Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1901 — The Czar's Little Joke. [ARTICLE]

The Czar's Little Joke.

The history of medaeval times is replete with instances of the merry pranks played by the Court jester on the day sacred to the rule of the cap and bells. It is said that Peter the Great was much struck by the manner in which AU Fools’ day was celebrated in France, Holland and England during his sojourn in those countries, and og his return to his own dominions he introduced the April fool custom quite forcibly among his people by erecting on the 31st day of March, 1719, in the open square in front of his palace in St Petersburg, a gigantic pile of wood, garnished with tar and other inflammable materials. To this he set fire during the early morning hours of AprU The flames shot high up in the air, and it looked from a distance as if the palace and the whole city were afire. People came from all sides, some traveling for miles to help put out the fire. When they finally arrived at the conflagration troops formed around the square cried out: “Fools and donkies, faU back! By order of the Czar faU back? The little father has fooled you. It is the Ist of April to-day.”