The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?, 1918-10-03

Throne Room
~ TOP off and have afternoon tea
- with the czarina," said the
~ magazine editor, as he babe
Z, me good-by. --,,-.,s..
"Why, yes" I said a little vaguely.
I'D ike to, but isn't Siberia rather
larger d.. FL
set forth gayly, Madeline z. 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 q 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 .capitalistic. The
one hope was to be as plebeian us pos
sible. ,..,,@ - .
To associate with the czarina in Rus
sia would be like talking to member
Of the I. w. w. on Rockefeller's front
lawn. It would have meant of with
my head. decided to let the mag
azine editor have tea with the czarina.
But If could not hobnob with royalty
could at least see their dwelling
places. The winter palace in Petro-
grad was q disappointment. Outward
~ It was impressive, but inside con.
slant use had robbed it Of it's 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.
i. Travel 10 Slow. ,..'.
I decided to 60 to Moscow. The
Kremlin, it was said, had remained un-
touched. It contained perhaps the most
gorgeous palace in the world. But to
travel in Russia 10 not easy. The trip
from Petrograd to Moscow took twenty
hours. On each train is an 'interna-
tional wagonlit." But berths in these
cars IRE sold weeks ahead for a for
tune. At the last moment i secured
q place for myself and my Interpreter
In the International car. .1-
I reached Moscow safely. but the
trip back was not SO easy. It was i'm.
possible to get accommodation on the
international car. We had flrst.class
tickets, but that meant nothing. All
classes are the same these days.
The Kremlin formerly was as much
a holy Of HOLES AZ the palace of the
Chinese emperor in Pekip! It has
courtyards and buildings within build
irgs. The great main gateway was
shattered to bits by machine gun fire
during tho revolution, and the walls
are battered with bullets. But inside
little damage IL visible. The COM
mandant was scrubby workingman, in
a dilapidated suit. He hesitated some
time before giving me a pass. The
rooms, he said, had been sealed. But
finally he scrubbed something Oh 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.
started to shake hands, but he
blushed and ignored the outstretched
hand. I don't know whether It was be-
cause he was prince, or because since
the days of the bolsheviki he has been
an outcast and no one has condescend-
ell to snake hands. almost think Il
was the latter, for when we left he
held out bis hand quite cordially. The
prince instructed one of the old court
servants to take ~ through the build
ings. >~
First we saw the resplendent little
chapel where the cxarfna used to prny.
Then we vent through the gorgeous
guest room, used for foreign ambas-
ssdors. They were ~ they had been,
marble baths and all. Nothing had
been changed. But now the rooms
we're icy cold snd empty and there
was q bullet he.ie through one Of the
windows. That bullet hole was q mys-
terry. The bullet had never been dis
Ovyeed.
Next we visited the throne room and
ssIlroom. The splendor was stagger-
ing. CDtoid we 9TH must have been
vruns fr.'m the r.ase0ts TO pay for Il.