Evening star., 1923-10-15
Home of British Kings Believed
Likely Prey Of Conflagration

, in connection with the destruction
by FIRE. of some of it's most beautiful
palaces at Copenhagen, notably the
Christiansborg. which was burned
down in 1894 and again in 1884. and
another sovereign palace which was
partially destroyed by fire within the
last twenty years was the birthplace
of the Queen of the Danes. namely,
the fairy-like home of her only
brother, the former reigning Grand
Duke of Mecklenburg. at Schwerin. 4
where the very fact that it is perched
on an island surrounded by water
rendered it a matter Of difficulty for
the firemen to hurry their engines
and salvage apparatus to the scene
OF the conflagration. In Brussels
the so-called Palace of the Neither
| lands, where Emperor Charles V alb
flames IN 1871, the present roya!
palace, erected on its site. dating
from the reign of Empress Maria
Theresa. Laeken. the suburban home
of the Kings OF Belgium. was par
| TALLY burned down during the reign
! of the late King Leopold.
! The Kremlin, at Moscow. and the
| Winter Palace, at Petrograd. as well j.
as the Krasnoe-Selo palaces OF the3
! Emperors of Russia, and the dream
! like group of palaces at Peterhof, on
the Gulf OF Finland, have survived the
devastating activities of the bolSheviki
of their treasures. have, in some MI
raculous way, escaped destruction by
fire, while despite all the bloodShed In
the streets of Berlin during the risinss
Of the populace which have taken place
there at various times, when the
streets were swept by grapeshot. the
various palaces OF the rulers OF PrAs
sia have remained intact.
The royal palace Of Madrid. whsre :
Emperor Charles v and his son, King
Philip, made their principal residence.
was burned down In 1874. while some
twenty years ago the royal palace a0f
AranjueZ, the Spanish Versailles of fhe
Bourban kings, was partially destroyed
of them dating back to the twentieth
century, known as the Hofburg, sat
Vienna, and where few are acquainxed
with their area and extent, has, gin
harm by fire even when, in 1885,, theS
Austrian capital was for numbeTaof
days in the complete control of insHr-
gents bent on rapine and destruction.
any OF the palaces of Frederick the GrSst
, and of other Prussian rulers at POTS
dam, while when q fire broke out Tat
the Vatican during the reign OF Aeo
Kill the flames were extinguished Be-
fore much damage was done. IS
y y =
One OF the most disastrous and s5n-
sational confiagrations of sovereign
residences within human memory
was the intentional destruction Sby
! fire of the so-calIed Summer Palace Of
the Emperors of China, in the neigh
borhood of Peking, some sixty years
ago, by an allied army of France and /,
Great Britain as a punishment foe a
series OF outrages and cruelties Ito
which their subjects in China had
! been subjected. 1t was a confagra-
tion which lasted for number Of
days, and which involved the destruc
| ticn OF some Of the most exquisite
buildings and temples, and Of the
most priceless treasures of art and
/ of history that had ever been col
! lected in one grand old park through
! out the passage of many centuries.
! The obliteration OF the world famed
! Summer Palace Of the Emperors OF
/ China was considered by the COM
manding officers of the allied armies
as necessary 10 teach the Chinese a
! lasting lesson as to the danger sOf
/ maltreating and toTturing English
and French missionaries. merchants
/ and government officials 1t is per-
| fectly true that it left an indelibie
/ impression upon the Chinese people,
| but was an set Of indescribable bar.
| barism, whicA today Is condemned by"
| all civilized governments as piece
of wholly j1excusable and irrepara-
BILE VANDALISM.