Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-05-01

took up his residence at court i
was commonly reported that he wa.
worth S5,000,00O Ten years latel
he owned 100000 acres of land
twenty palaces and 10000 slaves
and was reputed to have an incom,
of $20,000,00O a year Catherine
made him prince of the Tauria
grand admiral of the Euxine anc
presented him with a magnificent
marble palace at st. Petersburg,
the same Tauride palace in which
the recent douma held its sessions
He grew richer and richer, and final.
ly accumulated SO much money that
he found it utterly out of the ques.
tion to spend it.
But when Catherine set out upon
her historical journey through the
Crlmea, even Patiomkin managed tc
make an appreciable dent in his for.
tune. The arrangements for the
trip were placed in his hands and
he made it one long, glittering revel
At his own expense he constructed
800 miles of road and provided
sleighs for the entire court.
Catherine's own sleigh was large
enough to hold eight persons. In il
the empress dined and slept, and
each evening the curtains were let
down, fires we're lighted and she en-
tertained her travelling companions
at cards. Thirty horses drew this
gigantic conveyance and there were
fresh relays every five miles. It is
estimated that the mere transporta.
ton Of the court cost Patiomkin
100000.
But that was not all, by any
means. Besides hauling the queen
and her friends he had to entertain
them. And so there were halts
every few days to enjoy vast festiv-
tiles.
1t took-twenty-one days to reach
Kief, where Catherine took ship on
the rivers Borysthenes and Dnieper
for the lower Crimea. Patiomkin
provided eighty of the largest ships
he could find, and each one had a
band aboard. Every member Of
the party was given a stateroom and
a sitting room, both hung with silk,
and for Catherine herself there was
an entire ship. In all, 5000 servants
were needed to look after the travel
ers, not to speak of 5000 sailors and
10000 soldiers. Patiomkin paid all
bills.
"on the slow voyage down the
river" says historian, "the most
wonderful sights presented them
selves, which led those who gazed
on them in surprise to imagine that
they were really witnessing splendid
theatrical ,tableaux. For every.
where they stopped they saw, not
the dreary and arid desert they
expected, but prairies covered with
herds of sheep and goats, attended
by shepherds playing on pipes, in
the foreground of which rose
picturesque villages and towns, peo-
pied, not by the old, but by youths and
maidens brightly dressed, who trip
ped down to the shore as they
might TO the footlights, singing the
quaint airs of their native land.
cat every stopping place the
same scene animated with people
strikingly alike was presented, the
explanation being that Patiomkin
had by his all powerful will, forced
these people to betake themselves to
the shores of the river, SO that in
passing, the empress and her guests
might see, not deserted plain, but
happy villages, with loyal people
ready to welcome and acclaim her.
No sooner had her majesty's galleys
moved onward than these people,
taking crossroads by night, trans.
ported themselves to the next paste
board village on her route, and went
through the same performance, rush
ing down to the shore and singing
their native songs.
ut is stated that over 1000
villages in Little Russia were in this
way depopuiated of their inhabitants
and of their flocks, to station them.
selves on the river, and that in their
long journey homeward many Of
them died Of fatigue"