AN ELABORATE PALACE. The Czar's Winter Quarters at Gatshina.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 184, 25 December 1886, Page 8

AN ELABORATE PALACE. The Czar's Winter Quarters at Gatshina.

Active preparations are being made at Gatshma for the arrival of the Czar, who is to go intc winter quarters there. The great palace not only provides accommodation for the Emperor and Empress and their suites, but for the Emperor'e brothers and the imperial household in its entirety. A number of apartments are also preserved for atftte occasions. The rooms inhabited by the Emperor Nicholas and the Empicss aie still kept in their original condition. Portraits of the Prussian royal family, and gifts from the same, are to be soen on every side. The " play ball "is a unique room, offering lacilitiep for all kinds ot amusements in the winter. There is a stage, oa which grand dukes and ladies of tho court often play. Tbero are slopes j down which imperial and other high per nonages slide on cushions ; there aro <3\ringF, climbing poles, ball game?, and in fact an endlesa variety of amusements. The Emperor and Empress pa^s the winter here in quiet with their family. The captle, however, gives the impression of a strongly fortified retreat. In front there is a deep moat, which can be filled any moment with water, while the approaches, defended by cannon, can be iaolated by the drawing up of the biidgea. The castle is protected by moatet on three sides, those certainly lending to tho charm of the park. Al! workpeople belonging to the palace wenr distinctive marks, and before entering or leaving they aro examined. The palace of Gatehina ia'only one of a number of residences which the Emperor possesses in the neighbourhood of St. Petersburg, and the majority of which he never visits. One of them, Taizi, has a peculiar history It belonged to one Demidoff, who was a man of fortune. He gave brilliant banquets and maintained his own company of musicians, some of whom wero clever arlif-ts, who had studied in Pari3. This wealthy man often showed very foolish extravagance, , while at times his conduct partook of eccentricity. His daughter was betrothod to a nobleman, and the day of the marriage ■was fixed, but instead cf attending the wedding the father sent a letter in which he expressed regret at not being present, and asksd that a representative he sent might be courteously received. The representative was driven up in a richlyequipped carriage, with gayly- dressed coachman and attendants, and it proved to bo a dead pig, which was stuffed with gold pieces and precious atones- the paternal wedding-gift. On another occasion Demidoff bought an estato and invited the late owner to bis palace. Here ho made him dead drunk and thou sent him home in a > coffin, having first informed his family that he was absolutely dead. The relatives received the coffined man with tears ; but what was their surprise to find the dead mari coming to his senses and tho vacant space in the coffin filled with gold pieces ? This palace at Taizi is now in complete disorder, f

Aa many aa four-and-twenfcy actresses claiming to be stars are announced as about to tako the field in Shakspoarian charactera this winter in the UmtodStiates^tbef avouvite parts being Viola, Imogone,. Rosalind, and Juliet. There appears to be, in fact, quite a revival of the legitimate drama in that ctfuntry.