Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-02-02
COMPLAINTS OF STRIKERS
ARE HEARD BY RUS
S|A'S RULER

place for reasons OF convenience. The
kremlin is kept in readiness for its
imperial tenant, and he spends few
weeks there at intervals each year.
in order TO crafty the loyal subjects
in the noly city, Our Mother Mos
COW" In some respects 1t is the fin
est residence of any of the sovereigns
of Europe-not so immense as the
winter palace at St Petersburg. but
richer and more majestic. and some OF
the rooms, notably the halls of the
Order of ST. George, the Order OF st.
Alexander Nevski and the Orders of
St. Andrew and St Catherine. are
without doubt the finest in the world.
The first named is 200 feet long AMI
6S feet wide and the ceiling Is fifty
eight feet from the floor. These
rooms are seldom used except at a
funeral or a coronation. There are hu-
merous otner state apartments fin
ished and furnished with harbaric
splendor five and six hundred years
ago, much gold and silver and many
Gold was once so plentiful in Russia
thar it was spread over the walls OF
palace; jewels were 80 enormous
that they were imbedded as orna-
ments in doors, mantels, chandeliers,
stoves and furniture, while silver was
used as We use wood for tables, pic
ture frames, balustrades. chandeliers,
cabinets and thrones.
The throne of Ivan the Terrible.
for example Is made of solid silver.
ornamented with gold and studded
which is still. on exhibition. was de
scribed by a writer of the ffteentn
century as seeming to be one sheet
of diamonds. while his neck collar,
the bands of his sleeves and the
train that he drew behind him were
within of sable and without OF uni
form pearls like large drops OF water
of the purest whiteness. each being
of the value OF a male slave" This
mantel can be seen any day between
the hours of 10 and 3 in the treasury
and the ancient writer did not exag-
gerate its richness.
According to popular opinion there
is in the Kremlin enough useless
| treasure 10 pay the public debt OF
Russia; and in the churches and pal
aces enough gold and jewels to build
a schoolhouse in every village and
give an education to every child in
the empire. The czar has twenty-one
city and country palaces-all OF them
| sumptuously furnished and filled with
| costly plate and ornaments-but the
palace of the Kremlin surpasses them
all for the richness, value and unique
ness of its treasures. The palace of
| the holy synod, which is the official
residence of the metropolitan of the
cred treasures of similar value. The
collection of the pontifical robes dates
hack to the tenth and eleventh GEN.
| turtles, and they are ornamented with
rare and valuable jewels. The dia-
moni in the miter of a metropolitan
who lived in the fifteenth century Is
valued at s25O,OO0 and in another Is
| what Is claimed to be the finest
sapphire in the world. valued at $780,
900 The priest who showed these
-.Gngs 20 me few years ago told me
in naive way thai he did not believe
II ere was money enough in all the
universe to replace the jewels which
were spread before our eyes, and that
it would be impossible to duplicate
to pay the bill. He showed me a ring
set with a cameo head of the prophet
Daniel which, he assured us, was
made for the king Belshazzar. and an
alabaster vase said to contain the
ointment that remained after Mary
had bat'ned the feet of the Savior
That is the chrism brought from Con
stantinople after the division Of the
Christian church and from 1t is TAX
en- the oil from which the czars are
annonted. One drop is used at the
coronation Of each czar. and no more
and it is replaced with an equa
quantity of oil, so that the precious
ointment never grows less.
In ancient times 1t was customary
for the czar to atone for rheir sim