The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1915-01-30

blessing them and Iraging them. Discre
ton is thrown to the winds Several times he
has penetrated the battlefields of Poland and
would have exposed himself to the shrapne of
the Prussans had not his encourage skillfully
rendered this impossible
His dress Is simple and he is often seen in
peasant garb-that is a suit Of some fine ma
terial cut in peasant blouse style, a manlylook
ing costume of which the true Russian is
proud
More remarkable st the queen. always be
fore the most exclusive of royalty, has gone
among her people visiting the sick and wound
ed The Russians scarcely knew her before
There Is in all this ostensibe activity a little
more than the lesire to and encourage
the fighting nation. There is more, for instance,
than inspired the visit of King George to his
troops in Flanders This extra element is anXi-
ETY., a lively fear and not of German howitzers,
The Victories of Russian arms have their sweet
mixed with bitterness for the ezar and his
family
Whvo The reason is none other than the
iestic figure of TIL Grand Duke Nicholas Mich
olaieviteh the commander in chief of the Mus
covita forces. Til. car Las long suffered by
physical comparison with his soldier cousin
now he suffers in more serious way.
II ever there a king in looks 1t is Men
olas Nichoaievitch He is full six feet six inches
in his stockings, lean but graceful. with head
in which the keenest intelligence Is eomolhed
with vast dignity and force.
When he is with the the latter by com
parison is weak and insignificant looking, a cod
died monarch In secret the czar's subjects are
not slow to speak of this and many avow history
of the past twenty-five years would have been tar
different II this tall Mars had been in his cousin
place that the humiliation o. the defeat by Japan
would have been spared the proud Russians.
II has to be remembered that the commander IN
chief has taken his commission to make him die
tator of Russia The proclamatons to the Poles
and the Jews promising liberties in exchange Tor
LOYALTY during the not signed by the
czar but by Nicholas Nichoaievitch- This was
astonishing in itself and many have maintained
made the promises null and void because the
promising party would never have the power, if
he had the wish, to carry out his obligations to
the oppressed peoples.
Yet would the czar dare to oppose his victori-
ous general by refusing to grant request to
carry out these promises? Such an issue might
prove a popular one for 'icholas Nicholaiev1tch
The history OF Grand Duke Nicholas begins in
an unhappy youth He clung to his German
mother whose Russian husband had woefully
wronped her and ruined the family fortune But
come to manhood he followed straight In his
fathers footsteps, for the parent was one or
Gar Alexander rs famous field marshals. who
,,.nv times had scourged the enemies OF Rus
Ea
Alexander Ill wa. not especially fond oil the
younp Grand Duke Nicholas for noble and peas
ant alike consciously or unconsciously gave more
homage to this splendid giant than to the three
spindIine dull sons OF the ruler. He ordered
that tho grand dukes army activities Lust De
limited to the cavalry-but the only result was
soon to be told that his horsemen thanks to