Daily Kennebec journal., 1911-08-02

Dimitri the Don. The tombs OF the
, wives of several of Russias rulers are
/ here under the care or the nuns, the
ma a1ority of whom are OF noble Russ
| ian families. The French soldiers used
part of the building during Napole-
1 on's stay in Moscow and as was the
custom of that great warrior every
where, he ordered the destruction OF
some of the most expensive mural
decorations. These have in measure
| been restored.
| In the open space is the great bell or
Moscow-the largest one ever cast-be-
! ing rs feet in height and weighing
| 200 tons 1t rests on the ground ana
| since the reign of the Empress anne
| in 1887 ii has been merely a curiosity
There is also the largest cannon ever
| cast and a large collection of cannon
| left by Napoleon.
The great palace is. of course. the
principal attraction, for here In the
700 rooms Russia maintains vastness
of medieval glory unsurpassed in the
| world 1t goes without saying that this
wonderful building is carefully guard
ed and an officer always accompanies
the visitor through the building. The
/ first palace erected by the Romanon
| dynasty was destroyed by fire in 1871
/ and nothing was left but the cellar
| walls. which are the foundation of the
present palace. This was during the
reign of the Empress Anne, VINO re-
| built splendid structure Later the
palace was remodeled and upon si-
gantic scale by Catherine IL Ihls
went down before the ruthless mana
of Napoleon and the present palace is
a monument TO Nicholas l. IN whose
reign il was built. The main rooms
are named in honor of the principal
orders of Russia and the highest OF
| these is the Alexander Nevski, which
was founded in f725 by Catherine l.
This order is represented by the fam
| Gus Alexander Nevski hall and Is the
most magnificent of all the rooms
with its pink silk hangings and its soio
| decorations. Huge paintings OF scenes
| in the life of Alexander nNevski hanS
in different parts of the roofn-Won-
derful life-like portraits of the men OF
that time The parquet floor is formed
of wood of 20 different varieties, ana
$500 candles are used TO light the room,
which is over 100 feet long and nearly
as wide. During the Japanese Russian
war the Grand Duchess Elizabeth
| now the widow of the Grand Duke
Sergius. converted this hall into sew
ing-room for Red Cross work Sewing
machines were placed in rows and each
/ day the wives of Russia's nobility met
] here and made underclothing and BAN
daees for the men who were giving
/ their lives for the honor of the Dear
| in far-off Manchuria. TWO years aso
! the grand duchess entered a convent,
where she has determined TO spend the
rest of her life-a pathetic fate Tor lhe
| beautiful sister of the czarina.
The throne room is just beyond the
| Nevski hall, and the color scheme IS
blue the color OF the ribbon
of st Andrew Three chairs are on .
dais at the end of the room7-the center
one for the czar, the one at the lett
for the czarina, and the one at the
right for the dowager
| The order of St. Catherine-the dis
1 tinguished honor conferred on Russian
| women-is commemorated by another
magnificent room Here the coiors are
red and the walls are hung with satin
| damask of that shade. WONDERFUL
glass candelabras are used in lighting
| the room when the ezarina holds her
receptions here
Fer riot of color the decoration of
the state dining-room in the old pal
ace surpasses anything of its kind in
| the world The carpet alone is a work
! of art in the blending of colors. 1t was
made bv the Russian nuns and con-
| tains all the colors of the Russian reg
iments blended together in perfect har-
mony. 1t is a vaulted apartment, the
| arches resting on a four -cornefed col
umn in the center of the room. It's
walls are frescoed in imitation of an
cient art. with scriptual subjects highly
colored On the day of the coronalon
the czar and czarina, dine at special
table erected on a throne, while the
mobiles, churchmen and diplomats are
seated at another table where sump-
tuous feast is served The imperial
plate is brought from the treasury and
displayed on racks about the central
column of the room. Up to the time
of Peter the Great only men we're al
lowed on the main floor during the
| coronation dinner. The women sat IN
| a secluded gallery and viewed the res
tivities by peering through a wooden
grating. Sophia, the soster of Peter the
| Great, changed all this by appearing
on the main floor during a coronation
dinner and since that time the women
| of the court have enjoyed this priVi-
| lege.
/ 1t SetIuS Stfdiet tiiat lhuoHlh ShCHtN.
have to thank an italian architect for
/ the beauty and charm of the Kremlin,
| for the picturesque wall with its bas-
tions and its five wonderful gateways
was the work of a Milanese named
Peter Solarius. and was erected just
one year before Columbus discovered
| America.
| One cannot stand amid all this wealth
1 historic nHOlOrlal5.
breathing the spirit of that race OF
| Slavs, from barbaric times TO the pres
ent day, and teaching the terrible les
son of mans enslavement TO d brutal
| and merciless tyranny, and knowing,
| the undeveloped condition OF the a.
mazing resources of that immense en-
pire, without rejecting upon the great
possibilities for good and greatness
| that might have been realized under .
! governmental regime which gave Tree
| nd lntra MN elad course to the eflSF-