AN EMPRESS WORTH LOOKING AT.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 11758, 12 April 1888, Page 2

AN EMPRESS WORTH LOOKING AT.

An American l«dy who .is at present n bt Petersburg thusdeseribes a Court reception at the Winter Palace :— "lt was a bitter oold day when w« irove in a gorgeous slaigh to the Winter Palace— whioh wsb like a fairy pioture in the fading light without, ilia* «• mmated within with, the brUlianoy of thousands of candles-fa-attend a Court ' reception. The effect df^he light on he snow and ,rip 6n r the gay'eqnipages of the numerous guests was indescribable. wm apP ffl a - Q^ 8^ *£? ' Smpress through 3000 officials. We.y.paßsed* through auperb state apartments, eaoh blaring ' with a thousand wax tapers and go£ geouß ; with pticleas hangings, malachite pillars, works of art, and tropbio»l flowers and ferns. The sight was worth taejouraey^rom New York to Buasia" The floors were things of beauty, inlaid with ebony, rosewood, and ivory. Aa we waited for oar fain I h' a i3 a good opportunity- to see, and I made much of it, At last we entered the throne room, and there, surrounded by asea of splendour, stood the Empress, herself a moving mass of diamonds. She was the most dazzling sight of. all. On her head was a orowri onoe worn by the great Hhaabeth. It wwithe first tim« I j»a men a .real orown on royalty, for the diamond tiara worn by Queen Victoria laßt summe: at her reoeption wbb not a orown except in na.me. Mrs Astor used to wear as fine a one. But this one 1 on the Imperial head waß worthy to adorn the Emprpss of All the Bussias. Describe it? No. I only saw millioiM of ooloured raja ana white eparkß of light emitted from it at every 'motion of the royal perBOD. The neoklaoe wm made from what was left over of th» crown. It reached from her ne'ok' to her waist, and. had rabies, sapphirei.and diamonds enough in it to' havd snpplieS a tbouaai.d ' erdinary royal necklaces. The Imperial Qrders "worn on her breast contained all "the gems, of, the ,Bagt. They sointillated with light, and that is all I can sayjof them. The'stuff of. her gown was emerald velvet; with a train of whit 9 embroidery with enough gold to stock a mine, and bordered with 1 real sold balls., The front of the t»own was ornamented with ropes of linked pink coral set in diamonds, and .fasMueai'at intervals. Never s*w I a rjHman Befog ' thus arrayed. Solomon might ifaV'e put on more, but T'.do not believe'it. Sha*-, was enough of herself to take ; the brea^h'^ out of a body, but surroutidad- aa she j~ "' was by grand dnohessee, -paon^ one ;. ablaze with jewels worth a kingdom, she .was the moßt wonderful eight lever ■witnessed in my life, The offioials in their sem^barbaroufl grandeui- numbered hundreds upon hundreds, but I paid no attention to them. The Etna 'press and the palace were what I went to see, and the. ;sight has;' thrown me into a peouliar mental'oo'ndition." ■>