The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-08-04
Work Begun by Nicholas Will
Excite Extraordinary
Interest.
.nY ID MAnnIIsE nE rnNrrNoA.

BY IA MARauIsE DE FoNTENol.
r., MPEROR NICHOLAS has just
! OF piece of work which cannot
but excite tho most cNtraordin-
/ airy interest both here and IN europe.
! II is slngularly appropriate that this
enterprise should be commenced tn.
I fan. as just one hundred years VIII
then have elapsed since the treasure
Of tho Imperial Palace OF tho Krem-
lin. of the Churches. the monnsteries.
and tho palaces Of the great mobiles
at Moscow, which had been carried on
by Napoleon and his Grande- Aimee when
the city burst into flames. were lost
Ia their greater part beneath thc crack
ing ice of the Beroslna. These treas
ures filled innumerabl. fourgons. even
those that Should have been devoted
TO the transport Of the sick and wound
ed being rUthlessly pressed into ser
vice. as wei as the caiEsons Of the
artillery or course the knnpsacks %
the soldiers the travelling CARRIAGES
of tho great diguitarics of the !inncrial
( cntourasc. and tie saddle rolls OF The
cavalry. wcro filled TO ovorilowing ~ TIA
loot Every reader Of history VIII re-
call how when thc retrcatinc Grand
Army reached tho banks OF the Berc-
s!na It was found that the Russians
had burned tho bridges. the piles of
which may stiil Doe seen at very low
Immediately the French engineer ana
noutuon COrns were set 10 work to
construct new ones. under the personal
direction OF tho emperor. who watched
tho work day and night, encouraging
tho men lahoring half-naked In the
hrolsen water and hindering floating
i've
one OF these bridges opposite the
village OF Boily. was reserved for the
infantry, the other little lower down.
+ on lcvel with the village OF Stoud-
lenko was for tho cavalry and wagon
trains ana the Ishas OF the TWO VIZ
lagos We're destroyed TO get the wooden
/ beams required for their construction.
and thus ESCAPED the terrible panic
! which ensued on the same afternoon
ana following day. when pressed by
/ the relentless Cossack cnvalry. ana
low hills behind. the Grand-Army lost
al sembance OF order. The rout and
/ 'sauvc,qui- peut' which then com
wagons. infantry. all attempting to
| crowd upon the narrow bridges a. the
same time. has been described by pom
and bursh many a time. but quite In
/ adequately For under such weight,
and attacked on all Sides. first one
/ bridge gave way. p:ocipitating thou
/ sands into tho terrible Bereslna. while
I MI who were trapped on the eastern
| bank piled pell-mcll On tho remaining
/ bridge, which yielded too the number
! 20. 900
cover some Of the TREASURE. but be-
! fore II had been In progress more than
/ a few days, Il was learned that the
i non commissioned ofiice's ana men en-
i ploycd there were selling to the ncig
boring land owners all sorts OF costly
I objects. many OF them being church
7 vessels. crosses and leans. at nearly
nominal prices Work was Immediate
~ stopped. naturally ana the culprits
/ punished
Two years later n no!lila Of those
narrow log RATS ia winch timber is
\ conveyed down the Bcr,sina became
OF mud. lust where the loot of the
Grand Army had disappeared.
Before tho river had resumed its
| normal level, the RATS. Which to avoid
me Swallows have only a.dep'h OF a
couple of feet at the most mad hccn
| caught. and had become fiiuy imbcd-
ed in the mud. and sank iecpcr and
deeper Win the passage of time. To-
/ day IL appears that they fam a sort
I Of broken timber mattressi over the
Its turn by heavy deposits Ofmud and
or sand. In 1886 the government. at
| tho instance OF Cirandduke Nicholas
/ NicolaiVitch. who owns some property
in the district. set dredgc % work
but while II brought to the isurface
q quantity OF small valuable objects.
and of bones. IL was unable I, really
penetrate tho now interwov,n mat
tress az deep snnken wood hamcnts.
The matter was then referred to a
commission. presided over ~ the
granddulSe
Things, however, move slowly II Rus
sa. Besides. there have been Internal
Instructions. the war with Japai. and
other matters To occupy the ttten-
tion Of tho authorities. so 1t Isl only
recently that tho commission presented
its report to the Emperor explaining
AT great length. tho means devised by
engineers for removing the obsFuc-
tion, and recovering ell that lies be-
meath. Car Nicholas. Immensely in
terested has given orders that tho York
shall begin with ms little delay as los
sible. and tho operations GRO tol be