The Opelousas courier., 1903-05-09
WIN RoYALTlES
How Kings Change Their Place Z
Abode.

How Kings Change Their Place Z
Abode.
Kings like their humber subjects,
frequently have occasion to cnange
their place of abode, even though II
may only be to n of the other royal
palaces already furnished with every
comfort a monarch a desire. never
theless there are q hundred m n
articles required for daily use Wnlch
he king takes with him wherever ne
goes, and consequently moving Is al
ways a function of considerable I'M
portance in the eyes Of the officials at
Windsor.
It is not generally known that an
inventory consisting of sixty volumes
contains a full description OF every
article at Windsor, from the solld
| gold dinner service valued at tSou,-
600. down to the smallest hearth rug.
It was compiled at Queen Victoria S
behest some years ago, and is always
called into requisition on these occa-
sions.
In the castle workshop the packing
cases have been made by a stan I
carpenters, and under the supervision
Of an inspector who Is directly re"
sponsible to the master of the louise
hold for their safety, the articles are
hacked by the royal servants, and not
by outside workmen. In the 1nVen-
tory every. article has a number, SO
each case as it is packed is sealed
and ticketed with the numbers OF the
| items it contains before being placed
in the vans, In this way it is impos-
sible for any one to detect which cases
contain ~valuables.
King Edward is very methodical,
and not infrequently superintends
the packing in person. Whenever
he goes into residence elsewhere ne
insists on taking several small chests
of drawers, tables, desks, ETC., con
tanning his private papers, besides
favorite inkstands, pen trays ano
ether knick-knacks which he likes tc
see about him. In addition severa.
thousand pounds worth of plate and
china have to be taken for dinner
parties, all of which must be most
carefully packed, especially as among
the crockery plates valued at 95t
apiece are numbered, and 1t says
much for the abilities Of the roya
packers that a breakage is very sci
dom recorded. Each case is checked
three times during the journey-or
being placed in the van, when trans
ferred to the train and on arrival at 1t:
destination. A servant who acts al
a detective is sent by the train as al
ordinary passenger.
The king admits a fad for collect
ing walking sticks, and his collection
numbers over a thousand specimens
at least a score of which he will wan
to take with him. It is not often tina
he uses the same stick on two con
%secutive days, and he makes a point o
personally selecting the sticks h
wishes to be packed. Yet no grea
amount of preparation is necessar,
for the royal fitting; indeed, tn
packing is rarely begun till two day
beforehand.
Some sovereigns are very particr
lar as to their moving and canno
bear strange surroundings. In
: kaiser is one of these, and when h
goes into residence elsewhere ever
> article in his study at Potsdam-
: even to the pictures and knick-knack
with which his eye is familiar-goe
with him, and is so eXpeditiousl
l packed and unpacked that his ROOF
: is never long in a state of chaos
: Other monarchs dave similar whim'
: as, for instance, the king of the Be
x CLANS, who cannot sleep in a strang
bed, and the Emperor of Austria, VIII
!. insists on dining at the same tabl
= wherever he may ne, but he strongl
= objects to using a ~tablecloth, this i
perhaps excusable.
The most difficult monarch |
, "move" is undoubtedly the car, an
> the transfer of his fittings from til
winter palace to Livadia is always
. matter of enormous preparation, an
|. in consequence is not often unde
Il taken. All the furniture in ever
= room, with very few exceptions,
moved bodily, even down to the ca
, pets and the greater part of his
= brary, consisting of 10000 volume
. makes the journey also. The cor
!, fort of the royal children, too, is vel
:. carefully studied, the toys and entil
= contents of the nursery being move
. enmasse to the new residence, if on
:. for a stay covering a few weeks.-T
: Bits.