Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1907-12-12
CZAR'S CHARMED LIFE.
Miraculous Escapes Of Nicholas II From
Violent Death.

yacht STANDARD was the result not of
accident, but of deliberate design
The channel where the mishap oc-
Cured is notoriously dangerous, SO
much so that the little passenger
steamers running from St. Peters
burg to the neighboring Finnish
ports, and drawing third as much
water as the imperial yacht, are
strictly forbidden to use it. This
prohibition is known to everybody in
Finland and is a matter with which
every navigating officer of the Musco.
vite navy is acquainted.
Yet in spite of this the most ex.
perienced Finnish pilot took the huge
imperial yacht into the channel at
full speed, of course ripping up her
bottom on several rocks, which, in
spite of what has been said to the
contrary, figure on every chart, Rus
sian as well as foreign. The boat
was going at the rate of fifteen
knots when she struck, and the force
was so great as to give her a heel of
twenty-four degrees. Fortunately
the sea was absolutely and phenome-
nally calm. If the ordinary fresh
Finnish weather had prevailed It
would have been matter of the ut
most difficulty to have taken off the
women. and especially the children,
in boats.
The commodore in command of the
hnnt tho fni ~ hot
cruiser of the i'll fated Baltic fleet
which managed after the victory OF
Admiral Togo to escape northward
and to convey TO Vladivostok the first
news of the destruction of the Rus.
sian armada in the Sea of Tsushima:
The arrival of that one battle Scared,
storm beaten cruiser in the bay at
Vladivostok in view of the crowds
assembled on the neighborng heights
to witness the advent of the great
Muscovite feet which they had hoped
would break the naval power of ia.
pan, turn the tide of the war and
transform defeat into victory, but
which proved to b. such a messenger
OF evil, has furnished the insDiratOn
of several striking marine paintings.
The Cars escapes, so far as they
are known to the public, have been,
to say the least, dramatic and we'll
nigh miraculous, and there are many
others which from motives of policy
have remained shrouded in mystery.
One of the most sensational was the
u rnpk of tho rnrio1 Cnnptnl IN,
at Borki. in October, 1888, when the
destruction was so complete that it
seemed inconceivable that any one
could have escaped alive. Twenty
one were killed outright, including
several of the servants, who were in,
the act of serving dishes to the late
Car, seated with his wife and his
children at dinner. Grand Duchess
Olga's nurse was found with her skull
holding tightly clasped in
her arms the child, whose only injury,
beyond the terrible shock to her ner-
vous system, was caused by a dinner
fork, the prongs of which had pene-
trated deeply into her arm. Alex
andcr III also sustained some slight
injuries, but the present Emperor,
then lad Of twenty, suffered no
harm at all. | need hardly add that
the destruction of the imperial train
at Borki was nothing more nor less
than a carefully organized attempt
to wipe out of existence at one blow
the late Emperor and all his children,
for InaIlv
been selected for the purpose than
that where the wreck took place.
Then there was that attempt upon
the life of the present Car in ia
pan, when a crazed and fanatic ia
panese eX-nohle struck at him with
one of those terrible old two-handed
Japanese swords. the blades of which
are so keen and so finely tempered
that they will slice without effort a
silken handkerchief thrown up into
the air, and cut through tissue and
bone, int1icting the most frightful
Nicholas, thanks to the in
of his cousin, Prince
George of Greece, who hit the would
be assassin terrific blow on the
head with his heavy walking stick,
with a glancing wound on
the head. Had the sword struck
rue, and had it not been for Prince
Georges interference, it must have
left the head of Nicholas to the
hin.
Then two years ago, when the En- I
Deror. the Empress and his other !
'elatives were presiding at the cere- /
nony of the blessing of the waters
IF the Neva, the guns used in firing !
he salutes across the stream from
he opposite bank were found to be /
oaded with shrapnel instead of blank
and several members Of
he imperial encourage standing in
he immediate vicinity OF the Gear
md Czarina were struck, while many
If the windows of the Winter Palace,
including the two at which the i'm
)erial children were standing to wit
less the ceremony. were shattered.
Now we have the wreck of the yacht
Standard. Truly the escapes of the
present Emperor OF Russia from vio-
ent death may be described as mi
'aculous. .--Marquise De Fontenoy, in
Tew York Tribune.