THE CZAR'S KITCHEN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 84, 28 March 1908, Page 4

THE CZAR'S KITCHEN.

HORRIBLE STORIES IF TRUE. Prince S. R. G., writing in the first December number of " La Revue," sunplies what he truly declares arc gruesome particulars concerning the Czar's kitchen, showing the dangers infinitely greater than the bombs of revolutionists, to which tha Czar and his family are constantly exposed. In the matter of food at any rote the Autocrat of all the Russias is served worse than auy other rich man in his empire. When the brother of the. Czar, the Grand Duke George, died of tuberculosis in the Caucasus, Dr. Bertinson, brother of the Court doctor, elicited the information that the Grand Duke's first valet-de-chambre, who was continually with his master, and handled his olothes, etc., was a man in the last stages of pulmonary phthisis. This valet, says the doctor, undoubtedly infected the Grand Duke, for there are no tuberculous antecedents on either side in the Imperial family.

It will be remembered that in the autumn of 1900, when the Czar was in Livadia, he had a sudden attack of typhoid fever. The incident was much talked about at St. Petersburg. How could the Czar be attacked by a malady which is always caused by infection, and which is usually found associated with poverty an'd dirt? A lady who appeared well-informed made answer to a circle of friends who were discussing similar problems. Nothing, she said, could surprise her after her visit t-o*the kitchen oil the Imperial train. In regard to the wonderful luxury and comfort of the Czar's rooms, her expectations were more than realised, but whenBhe saw the kitchen she was stupefied and indignant at the state of dirt, simply repulsive, iu which she found it. She said she could still sec a wooden stool, black with dirt, on which a man was

sitting. This was the block on which

the meat for tlie Czar's table was cut and trimmed. Tho lady remarked I't her friend; "I would not for all the gold in the world taste anything which came out of tliat kitchen," and the man replied: "I am oilly a servant, madame, but I would not eat anything prepared on this stool, even though 1 shOTfld be allowed to do it myself." Similar stories arc told by a military

doctor who used to attend the servants at the palace. One day, when he was

making a professional visit to an assistant chef, he found liiiu at his stove, busy preparing a delicate dish for the Czar s table. Wliile tlie doctor was talking to him the sauce began! to burn, and the cook, in no wise disconcerted, immediately plunged his ladle into some dirty water which was a't hand, and emptied it into the saucepan. This same doctor asserts that be saw other servants in the kitchen suffering from contagious and repulsive maladies, and that iit spite of Ms orders these servants remained iu the service of the Czar an.l

helped to provide the food for the Czar's table. The doctor also refers '.o th e sudden illness of a general who had been induced to partake of some refreshment in the Czar's tent. The general had been warned repeatedly of the imprudence of eating anything from the Imperial kitchen, but the manoeuvres bad given, him an appetite, and he paid the penalty. Thus it would seem the Czar's kitchen has the worst possible reputation. But in addition to the lack of cleanliness and ; hygiene, " Prince S.R.G." declares that it is run at enormous expense. A story is told of a chef who retired young worth millions, and afterwards desired to return to tlie service of the Czar,'for there is nothing equal to service in. the Imperial kitchen for enabling a man to amass a fortune in a short space of time. Every dish which appears on the Czar's table in an ordinary way is paid for at the, rate of ten roubles (22s fldl. But for great, dinners, receptions, etc., the arrangement is different. Suppose (says the writer) there is a dinner for 500 l and that the menu Includes such tilings as lobsters, Rouen ducklings, and champagne of a special brand. This means that 500 lobsters, 500 ducklings, 500 bottles of champagne, etc., will be paid for. Everything is procured from Paris, and 1 reckoning the. minimum cost at 100 franlcs a head, we see that the chef will be paid 50,000 francs (over £2,000) by the Minister of the Couvt. Thus it is not a question of eating and drinking, but of paying. There exists at the Court of Russia a Controller of the Imperial Table, whose business it is to inspect the table beforo the guests assemble. He counts the bottles of wine, and satisfies himself as to the brands. But behind his back are servants, not less serious, who quietly take a number of bottles of wine and hand them to their wives behind the doors. Bonbons, cakes, fruit, and even flowers arc also taken, but in the matter of wine the correct number of liottlcs is left, only many of them have been replaced by cheap imitations. The stolen wines and food are frequently sold to outsiders, and the writer declares that- he was at the house of a professional man when a valet in Court livery arrived with a hamper containing twenty bottlos of expensive ■wine, for which the professional man paid as good as nothing. More precious things than food and wine have also been taken, and objects of art and curios from the Palace itave been bought at slixips iii St. Petersburg.

QUEER i; ACTS OF HISTORY WHO WAS JACK KETCH? This has long been a synonym for the public v executioner, and is derived from Richard Jaquett, who formerly owned the Manor of Tyburn, now the ground upon which stands the Marble Arch, and where the Bayswater and Edgware Roads meet. Here some few yards westward of the Arch stood Tyburn tree, and to it and to the tender mercies of its owner and presiding genius, Jaquett, came the liighwayman, or the horse thief, or the housebreaker in a tumbril from JJewgftte.

TRIALS BY BREAD AND CHEESE. There were many odd ways in ancient times of detecting criminals. Our ancestors had not lived long enough to lose their faith in the gnawings of conscience, and divine interference in earthly justice was superstitiously regarded as a daily occurrence. No queerer example of this could be found than the ancient mode of trying prisoners by " bread and cheese." The unfortunate offender was led, with a halter round his neck, to the parish church, and there in the presence, of all the people, the priest put pieces of cheese and rye-bread in a plat ten on the altar. These he Blessed, and then the supposed criminal had to eat them dry before the congregation. If he managed to swallow them easily he was acquitted; but if he choked hs was condemned. Naturally enough, scores of innocent folk were thus done to death.

HOW ALEXANDER OWED HIS LIFE TO DRUNKENNESS.

As a young man Alexander the Great escaped death in a curious manner. A great banquet was being held at Pella, tho capital of Macedonia, at which wsre present the future conqueror of the world and his father, Philip. During the feast one of the guests proposed a toast and prayer offensive to Alexander, who hurled a goblet at him. Kinfe Philip, angry at this outrage, started up, drew his sword, and rushed ftihously upon his son; but he had' drunk so deeply that before be reached him he fell prostrate among the terrified merrymakers.

Not. a whit perturbed at this extraordinary escape from death, Alexander retorted; "Here is a man preparing to oross from Europe to Asia, who yet cannot step surely from one couch to another."

KINGS WHO WERE SCHOOLMASTERS.

In the early part of the life of King Christian IX. of Denmark there was no prospect of his ever becoming the ruler of that country. With this in view he became a schoolmaster at the German University of Halle. Being too poor to keep a. servant, the Dowager Tsarina Dagmar of .Russia, one of his daughters, used to help her mother to do the household work and take care of the younger.children. Dur. ing this period there were King Frederick VII. and several others, iu th# direct line of succession, that stood before Prince Christian, but, by a succession of deaths' that he became the heir apparent, and after the death of King Frederick VII. in 18(13 tie was proclaimed King Christian IX. ot - Denmark.

Another instance of a, siinilar_ nature is that of Louis Philippe. During tho time he was exiled from France, then being the Due de Cliartres, he became a tcaoher of mathematics and geography in Switzerland. About thixty-aix or. seven years afterwards, on August Bth, 18S0, he was proclaimed King Louis Philippe of the French.

"FORTY WINKS" THAT COST A KING HIS LIFE. In tho middle of Holborn, London, once stood an inn, the George aad Blus Boar, and there took place an incident which entirely changed the whole tale of England's history. As twilight was Ming iu October, 1048, a very tired post-boy, mounted on a sweating' horse, pulled up outside tho old inn. The lad knew notliing of the importance of the letters which lay in his post-bag; his orders were to convey them to a point on the Great North Road, where he would be met by other messengers. lint Cromwell's spies had followed him from the South Coast, for England's liberty depended upon his dispatches miscarrying. The boy had some supper, and afterwards fell asleep, his he-.id pillowed on his post-bag. AVliile he slept Cromwell's men took tlie bag and found in it a letter from King Charles I. to the Scottish generals arranging for his rescue, an inunedia'.e advance on London, and the arrest an-i execution of Cromwell and his friends. That sain c evening Cromwell had Ihe fatal letter, and determined on Charles' death.