THE ST. PETERSBURG ROBBERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13370, 27 December 1906, Page 3

THE ST. PETERSBURG ROBBERY.

£37.000 STOLEN.

GIRL ESCAPES WITH THE MONEY.

The St. Petersburg correspondent of the London Daily Mail states: —

St. Petersburg has long been exempt from the outrages, armed assaults, and robberies, details of which in the provincial towns fi'J.the newspapers of the capital. But lately St. Petersburg has been the. scene of a. series of acts of brigandage, mostly at small shops and private Bats, where malefactors with revolvers forced the inhabitants to deliver each. All, however, have been of 'minor consequence and non-.pfllilic'av.i-except. a well-planned attempt a few weeks ago to rob a. bank messenger outside the Exchange building, which was frustrated by the vigilance pi.the, police... ;

But . yesterday, in broad daylight, in a busy street in the centre of the city, took place a robbery which for impudence and hardihood leavers all similar crimes in the provinces far behind. A vehicle conveying £60.000, and escorted by gendarmes and police, was attacked by a gang of determined young men with bombs and revolvers. A regular, tight ensued, resulting in the killing, wounding, ' and arrest of several persons and the loss of £57,000 of Government money.

- I was leaving my house about half-past eleven in the morning, when I heard at some distance two detonatiims i followed shortly by a third. Guessing that a bomb outrage had occurred, I walked in the direction of the sound, and arrived at the Maria market place. Here 1 heard revolver firing, and saw a young man fleeing, pursued by policemen and gendarmes tiring a.sthey ran. Near the Emperor Nicholas monument I saw him fall, evidently wounded. He was quickly arrested aud taken to a hospital. PANIC-STRICKEN CROWD. I learnt that ■ bomb outrage had occurred near the Katherine Canal, and hurried thither, hearing on the way heavy firing, which stopped before I arrived on the spot. Turning into Oflizierskaia-street, I met a panic-stricken, .pale-faced crowd, some shrieking, some weeping, coming from Fonasny, or Lantern Lane.

I walked down Lantern Lane, which ends on the northern quay of the Katherine Canal, over which at this spot is a narrow footbridge. A little further down is the large Vosnesenski bridge At the corner of the quay and Lantern Lane stood a. closed landau, with the box broken, the windows smashed, and in front of it a large pool of blood and a dead horse. The other animals were being unharnessed and led away badly wounded. lively window in the vicinity, even on the other side of the broad "canal, was smashed Droshkies, carriages, and automobiles now arrived in considerable numbers with police officers and higher officials, and small detachments of soldiers and gendarmes, .foot and horse, came, v up. The crowds were driven- back, the street was blocked,-: and the whole neighbourhood was surrounded, by a- military, cordon. ... ';•• This is what had happened. .Large, sums are often ? transmitted to the Government Treasury on the Katherine Canal from different Government offices. The" money is conveyed in closed freight- waggons or landaus, and lately, on account of the disturbances, these-have been strongly, escorted. Yesterday,"' at eleven o'clock," £60,000 were sent from -'/the "Imperial Exchequer. The money was packed in three leather bags, one containing £360 ;in . gold, the second one £36,800 in.bank notes, and the third £22,840 in : securities. ? They were placed in a, closed;: landa,u in which were {seated a cashier*named 'Herman- and two assistants, escorted •■' by' ; six : <:• mounted gendarmes. The. landau was'driven slowly along the quiet Lantern Lane to the corner of the busy quay. ■ , • A PITCHED BATTLE. Here in small .groups., stood 12 or 15 well-dressed young men, a couple of students and a couple of other civilians. On its arrival the landau was .surrounded in a wide circle. . From an, adjacent beer-shop a few more men emerged and joined the groups. Suddenly one of them threw a bomb, which exploded under .the horses, killing one and severely wounding the other. As the carriage was not damaged, a. second bomb was thrown. This fell a. little dis: tance off, and did not do much harm.

But the horses of the escort, mad with fright, stampeded. The cashier and his assistants, one «f whom was slightly wounded, completely lost their heads, and rushed away. The panic-stricken passersby hurriedly fled, and the criminals were left free to do as they would. Some rifled the carriage, and some kept up a violent tire with revolvers on the fleeing cashier and gendarmes. In the adjacent Kins Restaurant, in Lantern Lane, a well-dress-ed young lady was quietly sipping tea. Hearing the explosions, she hurried left, and mounted a light cart, to which was harnessed an excellent horse. Towards her ran two of the criminals. They threw two bags into the carriage, which instantly dashed oft' at a furious speed, and disappeared. The third bag, containing Hie securities, was thrown away on account of the risk of exchanging the contents, and was later found near the place of the outrage. ~.,;, .."f'™'': A man in student's uniform, fearing to be overtaken, threw a third bomb, severely wounding a doorkeeper -arid a. passing servant maid, and slightly wounding himself. Unable to run, he was soon captured. Two others reached the, corner of Offizierskaiastreet. Here a doorkeeper threw himself upon them, rapidly stunning them with blows on the head from a spade. They tired at him with revolvers, wounding him severely, before they.were captured. An officer of the. Neichlot Regiment, a policeman, and a soldier, who had run up on hearing the shots, were joined by two more doorkeepers, and barred the path of two fleeing criminals, who were hotly pursued. With the courage of despair, the robbers attacked the superior force, first exchanging shots and then joining in a violent hand-to-hand fight. The soldier shot one dead and broke the other's skull with his rifle butt. The two doorkeepers were wounded with four and six bullets respectively. A fifth robber, trying to pass a lifeguard regiment's barracks, was shot by the sentry at the gate. A sixth, choosing the same road, and pursued by soldiers and policemen, reached the Emperor Nicholas, monument in the Maria marketplace, and seeing himself surrounded, shot himself dead. He was the man I saw. The remainder of the robbers tried to escape across the two bridges over the Katherine Canal. "Most of them succeeded. . ROBBERS MERE LADS. Another iobber, trying to escape by the footbridge, was pursued by a mounted gendarme firing from the saddle without hitting his nark. Another gendarme met the fugitive on the bridge, and a desperate, fight followed, ending in victory for the gendarme, and the arrest of the malefactor. During the different fights three gendarmes were wounded, and one was killed.

The majority of the criminals were mere lads of- from 16 to 20 years of age, and evidently of the better classes,'- probably students. The killed and arrested are all Jews. One of the captured-is a student who is believed to be a revolutionary leader long wanted by the police. He declares that he is a Maximalist, or member of the most violent section of the Social Democrats.

Undoubtedly the crime is political. While the robbery was in progress a student in the university building, on the other side of the Neva, told his comrades that "to-day there will be a large expropriation from the Exchequer."

The money is still missing, but the police believe that any attempt to make use of it'will lead to detection. Most of the notes are new ones for • 1000-roubles, and the numbers .are known,. _, . 4C _., ; ,,^;