The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-04-12
EASTER EGG IN
RUSSIA ARE WELL
WORTH HAVING.

WRITTEN 0 THE sunday REPUBLIC.
While the craze Of giving and collecting
souvenirs on every possible occasion Is gen
| orally looked upon as being exclusively
American. yet in one respect at least Rus
sian women beat the American women out
and out.
Among the Russian aristocrats the custom
OF giving and collecting Easter eggs IS uni
ya-saiiy followed. and some women have
| carried II to an almost extravagant extent.
Both the Dowager Empress Of Russia and
the Young TsaritZa have become collectors
OF Easter eggs. and their collections In point
Of both value and extent greatly excel those
Of other wealthy Russian women. and. as
the custom is Widespread in Russia, that is
saying a good deal.
Even among the poorer classes OF Russia
Easter is always celebrated with great
pomp and ceremony. and many are the sac
rihcss which the poor peasant makes in or
der TO be able TO present his mother or his
sister or his girl with an elaborate Easter
eKE.
Among court circles Il seems that there IL
an unwrtten law, which has existed from
time imnemorial. that the reiEning Tsar
should Civ the Tssritza a. Easter egg con-
tainlng some valuable gift, which usually
takes the form OF q reproduction OF some re-
cent notable event. worked in precious
metals and Jewels.
Alexander III. the father Of the present
Tsar. never failed to observe the custom
and the RESULT IL that the Dowager Empress
has some magnificent eggs among her col
lection.
One Of the eggs given her by her hus-
band-the one she prizes more highly than
any other-is made OF ivory and contains
a miniature ship made OF solid gold. mount
ed on a beryl stone. II is said that the gold
smith spent more than nine months in max
ing Il.
Its Intrinsic value. however. IS by no
means the thing that appeals to the En-
press most.
Its true value to her lies in the fact that
It is a souvenir Of the happy termination
or what had been a most trying and anxious
ordesl for her.
II seems that the present Tsar. Nicholas
II. had a most unreasonable love AFFAIR
when a boy.
The Tsar. his father. insisted upon his
visiting the Continent. hoping that his
ardor might be somewhat cooled in that
way.
Around the world Nicholas was accord
ingly sent. and. as expected. the voyage
proved that the saying. Absence makes
the heart grow fonder." is not universally
true. FOR when the young Prince returned
his love had died out
Nevertheless. the Empress grfeved greatly
over the AFFAIR. which had been somewhat
OF a shock to society. and II was a long time
before she was really satisfied that the dan
ger was passed.
AS a souvenir OF their happy escape from
what had at one time seemed about TO end
In a royal scandal. the Tsar presented his
wife on the following Easter with the min
iature gold ship. which was 4 perfect rep
resentation OF that in which the young
Prince had made his tour Of the world.
complete in every detail. even the smallest
cable being accurately reproduced.
Among the present Tsaritza's collection Is
a large golden egg. enameled in rose color.
containing a small but perfect model Of the
state carriage in which the young couple
were driven TO the Cathedral OF Moscow on
the day OF their wedding.
The model Is made Of solid gold. with red
enamel cushions. and little silver curtains
are suspended on golden wires. while on the
panels the imperial crown Is inlaid in beau
uiul diamonds and other precious stones
ms egg was given 10 the Tsaritza at
Easter Of her coronation year.
Last year the Tsarftza received from her
husband as an Easter present a JeweIed
heart set In rare many colored stones
This heart was surrounded by twenty-five
tiny miniatures OF the members Of the Rus
Sian royal family.
The Easter egg collections OF the Empress
and the Tsaritza were exhibited at the
Paris Exposition with the rest OF the crown
jewels. and they were much admired.
In ALL the young Tsaritza has over Is
different eggs. many of them having been
given 20 her ghen she was q mere child
The collection Of the Empress Dowager IL
somewhat smaller. but contains some nine
ty-hve beautiful specimens.