 1t is severe in it's sim
pIlclty, says William E. Curtis in the Chi
cago Record-Herald, and almost entirely
without exterior embellishments except a
low balustrade that runs around the edge
OF the roof. 1t is built upon a rock in
the midst of the waters that divide the
city, and rises above the surrounding
buildings as if conscious of it's own dig
nifty and Importance. The style of arch1-
lecture is described in the guide book as
the Italian, Renaissance, but there is
very little of the Italian about it, and
1t was designed by a Frenchman after
the old palace, which formerly stood In
Its place, was destroyed by fire in 1897,
but was not entirely fin shed until 1853
1t is almost square, 34S by S72 feet In
size, and surrounds a quadrangle. Two
wings, which reach to the second story,
extend from the eastern side and inclose
a terrace planted with shrubs and flow
ers, upon which the apartments of the
king and queen and the crown prince and
his family open. This gives them an OPP
portunity to breathe the fresh air without
going into the streets, but it is very
limited, and their terrace is perhaps the
most public place in all Stockholm where
the noise of the street traffic, the music
from neighbOring cafe, the smoke from
a dozen steamers that are moored only
200 feet away and the confusion of load
ing and unloading cargo destroy all pri-
vacy.
One side of the palace is devoted TO
state apartments. There Is long series
of audience chambers, reception rooms,
ball rooms and dining rooms beautifully
decorated by French artists in the first
part of the eighteenth century, hung
with acres of priceless tapestries and fill
ed with cabinets that contain the accum-
ulated bric-a-brac of several hundred
years. The great ball room, which 1s
known as "the White Sea-" because 1t is
finished in ivory and gold, is one of the
finest apartments in Europe. The throne
room, where his majesty receives the par
Lament twice a year In crown and royal
robes, seated in a. silver chair under a
canopy of blue velvet, is also imposing
and the decorations are particularly fine
The state dining room is $50 feet long and
narrow, and the walls are hung with
tapestries representing the adventures or
Don Qudxote. The crystal chandeliers are
beautiful, and are said to be the finest
in Europe. The robing rooms, a series Of
eight or ten in number, that are used
for coats and hats during state dinners
sleeping apartments, and in one of them
the great Bernadotte died. -
The council chamber, where the king
holds conferences with his ministers two
or three times a. week. is rather map
propriately decorated, for the frescoes
upon the ceiling represent Venus in all
sorts of lascivious attitudes ana i'm.
modest costumes, and in one corner is a
recumbent figure of the Goddess of Love
in marble that ought to make the king
and all his cabinet blush. The council
chamber is connected with series OF
audience chambers and anterooms used
for ceremonial purposes, with Gobelin
tapestries upon the walls and ship loads
of bronzeS and porcelain ornaments.
On the other size of the quadrangle are
the guests chambers, where kings are
kept when they come to visit Stockholm,
but they would be much more comfort,
able at any of the hotels. Nearly every
sovereign in Europe for two centuries
has been entertained there, and the at
tendant who shows people around recites
with great qualification catalogue or
the emperors and expresses and kings
and queens who have slept in each par
ticular bed. A king who Is accustomed
to comforts and luxuries would make his
stay in Stockholm as short as possible II
he has to occupy these apartments
The royal chapel isl within the palace
walls and connected with the state apart
ments by long corridors. The royal
family attend worship there at II ao'clock
every Sunday morning with the re-
mainder of the court and listen to o.
sermon preached by one of several state
chaplains who are attached to the &C.
clesiastical department of the govern
ment. The royal family occupy a little
gallery sheltered from observation,
where they can see and hear, but cannot
be SEEM and the king can take a. nap
during the sermon, If he likes, without
offending the sensitiveness of the preach
er. The lower part of the chapel is oc-
cupied by officers and members of the
household, and a special place is reserved
for the servants.
The church in which the kings of Swe-
deu are crowned stands outside the pal
ace, several hundred feet from it's walls,
and is dedicated to ST. Nicholas It has
a gorgeous interior for a Lutheran
church, and is fashionable place of
worship. livery Sunday morning you will
find the nobility and aristocracy of
Stockholm gathered there, and unless you
go early you will not be able to get a
seat.
Palaces are usually cold, comfortless
buildings, but the private part of the
peararce of comfort that is unusual, and
is n ore homelike than any other palace
have ever seen. The kings smoking
room, ] grieve to say, bears evidence that
he is worldly minded, for upon the walls
hang photographs of popular actresses ii
all degrees of dress and undresS, just such
as you would find in the rooms Of a
young American club man.. His work
rooms show evidences of his recent pres
ence. The walls are hung with maps an6
I photographs of naval vessels and for
| treSseS, and the book shelves are fflleC
with works. of reference in all languages
among. others the Century dictionary, ar
| English encyclopedia, an American edf.
| ton of a biographical dictionary, the
/ Statesman'S year book and the last re.
| port of Secretary Long.
| The King is off on vacation, and there.
! fore the people in charge of the palace
| allowed us greater liberties than are usu.
| ally accorded to visitors. We saw where
! he lived and where he worked and were
| permitted to have a glimpse of his every.
| day life that is denied to most people,
The most interesting room in his suite
IS that in which he holds receptions every
| tuesday morning. At 10 o'clock on that
| DAY, whenever he Is in Stockholm, he
! gives private audiences to anyone who
| has business with him, the beggar in rags
| the fal mer who has a grievance against
the government, the mechanic who is dis
satisfied with the public policy, the
stranger within the gates, the soldier of
| his army, the sailors of his fleet, the
suffering and the oppressed, and even the
servants in the palace can all have ac-
cess to the king, and the interview is held
without the presence of a third person.
| Whoever goes to the palace and enters
his name in a register in the ante-roo
can have his turn, and each is given :,
few moments to state his case The king
receives all gsaeiously and always shows
| an interest in their errands Sometimes
he diSmisseS Them Mitholit- much DELAY