Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-02
THE CARS FAMILY AT HOME
Czarina is a Most Gracious Hostess,
but Serious-M Minded.
FIVE YEAR-oL LAD IS THE BOSS
FOrmer Lady in Waiting Tells Of n
Visit 60 TsarskOe-seIo-Finds
Four Daughters Dignined and
All of Family Friendly.

ST. PETERSBURG, May 1T is the
czarina's custom to keep in touch with
those OF her ladies who have married and
left her service. At this Easter season
each year her majesty sets apart some
days for receiving the visits of former
danes dhonneur, hearing the news OF
their families and for an hour or two re-
living old companionships. The writer has
Just met one who has paid her annual
private visit to court. Stories have reached
here from abroad representing the czarina
as wholly broken in health. mind and
spirit by the gloomy oppression of the
courts secluded life. This lady's experience
OF an afternoon visit to the cars family
is first-hand evidence on the subject.
When she arrived at the little palace OF
Tsarskoe-Selo-a mansion no larger than
any rich family might occupy and not to
be COMPOUNDED with the great palace half
a mile away, which is used only for state
purposes-the first of the
Romanoffs that she saw was the cars
daughter, the 13-year-old Grand Duchess
Olga, a serious-faced girl, tall for her age.
already almost her fathers height. AS she
LED the visitor to the czarina's private
apartments she told her that her mother
was resting on a sofa to ease a pain on
her left side. In the first minute or two
OF her meeting with the empress the latter
was visibly suffering. but her welcome
was quite cordial and her animation came
HAturally as the conversation developed.
Looks Old
One would say that the empress now
looks decidedly more than her 81 years.
She has become stouter than most matrons
OF 40 are, moves rather heavily, and her
skin has a habitual. high-colored under
flush, such as is noticed often in people
whose heart action is not satisfactory.
Moreover, her expression and pose of fea-
lures, always rather austere, have taken
a fixed seriousness which is tracing lines
\ on her face.
Yet the czarina was a considerable and
resourceful hostess. Other visitors came,
also former ladies in waiting. Her majesty
played piano duets with one of them. and
she sang in English and Russian. The i'm
perial children were brought In. The girls
have a range of education far beyond what
one would expect at their age. Their talk
with each other is usually carried on in
English, the language In which the car
paid court to their mother when she was
Princess Alice OF Hesse. The czarina, how
ever, has acquired perfect proficiency in
Russian, an achievement which the dow
aeer empress, Marie Feodorovna, although
It is well over forty years since she be-
came consort to a car Of Russia, has
never reached. The dowager scarcely
speaks Russian at all; mostly French. and
sometimes English.
The czar's daughters, as my informant
noticed, never let you forget that they
are grand duchesses,'' but they are not
fcTgetful of the feelings of others. Their
mother makes them work hard at their
books-history, geography. literature and
languages; so far none of them has shown
their mothers taste and aptitude for music.
Even when their hair is getting brushed
they are kept talking 'lessons'' witt one
or other of their governesses. There has
never been any trouble with them on the
score of good behavior; one after another.
= as they grow up, become quiet, obedient.
affectionate girls-dignified and undemon-
~strative.
1t is only TO their little brother "AlIos-
cha"-as everyone calls the 5-year-old
Czarevitch Alexis-that the entire impe-
rial family unbends with a will. His favor
lite toy is a drum about half as big as
himself. With 1t strapped on him as on
a regimental bandsman, he goes humping
and marching along the corridors of the
palace. followed in military step by his
! four sisters in Indian file, his Amazon
army. He has abundant animal spirits.
it is only now that a governess is being en-
gagged for him; hitherto his upbringing,
outside OF his family and nurses, has been
entrusted to a herculean, good natured
sailor from the yacht Standait, whom
Alexis himself chose as his playmate. The
two elder girls take their meals daily with
the car and czarina.
The private sorrows of an empress are
a fine theme for romantic speculation, but
it lie a certainty that Czarina Alexandra
has no cause for the chief grief that the
drama of history has ascribed to the con-
sorts of absolute monarchs. Her husband
- devotedly loyal to her and always has