The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-01-24

| wonder he says, If the secrets of the
| imperial kitchen were known.
These are managed with 1nexpressi-
| BILE disorder and are unsanitary beyond
belief. Their unhygienic condition is
only eQualed by their dishonesty anu
| extravaganza.
The alleged prince writes that Cen
| eral lyric, brother of q former minister
He was fearful1y ILL
Where have you been dining?" ask
ed the doctor.
"I had luncheon with the car yes
terday, and I came right home and
went to bed 1 was SO ILL.," was the an
swer.
The doctor treated him for ptomaine
poisoning and pulled him through.
The cars table is financed on scale
of enormous extraxaganee.E Each dish
provided is put down at ten rubles, or
about IS, and each single article of food
counts as a DISH though it may be only
few olives or a bunch of celery At
great state dinners the figuring is still
higher.
For instance, If there are 500 covers
set and lobster patties are on the menu,
the account put in will be for 800 Holsters
at four rubles apiece, though one lob
ster easily suffices for four or five
guests Or if ducks from Rouen are
provided, 500 ducks are paid for at five
| rub!es apiece, though each duck affords
AOuA pOIl LUIS.
| Withal the Holsters are apt to be of
doubtful freshness and the ducks do
| not come from Rouep. The champagne
! which is served on these great occas-
| ions. except perhaps at the imperial
| table, is sure to masquerade as the
choicest brand in the imperial cellars,
but the real quality is worse than sus-
picious.
There Is man in ST. Petersburg who
] is Famous for his dinners and his wine.
AS he is not wealthy, his friends won
der how he does it. One day the writer
| solved the mystery.
| He was sitting in a cafe with the din
| hef glVer, when servant in court liv-
cry popped his head in at a rear door
| ana beckoned. The prince thought the
| signal was for him, but the dinner giver
put in with dry laugh:
| Never mind. That is my purveyor
| general. He has something for me
Wen have good wine to drink his
majesty's health in tonight
Ihey went out into a rear corridor
| where they found the servant had a big
| basket. 1t contained twenty bottles OF
| the nnest wines, which the dinner giver
paid for at from so kopecks to a ruble
a bottle and then sent them to his
| mouse by public porter.
1t was far from a unique case. 4
| regular traffic in choice delicacies, in
| cIudlng fruit, poultry and confection-
cry, is constantly going on between the
cars pantry and the back doors OF
eplcures of the capital, some of whom
| are well able to pay for their supplies
at market prices, but who have the in
| grained Russian love of graft.
The table ware is also taken out of
the palace and sold by kitchen servants
ana walters. In the reign of Alexander
Ill his artist friend, Bogoluboff. prowI-
ing about in search of curios, came on
I n
with the imperial arms and MONOGRAM
| IN junk shop. He bought it for a
trlhe, and then the dealer said:
Ii you care for rubbish of that sort
L can get you lots of it,"
DO, by all means" said Bogoluboff.
| In few weeks he had accumulated
| several dozen specimens of the china
and glassware, all stolen from Tsarkoe
| Selo One day he asked the car to
come and see his newest curios
| Inc car was enraged when the mat
ter was explained to him. There was
considerable clearing out of servants
| ana the police grabbed the old Junk
| dealer. Then Alexander devised a plar
to prevent further looting.
He ordered that a catalogue of every
article in the palace be prepared so that
the imperial property could be checked
| up at intervals. In Russia there is al
! ways way to carry out a reform in
! ~ Ca eiAlSe ana peal II In effect. The
| palace OFFICIALS selected a nice learned
old man to make the catalogue, an au-
thor named Gregorowitz He is dead
| and the car is dead and Bogoluboff is
dead, but the catalogue is still unfin-
! ished.
| One day the writer saw a painting
f! with the imperial stamp of the Her
/ m1tage Museum on it for sale for
rubles in secondhand furniture store
| He made some discreet inquiries and
the guardians of the museum told him
that it was very hard to keep the pic
lures Grand dukes and court officials
a and ministers had a habit Of borrowing