New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1918-01-16

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stood a young civilian, with q rifle and:
a black band ken Of anarchy round
his right arm We caught glimpses,
between the heavy IRON ratings, Of other
youths, similarly armed, pacing the
garden walks. Like men Injured to war
and battle, we approached the gate.
Tie sentry heard us talking together.
Unexpectedly his grim dignity fell from
him; a smile came over his face.
Amt you fellows Americans?' he
said.
That's what we are" said my Rus
sian interpreter. Can we come in?''
"sure thing
With the wondering crowd maryeling
at our bravery, we passed. through the
palace grounds into the great house,
and, as the word went ahead that We
were American newspaper men, we were
welcomed into the rooms with their
high, painted ceilings and their Uttered.
floors.
There were fifteen Americana Russians
in the crowd Of ninety -fye, and I was
therefore able to ascertain exactly what
was in the minds of the palace Selling
band. They weren't the robbers, the.
plunderers, the murderers, that Petro-
grad and Russia believed them to be. 3
'Listen!'' said one Of them in New
Yorkese. 1sWe didn't take this place
- - -
to prove we were bad men. Why, we
talked the whole thing over for many
weeks. You see, this place was owned
by one Of the wickedest ministers that
Russia ever had He was as rich as
Croesus, on stolen money; right here,
in the heart Of Petrograd, he had this
palace, surrounded by a fve-mile park.
Why, he even had an artificial river
made across his park. And he never
let the Russian public even look at his
trees. We took this particular palace.
and its park because we wanted to throw
them wide open to the Russian people,
so that they would see what the old
regime had done to them; and SO that
they never again will let any human
beings treat them as they have been
treated in the past. This Durnova pale
ace is our museum Of past evils; it's
our university for the Russian public"
And SO died my thrills. These So
called anarchists, ! found, were think.
ing, planning, reasoning human beings,
with very definite ideas and theories.
however. right or wrong they may have
been
. Happiness was the chief note Of the
Russian Revolution. I have seen a
Russian ballet such as was never danced
on any stage before. The dancers
were that throng Of youths and maidens
whom the Gar used to take as orphans
from the asylums Of Russia and have
trained, as he had his horses trained,
for lifetime OF beautiful dancing.
The place was the Marinsky Theater,
which the Gar spent a million dollars
a year to maintain as the school and home
of the ballet. In the royal box sat
soldier revolutionaries, with their wives
and sweethearts. At tie door of that
box, in other days, two sentinels always
stood like iron men, whether the box
was empty or not. The time was the
evening of that day when the men and
women, boys and girls, Of the ballet
had formed their own company and taken !
their distiny into their own hands Be
fore the exquisite scenery, in ,lnsur-
passable silks, purchased with tie gold
Of an emperor, these freed people Of
the stage went through the beautiful
Of .'Tke Swan Tie Gar,
with all his millions, could never have
bought a performance like that.
Just at the present time it may be.
of interest to know the political status
Of Alsace-Lorraine, not only for the past
fifty years but for the past 800 years
or more. A reliable authority gives the
following information: Z 33s
when Germany was torn BY internal
incident to the Thirty Years
War for the establishment Of the Refor5.,,
nation and unable to defend her terri
tory from foreigners, France, supported
by Sweden and other powers, received j
the two provinces, under duress and
against the protest Of the German
ENJOYS, by the treaty Of Westphaia;;
which marked the end of tie Thirty
Years War. This was in 1913. France
receded them later after her wars with
Holland. In 1880 she again seized a
great part of Alsace by force, and in 1851
Louis XIV seized and annexed Strass-
burg, the capital, and the key to Ger
many, by treachery, bribery and force Of
arms. At the treaty Of Paris, after tie
Battle Of Waterloo, in 1916, General
Butcher demanded the recession Of
Alsace-L Lorraine, but was thWarteds by
Wellington and the Emperor Of Russia,
Eror,Tt,