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About The news-herald. (Plattsmouth, Neb.) 1909-1911 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1909)
AVING THE CZAR By GEOUGE &AHTOJV 3 ui.'ji's:: Gen. TrepofPs Great "March 13" Coup Its Accomplishment fTSSKByBSHBSSKJ Face to Face with Death the Most Fa mous of Russian Detec tives Frustrates Plot to Take Nicholas' Life Blood Monarch Sees Only Quietude of Crowd as Evidence of Vicious Plans Being Nipped How Chief Did It. A A A T J is roinlmii years the (fli'li. Tivp.ilT. duo till)'" chief of llii St. Petersburg police, runUs with tho most famous detectives In tin- Russian empire. Hi was in control of I lm wecivi service dop.'ti-t incut of the poller of St. lvters wrz during the l:iw less period extending from 1ST") to lSMl. Ho soenm to linvi- been Niici'osiifiil In this difficult position be cause lie won tin1 warm commendation of the czar, ami at tin- same time, the hearty detestation of the people. Ills Immediate predecessor was assassinated mill ids own lit" was in danger on more than one occasion. Vera Zassolle, u young nihilist, sliot at him while he was seated in his ollice 111 the early part of ISM). Trepoff was seriously Injured but re covered and noon after that was honored by the czar who made him n councilor of state.) IN' the early part of March, 1SS7. the czar of all the Russians determined, as a mark of confidence In tho loyalty of his subjects, that lio would drive in state. In lull view of tho populace, from tho Cathedral of St. Sophia to tho Winter pal ace at St. Petersburg. The importance of this statement may bo under stood when the reader I'd that for a period of nihilists of that unhappy country had been making determined efforts to take the life of the emperor. Only three months before it was an nounced that the czar, while out hunt ing, met wilh an accident in which he was seriously injured. It Is slgnlli cant that several persons who were near the scene of the "accident"' were immediately arrested. One was hanged and the other transported to Siberia. Again there had been an "accidental" explosion in the Winter palace while the. czar was attending a state din ner. Nothing ever came of this inci dent although it was proven later that nihilists had entered the palace dis guised as plumbers. Now. however, it was believed in high official circles that the country was to enter upon an era of internal pence. The emperor issued a mani festo of conciliation. Arrears of taxes were remitted; certain criminals were released from prison; exiles to Si beria had their life sentence com muted to 20 years of prison servitude. The nihilists, on hearing this, were passive but unsatisfied. They had clamored for certain constitutional rirbts which were denied them. Nevertheless, it was determined by nfllcialdom that the czar should cele brate the return of "the era of good fooling" by a' public appearance in the cupitol of the nation. The time agreed upon was Sunday, March IS. 1S7. Five days before that date a cadet in one of the military schools a young man with royal blood In his veins, and a prlr.ee of a reigning house of Ktiropt. killed himself. The tragic act was attributed to melancholia duo to a hopeless love affair. It would be supposed that a small romance of this sort would be left to the district police. No! so. At this stage of tho narra tive there enters upon the scene M Treiioff. a General In the army, the chief of the secret police of St. Peters burg, and one of I lie favorites of the czar. He was a burly man. brusque In manner and not over nice in his me! beds. Haled by the people, ho treated their attitude with supreme In difference. Whatever his disposition he possessed the unerring Instincts of tee real detective. His ln eslignl Ion of the little cadet's suicide was charac teri;4ieally prompt. It developed startling fact. It can be stated In single sentence. The nihilists of St. Petersburg hud determined to assassinate the czar on Sunday. March i:i. 1S7. One of the functionaries attached to the palace heard rumors of the plot and rushed to (Jen. Trepoff. "It Is unsafe for his majesty to ven ture out. Shall we countermand the order for the procession?" The chief of the secret service an swered with an expression of annoy ance: "The program Is to be earried out as arranged down to the smallest de tail." "Put" Trepoff Interrupted the speaker by bunging his heavy list on the desk b.'lore Mm. "I take nil of the responsibility. If It l.i necessary to make any change I Ma',l lufunu the cur iu person." Hy Saturday March 12, the gener al had a regiment of men at work. The mildest mannered person in St. Petersburg was considered fit subject for suspicion. Innumerable arrests were made and some of these were upon such flimsy basis that even the rigor of Russian policcdom could not justify their detention. Hourly reports were handed In to Con. Trepoff. Me de voured these with eager Interest, purs ing up his shaggy eyebrows and thinking all the while. Presently one of his officers brought in a printed cir culara sort of proclamation and this bit of paper was given more at tention than any of the regular re ports. After that be sent out other squads of police and they, in return, brought in other reports. There was great activity at the secret service quarters but, It must be confessed, not much positive evidence of the alleged conspiracy. . It was the eve of Sunday, March 1... One of the personal attendants of the czar called on Gen. Trepoff. "Don't vou think It would lie wise "lt the procession proceed." , The route over which the czar trav eled was lined with police. They stood alone, in pairs, and in squads. They were conspicuous and yet not umluly so, for hundreds of them In plain clothes mingled freely with the peo ple. .lust before the parade started Trepoff arrested four students. They were young men waiting to see the royal show. The people protested against the arrest as an outrage, but the grizzled heart of the St. Petersburg police grinned and said nothing In deed the calm demeanor of the jiris oners seemed to justify the protest of the people. One of the men carried a book under his arm, evidently, from the gilt lettering on the outside, a de votional volume; another had a green bag containing legal documents; tho third, apparently with a desire to get :t good look at the czar, carried a pall or opera glasses, while the fourth had nothing unusual about his person, un less a roll of music be so regarded. They were hustled off to the nearest Hut things were different In the famous "Third Section." as tho secret police are called. Hen. Trepoff was there arranging in consecutive form the result of live days of hard work. Here Is the story of what bad been going on behind the scenes, the knowl edge of which had been so carerully kept from the czar. The first clue came in a most casu al manner. One night a couple of men In a restaurant on the Nevsky bad at tracted attention by their earnest whispered conversation. During part of the talk the name of the czar and the date, the Kith of March, bad been overheard. That was enough. Detec tives placed on their tracks followed them like bloodhounds. On the eve of the fateful thirteenth one of the men met n woman In the streets of St. Petersburg nnd had a hurried conversation with her. Five minutes after thev separated the woman was plnced under arrest. A search of her person revealed a large quantity of nihilistic proclamations all eallinc for the death of tho czar. She l. UlllWJiMlkAmiHII 'Jim Jj?sV.'Irt ,11, 77 . n V Y"7 l 'IV 1'. k I yfS,. ktv, win mmmwm r life m wsm ' mMM MVV 1.1k, vv m&mk I I i mmw nm to postpone the procession tomor row?" Treioff raised those eloquent eye brows in surprise. "What," he cried, "and confess to the world that the emperor of Russia fears to appear In the streets of his capita,!?" "Yes," protested the oth'M "but the danger" "The danger is for me to consider," be said, each word carefully meas ured. The messenger bit his lips in per plexity. The chler of the secret serv ice looked up suddenly. "Does the czar know of the plot?" "No; not a word; but be is timid." "Reassure him. Tell him that Tre poff says there is no danger that he will guarantee tne satety ni ins maj esty." "All right." replied the aitache, bow Ing himself from the room. Late on the night preceding tie' pro cession tin inoffensive looking young woman was arrested and lodged in Jail. Karly on the morning of the his toric day several compositors anil editors apparently Innocent of any wrong were taken Into custody. Still thosv who surrounded the czar were apprehensive. An hour before the time they appealed to Trepoff. He gave them a curt but comprehensive answer; police siation and In a minute the curious multitude, accustomed to constant police Interferenep, forgot all about the Incident. Simultaneous ly six persons were being arrested at Paulvonia on the Finnish railroad. Tens of thousands of the people stood on the sidewalks on that chill, gray, March morning awaiting the gor geous procession. It came presently, with the czar In an open barouche. scaled witli one of the ministers or slate. Ills majesty was attired in seiul mllitary dress, and If he felt tiny ap prehension, did not belrny It. The of tidal who accompanied him glanced furtively about as If constantly expect ing the unexpected. The czar bowed to the tight and the left and receive! in return cold, curious stares from the people. If they felt any enthusiasm th did not show it. Was their silence Intended as a mark of respect fir their sovereign? An onlooker from another country would not have so regarded U. The procession moved quickly and safely to the Wittier palace. It had been accomplished without a single mishap of any kind. The telegraph car ried the news to all quarters of tin; world the czar bad appeared In pub lic and received tho homage of his people. The day of 'assassination was past, and the delusion of a contented I people was hnuged by the autocratic ruler. was literally loaded down with the documents which were being dis tributed to those in the conspiracy. She admitted that the young cadet who had committed suicide hud been selected to assassinate the emperor, l'.ut when he realized the meaning of his assignment u- killed himself. She stopped at. this stage of her confes sion. Neither persuasion nor torture nor threats of death would Induce her to give the names of the others con cerned in the plot. Put Trepoff had a foundation on which to build his case. Here was a bit of paper. It would have to he traced to Its origin. It was evident that an Illicit printing press had been net up somewhere In the city. All this time the two men who had talked Incau tiously In the restaurant were being followed. TiTey were seen to enter a house In tho Jewish section. The rec ord'! of the police shownl that tho house was occupied by Aaron .onde 1 evie, who, at on time, had been a printer. That was sufficient. In less than an hour afterward the house was raided. An officer with a squad of police broke into the place without notice. What they found did not geem very dam aging. Four persons were nt home ni the lime two tneit and two women. Mine. Krlloff, th head of the house, was a woman of about 4o and f "t usual Intelligence. Tho other femalo was her servant. One of the men was rather aristocratic In appearance. He said he occupied n minor ministerial ollice and color was given to his state ment by the portfolio which he had his hand. The other man, named dilikln. was a consumptive, about 23 years of age. "Whore is your printing press?" de manded the officer. Madame shrugged her delicate shoulders and outstretched her hands in a manner which said plainly enough that the police were welcome to any rlnting presses they might find In that place. A printing press is a bulky thing. It should not be hard to find. Rut the officers searched the house from cellar to garret without result. All the while the qunrtet sat iu the large dining- room, prisoners. On the return of the police, the two men and the two women were put through the "sweat- ln" process, but they revealed mull ing. The aristocrat io-lookliig young man laid his portfolio aside for a mo ment. One of the policemen picked It up and opened it. Astonishment made him speechless. He silently handed the portfolio to his chief. It was filled with manuscripts and proofs of a pro hibited nihilist paper called "Land and Liberty." The aristocratic-looking per son with the portfolio merely smiled nt the consternation of the officials. lie realized the gravity of his offense. He knew tho penalty. Hut he never quailed for mi Instant. "Come," shouted tho chief, "you re convicted alrendy. You might as well confess. Where Is the press?" The quartet remained silent. They were not offensive. It was the silence of submission but. not of fear. Sud denly the chief gave a shout of sur prise and pointed to the cupboard. Tho other policemen followed the course In dlcated by his nccusing finger. They saw nothing and their blank coun tenntices Raid as much, Don't you see?" almost shrieked the official. No," replied his chief lieutenant. "What is it?" "A daub of Ink on the door of that closet." "A daub of Ink?" repeated the other, parrot-like and with no Indica tion of Intelligence. Yes! Yes!" he retorted, "a daub of printer's Ink." Slowly a consciousness of the mean ing of his words penetrated their dull heads. At the same moment they made a simultaneous dash for the cupboard. To their amazement they met with resistance. Mine. Krlloff, her servant, tho aristocratic man of tho portfolio, nnd the consumptive com positor were lined up In front of tho cupboard. All were armed and Mine. Kriloff, pointing her pistol at the hea of the chief officer, said with great de liberation: "Advance a single step und I'll blow out your brains. We're desperato. Life means little to us now. Save yours." Here was a dilemma. The chief knew If he made a move to reach for his pistol this frenzied woman would carry out her threat. Only two other policemen were iu the room with him and they were covered by the arlsto crat and the consumptive compositor. The remainder of his men were In oth or parts of the Iiouro, He backed out by degrees. It was humiliating, but he felt that It was politic, Ho must have time to think and plan. His two com panlons retreated with him. As they reached the outer sill of the floor tho consumptive compositor slammed the door violently nnd one of his asso' elates bolted It. The racket brought the other policemen to the aid of their chief. There on the landing they held a council of war. The besieged nihil ists, on their part, were sparring for time i hey had something; to conceal or destroy. The house was already strongly guarded on the outside and the siege held out for less than a minute. The door was broken In and after a fierce resistance the four nihilists stir rendered. The aristocrat fought like a demon and at the last asked quarter only for the women. While the police were completing their work the con sumptive compositor had a violent paroxysm of coughing and asked per mission to He on a cot in an adjoin ing room. The cupboard proved to be a veri table magic closet. It contained a com plete printing outfit. Needless to say the paraphernalia was extraordinarily simple ami adapted peculiarly to the purposes of the conspirators. There was a large cylinder covered with cloth which answered the require ments of a press; a roller oT a sort of gummy substance; several fonts of type, display and otherwise; a few Jars of printing Ink, benzine brushes, and sponges. This was all puckul to be taken to police headquarters. Just as the prisoners were being rounded up a sharp pistol shot was heard from toe cuijoiul.ig room. The chief hurried in and found Lubkln, tho consumptive compositor, In the death agonies. He had shot, himself. In half an hour's time tho remaining prisoners and all of the facts In the case were la the possession of Gen. Trepoff. He rubbed his clumsy hands with satisfaction. "Move the second in the game ot life and death," he muttered. "We shall postpone our third move until morning. Not because we like to, but because wo must." In the morning, as already stated, the arrest of the four students oc curred. Their Innocent-looking posses sions were taken from them at the police headquarters. Tho book, the green hag, tho opera glass, ond tho roll of music each contained bombs which wmo to have boon thrown at the emperor. They were stripped. On each student was found a small vial suspended with a string from his neck and resting against his breast. These frail bottles each contained a most active poison. Tho purpose was evident. Failure or refusal to do their frightful work on the part of either of the students would have brought forth secret agents of the nihilists, whoso duty It was to strike the unsuc cessful or delinquent conspirator on the chest, thus smashing the bottle and permitting the poison to entor tho wounds caused by tho broken glass. Llttlo wonder that the unsuccessful students took their arrest stoically. They were merely exchanging one fate for another. On. Trepoff had made other ar rests of those who were directly con cerned In the attempted assassination. He counted them over. "Nine fish In the net; we need more." His chief of staff and a squad of his trustiest men had already started off for Paulvonia on the Finnish rail way. He wired thetn to oct immedi ately. They found what he had sus pected a bomb manufactory. It was there that the deadly mlRslles of the four students had boon devised. Six more arrests were made in connection with this private arsenal. On the day following March 13, Gen, Trepoff had 13 prisoners In all on his hands. Kach one represented a stage In the conspiracy; the compositors and pressman who published the proc lamations; the girl ho distributed them; the students who were to throw the bombs, and the men who manu factured the deadly missiles. The 15 were condemned to death, but, on the recommendation of the court, eight escaped hanging and were sentenced to penal servitude for life In Siberia. The czar learned all of these de tails later. On the evening of the 13th of March, as he entered the Winter palace, he was credited with say ing: The people were very polite and re spectful. The details were nicely planned and by the way, tell Trepoff I was pleased with the police arrangements." (Copyright, IMS. by W. 0. Cliapmsn.) Home-Loving Montenegrins. Nowhere Is love of country more In tense than among the Montenegrins, to whom exile is the greatest of pun ishments. When W. J. Stlllman was there In the seventies all the men were away fighting, and he observed that when a messenger was wanted tho official took a man out of the prison and sent him off, with no fear that he would not return. One such messenger was sent to Cattaro, In Austrian territory, wilh a large sum of money for the bank, and he duly came back. Another asked a Russian at Cattaro to Intercede with Prince Nicholas for his release from prison. "Hut you are not in prison!" said the Russian. "Oh." said the man. "I have only come down for a IohcI of skins for So ond-So, but I must go Into prison again when I get back to Cettlnje." One prison guard watched all the prisoners when they sunned them selves out of doors, and If he ws called away a prisoner would tak his rifle and act as sentry for the ticw. American Teacher's Life in Japan. An American teacher, Miss Helen Hyde, is now living In Japan and using the life there as material for her prints. Miss Hyde has her house and studio at Aknsaka, where she lives In Japanese style, but still retains "all the comforts of homo ' Into the little Japanese house, with Its bamboo frame, nnd walls of sliding screens, Miss Hyde has InModuced the Ameri can push button l-Ml, American chairs (the Japanese prefer to sit tipon floor mats), and even the unheard of luxury of an open grate fire. Hy designing most of her furniture herself, along Japanese lines, und having it made by Japanese worklngmen out of their native material, Miss Hyde has made a house nnd studio equally compatible with American ideus of comfortable living and tho Japanese ntandard of ail.