The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1918-09-26

~ TOP off and have afternoon tea
with the czarina," said the
~ magazine editor, as he babe
me good-by.
why yes" I said a little vaguely.
I'D like to, but isn't Siberia rather
larger"
/ set forth gayly, Madeline q. Doty
writes in New York Tribune. But
after twelve days on the Pacific ocean
and twenty days and nights of train
travel through Japan, Korea, China,
Siberia and Russia the czarina looked
like a needle In a haystack.
Besides, the bolshevik revolution
had descended upon me. Each moment
as we %journeyed across Siberia we
feared the train would be attacked.
II was made up of first-class carriages
and was therefore c~apitalistic. The
one hope was TO be as plebeian as pos
sible. !.
To associate with the czarina In Rus
sia would be like talking to a member
of the i. w. w. on Rockefeller's front
lawn. 1t would have meant off with
my head. / decided to let the mag
azine editor have tea with the czarina.
But If l could not hobnob with royalty
! could at least see their dwelling
places. The winter palace In Petro-
grad was a disappointment. Outward
ly it was impressive, but inside con-
slant use had robbed it Of its glory.
There were the marks of muddy feet.
silk hangings had been torn down to
wrap about freezing soldiers. royal bed
rooms had been turned into Offices:
one had the impression that the car
was long since dead and buried.
Travel IL Slow.
l decided to go to Moscow. The
kremlin, 1t was said, had remained un-
touched. 1t contained perhaps the most
gorgeous palace in the world. But to
travel In Russia is not easy. The trip
from Petrograd to Moscow took twenty
hours. On each train is an 'interna-
tidnal wagonlit." But berths In these
cars are sold weeks ahead for a for
tune. At the last moment / secured
a place for myself and my interpreter
In the international car.
/ reached Moscow safely. but the
trip back was not so easy 1t was I'm
possible to get accommodation on the
international car We had Arst-class
tickets, but that meant nothing. All
classes are the same these days.
The Kremlin formerly was as much
a holy Of HOLES as the palace Of the
Chinese emperor In Pekin. 1t has
courtyards and buildings within build
irgs. The great main gateway was
shattered to bits by machine gun fire
during the revolution, and the walls
are battered with bullets. But inside
little damage is visible. The COM
mandant vas a scrubby workingman, in
a dilapidated suit. He hesitafed some
time before giving me a pass. The
rooms, he said, had been sealed. But
finally he scrubbed something on a
scrap OF paper.
Prince Acts ~ Guide.
The untidy. unshaven little man had
ordered Prince Odoviesky to show me
the palace. We made our way to the
princes apartments. We found him q
courtly gentleman.
i started to shake hands, but he
blnshed and ignored the o~utstretched
hand. I don't know whether 1t was be-
III he vas a prince, or because since
the days Of the bolshevikf he has been
or outcast and no one has ~condescend-
Ell to shake hands. I almost think Il
was the latter. for when we left he
held out his hand quite cordially. The
prince Instructed one OF the old court
servants to take rs through the build
in&x
First we saw the Respondent little
chapel where the czarlna used to pray.
Then we went through the gorgeous
guest rooms used for foreign ambas-
ssdors They were - they Ind been.
marble baths and al. Nothing Ind
been changed. But now the poomz
were Icy cold and empty. ana there
was Z bullet hole through one OF the
wihdows. ThntsbulIet hole was a mys.
ter. The bullet had never been din
covered
Next we visited the throne room and
ballroom. The splend0r WIS stagser'
lag q Healta@nszk hare bceu
~Fss7 f5sE tas peasants 10 :