Evening star., 1923-10-15

, in connection with the destruction
by fire. Of some of its most beautiful
palaces at Copenhagen, notably the
Christiansborg. which was burned
down in 1874 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.
where the very fact that 1t is perched
on an island surrounded by water
rendered il a matter of difficulty for
the firemen TO hurry their engines
and salvage apparatus to the scene
Of the confia grafton. In Brussels
the so-called Palace Of the Neither
lands. where Emperor Charles alb
dicated in 1856, became a prey 10 tho
flames in 1871, the present royal
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 Eremlin, at Moscow, and the
Winter Palace, at Petrograd, as Wei
as the Krasnoe- Selo palaces OF the
! Emperors of Russia. and the dream
the Gulf OF Finland, have survived the
devastating activities of the bolSheviki
and. though to a great extent looted
of their treasures, have. in some mi
raculouS way. escaped destruction b.
fire, while. despite all the bloodshed il
the streets of Berlin during the risings
of the populace which have taken place
there at various times, when the
streets were swept by grapeshot. the
various palaces OF the rulers on Prus-
81 have remained intact
The royal palace of Madrid, where
Emperor Charles and his son, King
Philip, made their principal residence,
was burned down in 1874, while some
twenty years ago the royal palace OF
Aranjuez, the Spanish Versailles Of the
Bourban kings. was partially destroyed
by fire. The maze of buildings, some
of them dating back to the twentieth
century, known as the Hofburg. at
Vienna and where few are acquainted
with their area and extent. has, IN
some miraculous way, escaped any
| harm by fire even when, in 1888, the
Austrian capital was for number Of
days In the complete control of insur-
gents bent on rapine and destruction.
Fire has never attacked Sans Souci or
any of the palaces of Frederick the GreR I
and of other Prussian rulers at Pots
dam, while when fire broke out III
XIII. the flames were eXtinguished be
fore much damage was done.
~ u " n
One Of the most disastrous and sen
sational gratlons OF sovereign
residences within human memory
was the intentional destruction by
! fire of the so-called 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 for a
series of outrages and cruelties to
which their subjects in China had
been subjected. II was a confagra-
| tion which lasted for a number OF
| days, and which involved the destruc-
| tion of some of the most exquisite
| buildings and temples, and OF the
| most priceless treasures OF art and
| of history that had ever been cei-
| 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
| mandinE officers of the allied armies
| as necessary to teach the Chinese a
! lasting lesson as to the danger OF
| maltreating and torturing English
/ and French missionaries. merchants
| and government officials. 1t is per-
| fectly true that il left an indelible
| impression upon the Chinese people,
| but was an act of indescribable bar
| barism, which today is condemned by
all civilized governments as piece
of wholly inexcusable and irrepaEs-
! BILE vandalism.