March IS, lPOrt.
TIIE OMAHA. ILLUSTRATED BEE.
Proclamation of Freedom Brings Death and Terror to Warsaw
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ARSAW, February 18. (8peclal
Correspondence of The. Bee.) The
times are so exciting here that
one hardly ha time to write to
you people across the ea In your
w
happy country happy because free. Not
withstanding two proclamations of the Im
perial decree, one of October 30 and the
other of December 18, lWW, by which the so
'railed constitutional lights were given to
jthe people of the entire ertrplre, and more
particularly to those of Poland, this coun
try Is still in a "state of siege" as I write,
and the black terror of absolutism Is rag
ing In every part of the land In every possi
ble manner.'
! ! In Iha flrat nliuA tViA hlimnrntM consti
tution has promised the people the right 10
erect and to form a national congress or
legislature, called here the "Douma," which
Is to congregate In 8t. Petersburg. On
hearing such glorious news the people of
the city, on the evening of November 1,
the day after the first proclamation, organ
ised a great procession through the streets, -marching
with national flags flying and
singing patriotic songs. By common con
sent they all met at the end of the various
line of march in "Theater square" before
the "magistrate's building." or city hall, as
It would be called In America. This build
ing contains the chief police station of the
city and the people expected that, In com
memoration of the proclamation of the
constitution, and according to Its terms, the
political prisoners would be released. War
saw Is a city of over 800,000 people and It Is
not surprising that, while many persons
did not take part In the procession, the
square was, In a short time, literally
packed with people.
,
Closaarks Sabre the Pee pie.
Then followed an event which could not
have taken place outside of the Russian
empire. The managers of the parades had
' not taken Into their confidence Mrs. Blbt
cofT, wife of the president or mayor of
Warsaw, who resides with his family in
the city hall. Mrs. Blblcoff is a sister-in-law
of Mr. Bcallon, the governor general
of Poland. When she saw the great crowd,
which was so dense as to be practically
Immobile, she became alarmed. Others be
I sides her were alarmed, as the authorities,'
I. which had permitted the parade, were not
prepared for one of Its slse; but their
fears were nothing compared to those or
the woman. Bhe immediately communl-
cated with the governor general by tele-
'phone, telling him of the crowd and of her
! fears. He, without wait ng to Investigate
1 the matter, Immediately Issued a command
: by telephone to an officer of the troops,
: telling blm to clear the square forthwith.
This terrible order' was given to Cossacks
I for execution. These semi-barbarous troop
' ers knew nothing of the situation and
; probably cared less. They were told to
i clear the square and Instead of executing
the order In a sensible manner they entered
the square mounted through each of the
' tnnr avsnnoa Inndlns' to It. ard with drawn
swords charged the unarmed and peace-
able men, women and children there as
sembled. It seemed that they felt called upon to
avenge the defeats upon the Talu and at
Mukden, and well they did their "duty,"
for, without opening an avenue for the
people to leave the square, they rode them
down, striking Indiscriminately with the
sword men, women and children In all
conditions of life, leaving many wounded
upon the streets and others maimed for
Ilia.
Aathotitles Repress the People.
This "scarlet first of November" will be
recorded in the history of this country as
the "baptism of blood" of the glorious (?)
constitution. From this Incident began the
practice of the strongest repressive meas
ures on the part of local authorities, who
understand that the new constitution will
cut the ground from under their feet. As
a consequence the freedom of the press, so
heralded In the Imperial manifesto, . has
become, in the hands of the administrators
of the old system, an excuse for still
stronger and closer censorship. Many
newspapers have, since the proclamation,
been confiscated, the offices closed and the
i editors Imprisoned. Their private lodgings
liave been searched and their homes
jAitted by the police.
the same rule applies to the guaranty
of personal liberty by' the manifesto and
j a loo io rmiRiuus uraij. - -
the authorities have prohibited the singing
(of hymns In churches which have patriotic
tendencles, especial mention being made of
, the old hymn beginning with the words
;"Bose cos Polske.." which 1 is been trans-
ated Into English by the late Paul Sobo-
twskl of Chicago, the hymn beginning:
O, Lord, thou has to Poland lent thy
n's n . A
haltd Uon Protectln
IlVs given fame and all Its glory bright
nd through long ages saved our earner-
lMnd
I We chant at thy alters our bumble strain,
I O. Lord, make the land of our love free
t
again. uu uuuuio mai amount win De added this
This hymn closes with the words: year. The project will be handled In blocks
"O. Lord, who rules o'er all the wide ot 1.000.0QO aores each and it will be con
world's path, tlnued ' until the whole tract Is redeemed
At my commana we raisea irom oust
II in tne ruture we aeserve tny wratn
Turn us to dust but let that dust
free."
And this hymn, notwithstanding the im-
portal constitutional manifesto, Is abso-
lutely prohibited because there Is a prayer
In It for freedom, and that freedom would
mean the end of the rule of despotic and
"conservative" office holders,
liberty of speech has met the same des-
1 tniy. Those who have freely expressed
tnsir minus ui puoiic moeungs nave oeen
aitoeted at nil
U1 to dlsta
arrested at right In their homes and many
od to distant parts of the empire; but.
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CITT II ATX IN WARSAW, IN FRONT
AND CHILDREN.
after all, tho exiles ma be more fortu
nate than those Imprisoned In Poland. .
Conditions of the Prisons.
I must now describe to you some of the
prisons In which political prisoners are
kept. In the city of Warsaw and Us vicin
ity there are about 90,000 prisoners held for
political offenses only. Many of these per
sons have been In confinement two and
three months and have not been given ex
amination. It is therefore probable that
thuv Ant Innnrmt n nil a rn In a "hold nn .
,U8plclon... The authorities were unpre-
pared f(Jr go many ..offenderB.. and ha4
made no provIglon. for (or thenu
AfUr he , lson, were fllled they
unfortunate prisoner. In the
t ,.. , ,hm m,
in places which under other circumstances
would not be used to shelter low-grade an
imals. Not having sufficient furniture for
these temporary prisons, they give each
prisoner ten pounds of straw to be used at
night for a bed and during the day for a
seat.
I here thought to describe the food given
them, but after writing it down I fear to
transmit It. as It would require an affidavit
before a notary In order to Impress Its
truth upon American nWnds, and under
the circumstances I am making no affi
davits on the subject when such must be
recorded by Russian officials. Suffice It to
say that such rations' were never Issued to
civilised man before, except perhaps dur
ing some of the starvation times In towns
besieged In the "dark ages."
Scenes on the' Streets.
It may be better to Illustrate rather than
to describe the street life In Warsaw at
this time, and for this purpose I send a
number of photographs, some of them
Most Extensive Irrigation
(Copyright. 1908, by Frank Q. Carpenter.)
aujari, Alberta, March 15.
(Special Correspondence of The
Bee.) By all odds the hi ITMMtt If.
y53Jj rl'atlon Project on the North
American continent Is now under
y in mis province of Alberta. In ltt
all the Irrigated lands of the Vnited States
did not amount to 10.000.000 acres. By this
scheme Canada will nHcm i smmn
0f semi-desert, and that h nri.L
without government aid. The work has
uuaertaaen Dy the Canadian Paclflo
railroad, which has exchanged a part of
Its land grant for 1,000,000 acres lying be-
tween here and Medicine Hat Of this
1.600,000 acres" will be put under water and
the balance will be sold to the irrigated
land owners for pasture and mixed farm-
ing. This tract of Irrigated land Is almost
M rreat as all the 'rrlgated land of Colo
raoo or caurornla. It Is more than twice
that of Utah. Idaho or Wyoming and many
"" " any omer western slate.
mis worn is now going on. One hun-
l1r1 mill An .Km.
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reaidJ' toT th turning on of the water
and ttled. Altogether. It means supply
Ing homes to something like 10,000 families,
be and with the towns and other industries
which will be built tin Altinir i h ii.t it
ultimately means addition of about J00.000
people to Canada's population,
a
Isi the Great Anierlena Deeert.
The lands to be redeemed are a part of
what was once known as the Great Amerl-
can Desert. This runs northward through
the western part of the United States and
on mio ianaua. mere is more water
here than In our tributary country, but
there are dry seasons, which make the
lands unfit for ordinary farming, although
winter wheat Is now being raiaix! on much
ST. MART S LAKE. MONTANA,
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OF WHICH MOUNTED COSSACKS RODB
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COSSACKS DISPERSING CROWDS ON STREETS OFvWARSAW.-Drawn
of it. For the past fifteen years the
Canadian government has bad engineers
at work taking the levels, measuring the
atXAomas aMl Inssllna .Aml wm VWtrrt
Uch surveys It has been found that there
are 70,000,0u0 acres of seml-arld land which
need Irrigation occasionally If they are to
be used for farming. The government en
glneers estimate that 8,000,000 acres can
easily be reclaimed and that they will
have an unfailing supply of water from
the Saskatchewan and Its tributaries if the
proper works are made.
The land of the Canadian Pacific scheme
lies In a solid block on both sides of the
railroad between Calgary and Medicine
Hat It Is flat or slightly rolling prairie
and is now used for g rasing. The strip
Is 130 miles long, running back for some
miles on each side of the track. The water
Is to come. from the Bow river, a beautl-
ful mountain stream. It will be fed by
other rivers, which flow northward front
the United States through the Belly and
Bow into the Saskatchewan and thence
on to Hudson's bay.
Bis Irrigation Ditch.
The Bow river flows by Calgary. I drove
out today to look at the ditches already
excavated and to examine the irrigation
project as far as It is completed. Taking
carriages, we drove for miles over the
nrairie. ridlnv at tlmeM a.lonir fmha.nkirittnta
of the main canal, which Is sixty feet wide
at the bottom, ten feet deep and takes
from the Bow something like 30.000 gal-
Ions of water every second. At many These American agents have colonisation
places the men were working and the offices at Calgary, and they are formu
scenes were much like those I saw on the latlng schemes by which they expect to
Panama canal. There were hundreds of
horses scooping up the prairie, there were
great steam shovels aoualna out the earth
and loading it upon cars and there were
long train loads of excavated material mov-
Ing on the temporary tracks from one
plaoe to another. The soil is louder to
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DOWN DEFENSELESS MEN. WOMEN
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work than that of the Culebra cut. Cule- .
bra Is made of a shaly rock and a single
blast may loosen many tona Here the
ah rf la Ann irl AmAPS r A r Mtlnlrw rloV anil
great boulders which have a consistency
something like soft taffy or half worked
putty. The stuff Is of such a nature that
the steam shovels cannot work In it with-
out It is loosened, so that the cost of ex-
cavation Is great.
I have talked with J. S. Dennis, the
manager of this Irrigation project, and also
with the civil engineer in charge of It.
He tells me that they have taken out about
4,000,000 cubic yards, which, as I figure It,
would be just about enough to fill a line
of two-horse wagons, at a ton to the
wagon, reaching clear around the world.
Altogether, 20,000,000 cublo yards will have
to be excavated before the whole area Is
under water, end the engineers say that
the cost of this, will be just about 3,000,000.
It Is an enormous undertaking, but It will
pay In the Increased value of the lands
and in the traffic which will come to the
railroad through the settling of the coun
try. After Oar Farmers.
I understand that the Canadians expect
to populate this country with Americans.
The railroad has given over the first 110,000
aores, now ready for settlement, to an
American syndicate, which has already
made big money In selling tracts of spring
wheat lands to Immigrants from Minnesota,
Dakota, Iowa, Illinois and other states.
canvass the irrigated sections of the United
States to induce our good farmers to
coma here and buy these lands as fast as
tl;,ey'are opened up. Said one of the syn
'ulcste to me the other day:
"We will work those parts of the union
Just as a book publishing house works its
territory. Our selling agents will go from
farm to farm like the canvasser does sell
ing books, and will Induce such as have
money to buy this kind on installments.
If they are Interested we will flood tbem
with literature and will probably bring
them to Canada at reduced rates of trans
portation to show them what we have to
sell."
In the meantime the lands are offered at
several times the price Hiked for the
spring wheat lands further north and east;
but the Canadians claim that they are
cheap on account of the water, which In
sures steady crops year after year regurd
It as of seasons.
latroilirrd by the Mormons.
The practical possibility of an irrigated
Canada was suggested by the Mormons.
There are about 10.0U) of them now living
on Irrigated lands near Lethbrldge, be
tween here and the United States boundary.
They have established towns, have built
up a beet sugar factory with a capital of
ll.ouo.0uu, have one flour mill, which Is now
turning out a carload ot flour dally, and
they are, altogether, one of the most thriv
ing peoples of the new Canada.
These Mormons produced more than 1.000,
OuO bushels of wheat last year, and they
are now shipping flour direct to Japan
and China. They come from the Irrigated
states of Utah and Idaho. They fana ea
tracts of about eighty acres each, and I
am told that they raise two or three times
as inuoh ou such farms aa caa be raised
In the non-irrigated sections. .
Purlng my stay la Canada I hare run tea
Project
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BIKtBT nc-BTHW xrt WA FUSAW PEDESTRIAN SEARCHED BT SOLDIER IN PRESENCE OF POLICEMAN. From a Pho
tograph Secretly Taken.
(jr.
from Description by Eye Witness.
on the
this Mormon country. It is reached by
the line of the Alberta Railway and Irri
gation company, which la used largely to
carry coal from Lethbrldge down to Mon
tana. The lands are aliiost dead flat and
are cut up by canals fed by the St. Mary's
river.
Seventy-five thousand acres are already1
under cultivation and the railway and
Irrigation company above referred to has
altogether almost l.COO.OOO acres yet to re
deem. The company received a concession
for a part of these lands for opening up the
coal mines and building the railroad, and
looked upon them as fitted only for grazing
until the Mormons came in and proposed to
Irrigate them. As It Is the Irrigation works
are only five years old and they have the
town of Raymond, which has a population
of 2,000, situated In the heart of them and
smaller settlements along the line of the
railroad.
Mormons In Canals.
I talked with Peter L. Naismlth, the man
ager of the company, and C. A. Magrath,
the land commissioner, about Its character
and possibilities. They tell me the lands
are excellent and that they are being rap
Idly settled. Mr. Magrath, while not a
Mormon himself, has represented these
people In the territorial legislature and has
known them from the time they came to
Canada. He says they make excellent clti
sens and are conforming to the Canadian
laws In every respect. I asked him how
they acted In regard to plural marriages.
He replied:
"The Canadian Mormons are monoga
mists. We have some citizens who were
polygamlsts in Utah, but they brought but
one family each to this country. Shortly
after their arrival they sent delegates to
Ottawa to ask if they might bring their
plural wives provided no further plural
marriages were made. Sir Johu Macdon
ald. who was then premier,, replied In the
negative, saying that, while he wm glad
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taken from life and others drawn by per
sons who witnessed the incidents they
portray. The photographs from life were
taken from a window of a house near the
scene, after all precautions were taken to
avoid discovery. This picture shows how
one looks when a policeman, guarded by a
soldier, commands him to throw up his
hands and submit to a search for contra-
band articles or arms.
Each man In the city, as well as In the
oountry. Is obliged to have a passport with
him at all times to prove bis identity,
otherwise he will be arrested as a danger-
ous subject and conducted to one of the
model prisons by the assisting soldier.
Often you can see an old man or a small
child being taken to the police station by
several soldiers. You stop, naturally think-
Ing that some desperate criminal has been
apprehended. Bystanders will inform you
that the offense of the prisoner consisted
In selling newspapers, and perhaps he is
the sole support of a family. Although
such arrests are in direct contravention of
the law, we are living In a "state of siege,"
and no excuses are permitted.
February 11 a "general review" was or-
dered by the governor general of Poland,
who is also commander-in-chief of the
forces of the country. At this review 121
privates were decorated with the cross of
the Order of St. Anna for bravery in action
on the streets of Warsaw during the pres-
ent state of siege. The Illustrations shown
herewith prove better than argument the
character of the courage and bravery
which wins such a cross.
t
Soldiers Mrssgers to People.
One of 'the-principal reasons why the
bureaucracy' hai much support on the part
f soldiers Is that officers and men are
not permitted to serve in stations near
Continent
to have the Mormons come to Canada, they
could not live there unless they obeyed
the laws. As a result the extra wives re
mained where they were."
"I do not believe there Is any polygamy
in Canada," continued Mr. Magrath. "The
mounted police keep a close tab on the
Mormons, and If there were plural mar
riages we should surely know. Now and
then some person In eastern Canada de
nounces the existence of Mormonlum in
Utah and alleges that polygamy exists. It
may be so In the United States, but it Is
not so here. As for me, I can get a cer
tificate from my church that I am a
staunch Episcopalian, but I find the Mor
mons good enough for me to live among.
They are interested In politics, although
they have no union of church and state.
They are thrifty, and altogether they are
excellent citizens."
Mormon Sugar Mill.
I visited the Mormon sugar mill. It Is
situated Just outside Richmond In the midst
of beet fields, covering hundreds of acres.
It Is now making 100,000 pounds of sugar
daily, and Is paying dividends of t per cent.
The company has altogether about 2U0.O00
acres, upon some of which beets are raised.
Other parts are devoted to cattle ranges,
and 15,000 head of stock are now feeding
upon them. The factory has the best ot
modern machinery. The beets are carried
by water from the shed where they are
unloaded, being washed on the way. They
are next lifted to the top of the factory
In buckets running on an endless chain,
and fall from there Into cutters filled with
knives, which slice them up so that they
look like little pieces of celery.
The sliced beets are now dropped Into
round tanks, where they are so treated by
fusion that all the Juice In them contain
ing the sugar comes out. This is carried
Into great boilers, consisting of miles of
(Continued on Page Seven.)
7 7;-'-'
sssfnfj)m
or SUCTION or BIO alberta irrig attno ditch.
their homes, but are sent to strange dis
tricts, where the customs and the very
language of the people are' as unknown
to him as they would be to a native of the
United States, who knew nothing but what
had come under his personal observation,
for the average soldier cannot read and
therefore knows only what he sees or what
he Is told. As a result of this practice
there Is no sympathy between the people
and the soldiers who are placed over them,
This condition not only prevails in Poland,
but in all parts of the Russian empire,
Doing more acute in tho capitals, St.
Petersburg and Moscow, than In some of
the provinces. In fact. It might not be
safe for the soldiers to maintain a different
attitude at present, for the people have
been so long taught to look upon the troops
as their oppressors that strange men, in
army uniform, would be attacked or treated
as spies were they not to stand together
under their officers while In strange parts
of the empire,
Between Soldiers and ritlaeas.
To gain an Idea of the feeling existing
between the people of the towns and the
soldiers, and the reasons therefor, I will
give a literal translation of an incident
reported by the Moscow correspondent of
the Daily Russ of St. Petersburg,. Mr. - N.
Klrlloff, whose reputation throughout Rus-
la warrants all in putting implicit faith
In his report. Under the heading, "Hor
rible," be writes:
On December 21, near the bridge "Oar
baty" In the eastern part of Moscow, there
were congregated several soldiers of differ
ent branches ot the service In company
of an otlicur. They were holding loud con
versation and laughing, when a student
wearing the uniform of the university
passed.
He was instantly surrounded by
soldiers, and tne omcer exclaimed:
"Now, reblate (comrades), make room for
the boy and we shull have a performance."
Then -turning-to the boy he Commands: '
"Take oft your trousers."
The poor boy, pale, stands silent and mo
tionless. "Take off your trousers, I said!" repeats
the officer, furiously.
The student, without a drop of blood
sliowinj in his face, whiter than the sur
rounding snow,, stands silently looking
around him.- lie sees tne triumphant smile
on the face of the soldiers and with head
hung down awaits his doom.
"Forward, comrades, you have to assist
the student. His hands are frozen and
they refuse to obey him." The officer's
voice changes and from harsh and strong
begins to oe sweet and Joyful. The poor
student observes this with satisfaction.
"Take off his clothing," said the officer
to his assistants.
They obey the order and lay the boy
upon the ground. s
"Give him a portion," is the command.
Instantly the infantrymen step forward
with the "naghaykas in their strong
hands. Tho lashes begin. This work Is of
long duration, accompanied by Jokes and
laughter; but the student lies silent with
, his face In the snow. He mukes no reply
to the ironical questions, nor does he move
when kicked in the head.
"Btop!" commands the officer, but the
soldiers, who are suited with the work,
obey slowly.
"Your honor, we also would like to have
a hand in it," said two sokilers of the ar
tillery, saluting the officer with real
knightly grace.
"Certainly, you shall have some fun in
It," replied the kindly officer.
Tho second charge begins and two artil
lerists take the blood-stained "naghaykas"
In their muscular hands and follow the ex
ecution on the body of the poor student,
whose face is stuck tight In the snow and
whose body only mechanically trembles un
der the strokes of the whle.
"Your honor, we should also like to have
a show In the exercise," said a dragoon,
addressing the officer, who naturally did
not refuse. The strokes are repeated by
fresh hands, but the mutilated body has
already ceased to tremble under the fash.
"Now, 1 think you have had enough, my
boy, as you have now finished three fac
ulties," and the words are seconded by
loud and Joyous laughter of the braves.
Bo cloned the execution of the student
of the Moscow university, while his face
still stuck In the snow. How many
long years of life man would give, knowing
that thereby he would abolish such scenes
from the world.
In my next letter I shall glvs you more
joyous descriptions, telling something of
the preparations for the elections to the
"Douma," which are being conducted with
no more idea of what the thing means than
an American would have of how to behave
himself In a Polish police station. F. BV-
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