Catoctin clarion., 1917-09-13


TsarskOe Of Selo," said
Henry d. Pierce, well-known traV-
eler and literary man.
"The place where the emperor ana
empress are confined Is the so-called
summer palace or country residence or
the royal family of Russia, and Is sec
ond only in beauty, If second it be, to
the famous palace of Louis XIV at YER
sailles near Paris, or Sans Souci 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 remarkable picture
gallery. The famous amber room OF
Russia is n part of it, resplendent with
the magnificence Of amber jewels
which decorate 1T.
Built by Catherine the Second, 1t
was also the rendezvous of literary
peOple. PuShkin one of the literati or
Russia, and many of the statesmen or
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 pollol 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, 10 miles
apart"
Building a Railroad In Russia.
Judge Pierce told an interesting In
cident in the building of 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 we'll as to save time
of construction.
One route was to go round a lake,
another to skip certain high points ana
still third to escape certain vast
marshes.
"The Emperor Nicholas, always
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
1t on the maps and said:
"'Put your finger on Moscow; put
another on st. Petersburg. Now run
it from there to there and he drew
line straight from the ancient capital
to the modern capital of Russia.
"And so it went; through swamps
and under elevations; without devil
alton, no matter what the obstacle;
the stralghtest railroad In the world
and the longest without bend or a
curve"
"Without question, Russia" he con.
tinued. rs the most stupendous In
point of interest, as it is in point OF
size. The present revolution, over
throwing 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
emperor could be accomplished, battles
even the recollections Of traveller.
Elaborate Spy System.
"Espionage Of all persons and places
must have made the Matching Of a
revolution 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
In st. Petersburg, taking a droshky,
the Russian cab.
A little later they made a diplomatic
call, taking another conveyance. From
there they proceeded to the Hermitage
gallery to see the famous pictures.
"This Is one of the world-famous gal
leries, and 1t is astounding how many
of the worlds great pictures 1t con-
tans. Probably it is not excelled, II
at all, by any except the Louvre IN
Paris and the National gallery in Lon
don. For example, it contains more
pictures of Murillo than are In the
entire kingdom of Spain, and equally
in evidence are other old masters.
ut happened to be at the closing
hour, and we had only ten minutes.
Departing again In the droshkX, we