Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-02-28
To!ST0I ESTATE IS
GIVEN TO LABORERS
Workers Now Own Land They
Once Worked for Hire
Meets Counts Ideas.

ST. Petersburg-Special: hi peas
ants who worked the estate at Vas
maya Polyiana of The late Count Leo
Tolstoi are now owners of a greater
part of the land they formerly titled
as paid laborers. This transfer Is a
carrying out of Tolstoi's conviction
that the ownership of large areas OF
land by one individual was wrong in
principle and the project to convey tfis
property to the Tolstoi peasants has
just been put through by the eXecu-
tors of the estate.
Countess Tolstoi retains abou 500
acres of the estate. including the park
around the house and the grave of the
count. Abou 1. 200 acres pass to the
peasants. though the full legal title
will not be conveyed to them to pre-
vent any of them selling their por-
tions under the agrarian legislation
now in force in Russia.
| Count Tolstoi's sons have been pro-
Nlded for by the sale of other lands;
1t is understood that they have re-
ceiNed about 500, 900.
The dignity of an ambassador to- a
foreign court is "A thing To be reckoned
with. SUCH AN envoy represents the
person OF his sovereign. and a slight
to MIN is a slight to his master. Rep
r%esenting a ruler in person. an ann
~ viz " w
which he is accredited With the proper
expectation that he be received with
the same degree of pomp and cere-
mony tina would be accorded the ruler
OF mis- state were the latter personally
present.
The annual celebration OF blessing
the Waters of the Neva." which oc-
ours January ~. and i'm which the en-
peror. AS head of the church. partici-
pates. was marked this year by an
/ "A m In rin l,r,
against an infraction of their diplo-
matte dignity. Only the ambassadors
or the two republics. Frence and the
United States, and the representative
or turkey. attended: the other am
~bassadors abscnted themselves from
the function at the Winter palace.
since ii entails attendance at a court
luncheon for which the emperor does
not remain. The ambassadors. pre-
Stunning themselves To be on :, footing
or eq''ality with the emperor, felt they
could not remain for a function for
which the host did not stay. Their
irritation had been famed by am incl
dent on the .emperor's nameday. when
the diplomatic corps turned out i'm full
force at the invitation of the ministry
of the court for the church service at
the kazan cathedral. to find Russian
officials of minor rank only i'm at
tendance.
1t was at the blessing of the waters
on january. 1905. that II charge of
grapeShOt WAS fired at the emperor and
his cortege from a sal,lting cannon sta
toned on the opposite side of the river.
A Dag OF bullets was in some n
slipped into the gun in front of the
salutlng charge, and this particular
gun of the battery was turned around
to bear on the temporary chapel on
the Ice in which part of the ceremony
takes place. After an Investigation
the incident was officially declared to
be i'n accident. due to "a charge having
been left in the gun after drill the
day before, but no satisfactory ex-
PLANTATION of why the gun was aimed
as 1T was has ever been given. TO
proven: accidents this year the salut-
Ing battery was placed on one of the
Islands of the fortress, and the signal
for the salute was conveyed to it by a
rocket.
Russian postage stamps have hereto
fore never been decorated with por-
traits OF Russian rulers. for the rea-
son that ultra-loyal Russian postmas-
, tiers object to the sacrilege involved in
picking up Il rubber cancelling stamp
covered with ink and hitting the en-
peror sharply in the face with it. a
proceeding distinctly necessary for the
protection of the revenues of the post-
office department.
But the old order changes, and in
spite of protests from postmasters with
old-time sentiments of right and
wrong. the postoffice will issue on
March 6 a new series of STAMPS en-
bell'shed with portraits of Romanoffs.
sovereigns of Russia. past and pres
ent. This new issue is in connection
With the celebration of the third CEN
tenary of the accession of the Roman
of dynasty to the throne. The stamps
of seven and 10 copeck denominations.
the principal ones i'm use for inland
and foreign correspondence. respec-
lively. e portraits OF the present
emperor. Nicholas ii.
A diplomatic protest to the Greek
government has resulted from an
amusing "hold-up" OF the Russian
mail steamer .C~hikhacheff" on it's last
trip from Odessa to Alexandria by the
Greek Governor of Rhodes" The
and of enedo by rife shots from q
sloop-load of armed Greeks. and the
captain on halting, was informed that
the Governor of Rhodes" was aboard
and desired the latest newspapers. Th.
angry sailormen refused the demand
IN emphatic language, resumed his
voyage and on his arrival at Smyrna
reported the facts to the Russian rem
resentative at Athens.
The island of Rhodes was occlpied
by the Italians during the ~Italo-TnrL-
ish war and is still held by them M
the appearance OF a Greek governor.
is somewhat premature.
h story of Iliodor, the mad
monk of Tsaritzin. who. after defy
Ing the bishops. the holy n the
police and all other authorities has
been finally defrocked and sent back
to his home village as an ordinary
layman. passes into it's last CHAPTER
with the conversion Of the monastery
at Tsarttzin. the scene of his exnloits
into a nunnery. The monks his ad.
herents. have been scattered Among