The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-03-20
Gar NICHOLAS
IS A FREE MAN
He Appears on Streets of st.
Petersburg Without Guard
HAS AN EARLY ROMANCE
RussiOn Author Give Interesting In
side Story of the Rulers Unfor-
tunate Love AHair-sald
to Be Authentic

st. Petersburg, March 19.-(Special)-
The change which has taken place in
Russia of recent years is more clearly de-
monstrated by the freedom of the ezar
than by any other one thing For years
it has been the custom to picture his
imperial majesty as practically a prison.
er. hardly daring to eat until the food
had been first analysed for poison, and
not daring to go out from the palace
unless guarded as carefully as a carload
of gold might have been guarded.
But these days the car is almost as
free in his movements as President Taft
or King Edward of England, who are
perhaps the freest of all earth's rulers.
Nearly every day now his subjects see
him driving without escort in the streets
of st. Petersburg, and none of the usual
precautions are taken for his safety.
A few days ago several people saw his
majesty, in the uniform of colonel of
the Imperial guard, walking on the Neva
quay, gaily conversing with an officer of
his household.
| The car later went shopping and
bought, without being recognized, gloves
and sweets. He is in the best of spirits
and seems really delighted with his re-
covered freedom. But the police are In
| despair and it is even reported that the
| chief of the secret police asked his
majesty on his knees not to expose his
| life in this manner but the car answered
that he had confidence In his people and
that the Almighty would protect him
| from attempts of anarchists and fanatics
He said he was convinced that the revo-
lutionary socialists did not wish to MUIR
der him.
| The well-known Russian author, M Sy-
| dakoff, has just published the first
volume of a series of books dealing with
Russian contemporary history. and this
| first installment throws an interesting
| light on the early life Of the present czar.
| The author deals at some length with an
early love affair which Is said to have
caused great pain and suffering to all
parties by reason of its unfortunate ma
ture. The lady concerned was a girl of
Jewish descent named Rajssa Kagan, the
daughter of a governments contractor At
| the age of II she was celebrated as a
beauty, and courted by some of the high
| est In the land, including the Grand
| Duke Paul. uncle of the present Gear
Nicholas. The Grand Duke on one oc-
cason took his nephew to one of the
lady's receptions and no sooner did the
with her. The girl evidently reciprocated
| the sentiment, and the same evening the
young man succeeded In meeting the
beautiful Jewess In the conservatory of
her fathers house. where he frankly de-
| clared his passion and swore that he
would never marry anyone else.
| At about this time the Empress Marie
Feodorovna was attempting to secure a
| suitable bride for the future car, and
| her choice fell upon the Princess Alice
| of Hesse, but when the matter was
| preached to the young man he refused
| to hear of any such match, declaring
| that his troth was already plighted. A
| stormy interview followed between the czar
| and his son, as a result of which, alarmed
| at the turn events had taken, the lad
agreed to respect his fathers wishes, his
| last remonstrance being silenced by the
threat that II the affair were not I'M
mediately dropped the contractor and his
daughter would be sent to Siberia in
exile. When news of what had hap
pened reached the young Jewess she
made desperate attempt to commit sui
| eide. Hearing of this, the young man
| hurried to her house, and a heartrending
scene ensued. the girl again attempting
| to take her life.
| violent scene followed between the
car and his son. and 1t was eventually
decided that the young man should travel
| for year. on the condition that during
his absence no steps should be taken in
| the matter of his love affair. Scarcely
| had he left Russia, however, when a
| compact was entered into by which the
contractor, Kagan. arranged to marry
| his daughter to certain state official of
importance, and when the unhappy
Prince Nicholas returned from his travels
he found the marriage already a "fait
aocompli." His marriage with the Prin-
cess Alice was celebrated some little time
| afterwards. The author vouches for the
details of the affair. in many instances