These people ask: How is it that _your_ Emperor of
Russia has delayed so long in expressing to us his condolence? Why?
Let me explain. The fire at the Charity Bazaar broke out at 4 p.m. on
May 4, but the Russian Ambassador in Paris only telegraphed the news to
Count Mouravieff on the evening of May 5. The Emperor can only have
heard of the disaster on the 6th; it was then too late for him to
telegraph a direct message, and it was therefore thought best to send
instructions to the Russian Embassy. The blame in this matter falls
therefore upon M. de Mohrenheim. It was due to his methods of
proceeding that the Emperor learnt the news forty-eight hours late.
_Le Gaulois_, in a somewhat officious explanation, informs us that the
Russian Ambassador kept back his telegram because May 5 is the birthday
of the Empress, and because there is a superstition in Russia that it
is bad luck to get bad news on one's birthday. This explanation is
untrue; there is no such superstition. Did they conceal from Nicholas
II, on the day of his coronation, the terrible catastrophe at
Khadyskaje, which cost the lives of thousands of Russians; and did this
disaster prevent the Tzar from attending M. de Montebello's ball that
same evening? Moreover, M. de Mohrenheim should have telegraphed on
May 4 to Count Mouravieff, leaving to him the choice as to the hour for
communicating the information to the Tzar. M. de Mohrenheim is in the
habit of doing this sort of thing; when he chooses, his instincts are
dilatory.
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