OCR Text |
Show RULED BH CHILD C;:ar of Russia Slave of His Own Son. Despot Over Millions, He Is Governed with a Rod of Iron by the Little Grand Duke Alexis. St. Petersburg. Now that the czar lias saieiy reacneu uurne again through the avenues of steel that lined his way to and from Italy, it may be interesting to note that, while the emperor em-peror is generally pictured as the tyrant of slavish subjects, it is not so generally known that he himself is the slave of a most unscrupulous tyrant. This despot of despots is the little Alexis Nicolaievitch, the heir to the Russian throne, who is the only person m the empire to ignore the sacredness ot the emperor. Often when the czar is occupied by the most important business little Alexis manages to escape es-cape from the nursery and, arriving on the scene, demands that his father ride him on his shoulders. The czar accepts the mandate and drops affairs of state 'until his son is surfeited with ihe pick-a-back pastime. The favorites of Alexis are an old l'on-commissioned officer, Stepan by name, and his nurse, Maria Ivanovna, who puts him to bed and makes him say his prayers. These prayers are the cause of frequent quarrels as Alexis Al-exis insists on mentioning old Stepan before praying for his father and mother. Maria corrects him, but un-availingly. un-availingly. "Millions are praying for my father," fath-er," he says, "while I alone am praying pray-ing for Stepan, and Stepan is very much in need of the Lord's blessing." He is perfectly cognizant of his high position and the little czarevitch is greatly offended if he is not saluted by the soldiers with due honors. "What is the use of being a grand duke if the soldiers do not salute you?" he asks. He is just beginning to read and write and the first use he made of 'the accomplishment was to sign some degrees to Cossacks, as by birth he is chief of all the Cossacks. His overwhelming military ardor leads him to prefer the coarse brown bread of the barracks to the delicate food of his nursery. Alexis, with his sisters, has been spending a delightful holiday at the czar's Crimean castle of Livadia, Where no word reaches them of the serious condition of their mother or the cares of their father. The little grand duchesses, duch-esses, like Alexis, are not pampered. They are healthy, charming girls, living liv-ing principally out of doors. The czar, who rigorously upholds the etiquette of the court, shows a peculiar democratic demo-cratic trait toward his children, and by his orders they must be called by their Christian names their titles of imperial highnesses can be used only on state occasions. The czar is a very early riser. He generally takes breakfast, consisting of tea. eggs and ham, at seven o'clock. The meal is served by an English cook, the czar and czarina bcth having a preference for English food. Immediately Imme-diately after breakfast the czar smoKes a navan cigar, his majesty is extremely fond of cigars, quite unlike' un-like' his father, Alexander III., who only smoked Russian cigarettes and objected to cigar smoking among the dignitaries of his court. After a long stroll in which he is accompanied ac-companied sometimes by his children, the czar takes lunch, which consists of several courses. The conversation with the czarina and children is generally gen-erally in Engish, as his majesty does not like to Le overheard by the servants, serv-ants, who speak French, but not Eng lish. After lunch the czar generally makes an excursion by motor car, special spe-cial roads being laid down for his use. Dinner is served at six o'clock, and often a few intimate friends never more than five or six are in-ited. in-ited. After dinner a bridge or other card party is arranged. Play is always for low stakes. The czar is an excellent excel-lent card player. Sometimes artists are invited and a concert is offered the visitors. |