Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1917-06-08

emperor of Russia viii
not suffer from ennu
at the imperial palace a
rskOe Of SelO," said
Henry d. Pierce, a well-known trav
eler and literary man.
"The place where the emperor and
| empress are confined is the so-callet
summer palace or country residence OF
the royal family Of Russia, and is sec
ond only in beauty, if second it be, tc
the famous palace of Louis NV at Yer.
Sailles near Paris, or Sans Souc OF
Frederick the Great near Berlin. Tsars
kOe-SelO is more extensive as a royal
residence and park than either of the
others. 1t is surrounded by great splen-
dor and contains a remarkable picture
gallery. The famous amber room of
Russia is part of it, resplendent with
the magnificence of amber jewels
which decorate it.
Built by Catherine the Second, it
was also the rendezvous of literary
people. Pushkin, one of the literati of
Russia, and many of the statesmen of
that country were born in the town
that surrounds the palace.
"For centuries literary people have
had entree to this royal palace, where
diplomats and the hoi polloi were often
if not always excluded. To show the
desire for prompt and easy transporta-
ton to the summer residence, the first
railroad in Russia was the one to be
constructed in 1888 between TsarskOe-
Selo and st. Petersburg, Is miles
apart"
Building a Railroad in Russia.
Judge Pierce told an interesting in
cident in the building of a railroad in
Russia. In the early days American
engineers who had surveyed the line
from st. Petersburg to Moscow, the
first of any length, were differing as to
route, to save cost, already destined to
be enormous, as well as to save time
of construction.
One route was to go round q lake,
another to skip certain high points and
still a third to escape certain vast
marshes.
"The Emperor Nicholas, always q
man of quick decision, looked at the
several plans with interest but with
no hesitation. He called for his cane,
a straight English walking stick, laid
it on the maps and said:
"'Put your finger on Moscow; put
another on st. Petersburg. Now run
1t from there to there and he drew a
line straight from the ancient capital
to the modern capital of Russia.
sand so it Went; through swamps
and under elevations; without a devil
alton, no matter what the obstacle;
the straightest railroad in the world
and the longest without q bend or q
curve"
without question, Russia" he con-
tinued. ''Is the most stupendous in
point Of interest, as it is in point of
size. The present revolution, over
throwing a monarchy of 1000 years,
and emptying the throne of Catherine
and Alexander, deposing the Roma
noffs after their rule of hundreds of
years, makes most impressive the mo-
mentous history of that great empire.
"How, with their system of spies,
plots for the dethronement of their
could be accomplished, battles
even the recOllections of traveller.
Elaborate Spy System.
Espionage Of all persons and places
have hnt af
an extraordinarily hazard |
Gus undertaking. Few people realize !
to what extent this is carried out"
said Mr.. Pierce. And then he related |
how the first time he was in Russia |
with his daughter, they proceeded one |
afternoon to one of the royal palaces |
n st. Petersburg, taking a droshky,
he Russian cab.
little later they made a diplomatic |
all, taking another conveyance. From
here they proceeded to the Hermitage
gallery to see the famous pictures.
This is one of the world-famous gall |
cries, and 1t is astounding how many
# the worlds great pictures it con-
aims. Probably it is not excelled, if
II all, by any except the Louvre in
Paris and the National gallery in Lon
Ion. For example, it contains more
,ictures Of Murillo than are in the
ntire kingdom of Spain, and equally
n evidence are other old masters.
'It happened to be at the closing
lour, and we had only ten minutes.
Departing again In the droshky, we