The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-30
TSAR AND FAMILY
 AT FINLAND GULF Surrounded by Guard of
 Proven Loyalty THE CITY OF SUICIDES Medical Men to Combat Plague of f-Destruction in St. Peters burg-Notorious Career of
 Guardship Balkan
By GEORE FRASER

| St. Petersburg July 29.-(Special )-The Tzar and Tzaritsa, with their children, are now installed for the summer ut Peterhof, the imperial domain on the Gulf of Fihland where they will spend most of the summer. Peterhof is known in Rus sia as the petit Versailles The park, which extends to the sea, is well laid out, and there are fine terraces and iountains | in the gardens. The palace Is huge; but the imperial family usually live at cot. | tage close to the sea. which was the favorite residence of the late Emperor. The Emperor and Empress make fre- ouent short trips to the imperia! yacht.
 The sea voyages seem to aid her majes- ty, whose health shows a slight improve ment.
 | Tn spite of his secluded life the Tzar | is a very busy man and works hard Every morning he receives in audience 9 number of officials who have important communications to make, and these h. | tervews all end in his signing hundreds cf papers. It is true that many import ant documents remain unnoticed, and tue country cries out because it's petitions for redress are disregarded; but this is be- cause, by s5illful jugglery, the latter arc passed through unseen, or are simply | "burlked'' by the official whose interest 1t Is to suppress them.
 Other kinds of iugglery are also al work on occasion, and now and again, on taking up a pile of offiical-lookinR documents, the Tzar has been furious and lpanic-s stricken to find himself face to face with an extensively worded Nihilistic proclamation Yet he is surrounded only Ibv men of proved worth and loyalty. hound by the strongest oaths and sub. feet othe most dreadful penalties, Who are apparently all above suspicion. But the paper must have been brought in through the walls and guards to his private room by one of these chosen ones It is these mysterious messages which prey on the nerves of the Tzaritza and are responsible for her breakdown.
 Societies of medical men and others are being formed to combat he plague of suicides which threatens to become epi- demic In st. Petersburg. In one day. for instance, no fewer than Il cases were recorded in the newspapers. The victims Included a policeman, who blew out his brains on the bank of the Neva, and a young baron aged 16 The majority be- longed to the working class, and seven were 26 years of age or under. Five poisoned themselves, two shot thei1- selves. one man cut his throat, another threw himself under train, and in two cases drowning was the method Of self destruction chosen.
 The Russian guardship Balkan, on the Archangel coast, is achieving an unenVi- able notoriety.
 | One of her midshipmen went ashore the other day fat Yokong with couple ot sailors on a shooting expedition. Alter heinz hospitably entertained by local boatowner, he had the village cider sum moned before him. and, according to the Fetch" knocked him down with the butt end of his revolver, when the elder in- dipnantlv rejected certain dishonorable suggestions that he had made to him. On the elder coming to his senses and ,.ndeavoring to escape, the midshipmc, I fired at him with his revolver and shot dead a Laplander and his 5-year-old daughter
 When the Balkan arrived at Archangel quantities of fittings and technical impIe-