THE CZAR'S WINTER, PALACE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5672, 24 April 1880, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE CZAR'S WINTER, PALACE.

_ A queer story is told of the Winter Palace of the Czar, which maybe given as illustrating the great extent of the place, and the possibilities of mischief it affords. In the time of Nicholas;, the father of the present. Czar, a number of sentries were posted on the roof to guard againafc fire or foes. f Finding the climate up there not altogether so comfortable as could be wished, this: permanent watch at length contrived to convey on to the i oof the materials for a number of huts or cabins, which in course of time they erected under the shelter of the chimney-stacks. So 'snug and cosy did they manage to make themselves, that it at length occurred to the married' men among them that, as there was plenty of room up there, they might' as well en--large their establishments. Accordingly: wives and families, one after another, found their way out on to the Imperial leads.; Several of the single members of "the guard, finding such a tempting oppor-* tunity of setting up housekeeping econov mically, took wives to themselves, and after a while quite a considerable colony had sprung up. How far the development might have gone on if the individuals composing this parasitic little village had been reasonably cautious and careful in their behaviour it is difficult to guess J but the establishment of families among the chimneys of the palace led gradually to the accumulation of domestic animals. Fowls multiplied amazingly, and goata became numerous and nourished so well in the bracing atmosphere, that at length it was suggested that a cow might conveniently be added to the farm stock. How the animal was elevated we are not informed, but it is stated as a fact that it was by some means hoisted to the roof, and was eventually the ruin of the community. The lowing of the cow came to certain official ears, and led to an investigation and the total breaking up of the queer little socieoy. Even at that time it is aaid that the Russian Emperor felt so little confidence in his personal security that nobody ever knew in which bedroom he was going to sleep. A large number were always kept ready and unoccupied, and at bed-time the Czar would quietly slip into any one of them selected at the moment.