The Washington herald., 1911-12-17


is very superstftious, for the history Of
the Cars throne teens with legends and
stories of the supernatural. Many per-
sons in st. Petersburg possess the idea
that the CZarina Is cold and emotion
less woman. AS matter OF fact, sne
only suffers from the surcharged psychic
atmosphere that surrounds her.
The Empress Is a firm believer IN
dreams. At an intimate court gathering
not long ago she related the following
incident, to prove the truth OF her
theory: She was resting one afternoon,
and had fallen asleep, when she was
awakened by one Of her ladies, who was
alarmed at the way the Czartna cried
and moaned In her sleep. The Empress
said she had been troubled by bad
dream. An old moujik (peasanD, covered
with blood, had appeared to her and ex-
claimed: Il have come all the way from
Siberia to see your day OF honor, and
now your Cossacks have killed mel!
The dream was so vivid that the Empress
sent to know If any misfortune had oc-
CURED that day, but the Car laughed
at her apprehensions, and to ease her
mind he telephoned to the minister OF
the household. From him came news or
the terrible riot, which resulted in the
loss of over 1000 lives, the catastrophe
being aggravated by the attempts OF the
mounted Cossacks to restore order by
riding into the crowd and using tnelr
whips and swords against the terrified
moujiks.
1t is a popular belief in England that
Disraeli was the prime minister whom
Queen Victoria liked most, while Glad
stone got on her nerves" This is all
wrong.
Sir Robert Peel in reality was her IA
0vorite minister. and the Marquis OF
Salisbury was regarded by her with al
most equal admiration. At Osborne one
evening Dr. Boyd Carpenter, the house
bishop, asked Queen Victoria whether
she regarded Lord Beaconsfield's (Dis-
raelrs) novel, "ConnIngsby," as a book
giving a fairly correct picture Of English
life at the time. Her reply was that she
did not care for his novels. The Queen
added: In my opinion, Lord Beacons-
field is an able man with fine imagina-
ton; great, but not SO great as Lord
Salisbury"
She spoke with very warm and CRATE
full affection OF Sir Robert Peel, refer
ring to the kindness he showed and the
trouble he took at the time Osborne was
secured as a royal residence. I'VE owed
it to him that we got this place"
DR.. Carpenter. by the way, tells an in
teresting story illustrating Queen Vic
torias interest in all kinds of domestic
details Her majesty was godmother to
one of his children, but" he says, she
knew the names and ages of all Of them,
and there were eleven Of them. Indeed,
on one occasion she set me right about
the age OF my youngest boy. How old
is your little boy now? she asked me one
evening at Windsor. 1 answered. with
nine, your majesty No. she promptly
said, he is ten And the Queen was
right This was in 1897, when she was
pretty old
Great satisfaction has been expressed
in England on account of the purchase
OF the logbook of the Victory, Lord Nell
sons ship, by Mr.. Thomas ]. Barratt.
the art collector and maker of Pears
soap. The logbook contains a vivid ac-
count Of the battle of Trafalgar. written
on tile day after that famous sea fight
American connoisSeurs were particularly
anxious to secure that log, and. according
to the London Times, one of these even
went so far as to make big offer for
just the two leaves recording the events
Of October q, 1905. Mr.. Barratt paid
several thousand pounds for the book.
thus securing for his nation one of the
most precious relics of England's greatest
admiral
The log book is unique because 1t was
actually written by Nelson's sailing mas
fu NJ
of course, the official log book, which is
the property Of the admiralty, and which
is Kept at the public record Office. At
kinson kept a rough log book of his own,
with the aid of which he prepared the
official log book which he had to send
to the admiralty in order to comply with
the rule. NO log, no pay.
The official log is a precise, tidy docu-
ment, carefully written on good paper.
Atkinson's log. however, is a roughly
bound book with covers of sailcloth, the
paper being of a rough texture some
what resembling cartridge paper. Here
and there is a mark of sea water, the
writing being in ink.
On sentimental grounds, Atkinson's log
must appeal to all Englishmen, as writ
ten by the man who was responsible for
the navigation of the ship. AS con-
temporary record 1t is unique.
Mr. Barratt mas pTODdDly lne hHcSt wi
lection of Dresden china in England.
Lady Tate has made good her promise
to add $1,000 to the fund for Bedford
College for Women. made with the pro-
viso that she would make 1t 10000. II
at the dinner given at the Hotel Savoy,
in London, at the end of last month,
one-half of that sum would be raised.
1t was.
The Duchess OF Marlborough (Consuelo
Vanderbilt has been indefatigable in her
efforts to make the entertainment a great
success. She infected a number Of her
lady friends with her own enthusiasm
for the cause, she herself being gen
erous contributor to the fund. The work
of organizing the Savoy entertainment
has been in her hands. and she was the
chief hostess. entertaining at her table