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.
