FREAKS OF MONARCHS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1675, 29 September 1887, Page 3

FREAKS OF MONARCHS.

The places on which Sultan Abd il Az'z and the ex-Ktiedive expended so many millions, luxurious aa they are, have been surpassed even m modern timeß by the freaks of rulers still more eccentric. History has preserved the memory of the ice palace built by the Russian Empress Anne, who punished several of her dainty couruoro by compelling them to pass the nif.>ht m thin great chamber of state, where they were almost frozen to death. The Czir Paul, ancestor of the present sovereign, constructed a room formed entirely of huge mirrors, where he spent hours walking to and fro In full uniform — a singular taste for the ugliest man In Russia. One of the native princes of Java oooled hia palace by making a stream fall In a cascade over the gateway, and the Indian deßpot, Tippoo Sahib, plaoed beßide bis dinner-table a Hfe-jiza figure of a tiger devouring an English officer, the roar of the boast and the shriek of the victim being imitated by hidden machinery. Tha tete King of Oude kept m his country palac9 a large collection of pet serpents, which he la said to have more than once amuaed bimse'f by letting loose, with fa til eSaot, upun the luckloßß Hindoos who cime within reach.