REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1726, 29 March 1905, Page 17

REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA.

“BY ORDER OF THE CZAR." HORRIBLE BUTCHERY. FURTHER PARTICULARS FOLLOWING THE MASSACRES OF REI> SUNDAY. A GENERAL TRAMPLED TO DEATH. Among tlic positively authenticated horrors of Sunday’s rioting was the case of an aged general, whose sledge was stopped by the infuriated people as ho was driving in the direction of the troops. The crowd asked, “Are you going to order them to lire on us? The general told his coachman to drive on. and was instantly struck on the head by a well-dressed man wearing a sable fur coat. He was then thrown out of the sledge and beaten and trampled to death. THE BARRICADES. The. unequal conflict continued throughout the day in every quarter of the Czar’s capital, and everywhere the people were mowed down without mercy. As night foil there were signs of an organised resistance. Wire entanglements were drawn across the streets in Basil Island to prevent the cavalry charging, and at two noints barricades were erected, despite volleys from the soldiers. These barricades were constructed by binding ladders, waggons, barrels, and the like with telephone wires. The mob collected half bricks, and plundered a secondhand shop of 150 sabres. The military gathered at the exit from the street, advanced and destroyed the barricades after a hand-to-hand fight, in which a woman, armed with a sabre, disarmed an officer. It was stated that six working men were killed and thirty wounded. The pools of blood, however, indicated that there was more serious casualties. Attempts to raise barricades in the Nevsky Prospect were only partly .successful. and all were afterwards captured and destroyed after more slaughter. The police and sold ers guarding the Neva Bridge attempted to drive back the mob with the bayonet, but as it .still pressed forward a bugle rang out and two volleys were fired haphazard into the struggling mass. Many were killed and wounded. Imprecations, curses and vows of vengeance were hurled at the officers. A curious incident occurred outside the palace of the Grand Duke Constantine during the afternoon. A party of workmen passed the palace, and, by the Grand Duke’s orders, were offered refreshment. The men, however, coldly refused. At night the windows of the Grand Duke Serge’s palace were smashed by the crowd, although the panes were one-third of an inch thick. A NIGHT OF TERROR. A night of terror followed the day of bloodshed. The city was turned into an armed camp. In some instances bluejackets had been called out to relieve the troops. Soldiers and sailors sat around camp fires in the snow at every street corner. Late at night the police made house to bouse visits, warning householders that the rioters had decided to divide themselves into bands and sack the town. In the course of the night numerous meetings were held by workmen in all quarters of the city, and it was decided to resist to the bitter end. The more moderate deprecated looting, but nevertheless numerous shops were wrecked and pillaged. In a Government vodka shop £320 worth of liauor was destroyed. The workmen were able to raid a Government store at the far end of the outer military position. They seized 1800 rifles and reached Sestroretsk, near the Finland frontier, before the commander of the advanced troops was aware of the raid. The store also contained cartridges. Dreadful anxiety prevailed in every household where any members were absent. Distracted husbands, fathers, wives and children were out searching for those missing, and the surgeons and Red Cross ambulances were busy. Police figures showed that 2000 bodies in civilian dress were lying dead in St. Petersburg, and 5000 wounded were in the hospitals, wh : le many more had been maimed and taken elsewhere. At the Narva Gate 300 were killed and 500 wounded. At Moskovsky level gate, below the Moscow station, 500 killed and 700 wounded. In Vassili Olstroff 200 killed and 500 wounded. In other parts 100 killed and 500 wounded. CITY OF THE DEAD. St. Petersburg on Monday was like a citv of the dead. The police closed all the gunsmiths’ shops. Firearms and other weapons were removed from the windows and locked up in the cellars. The Minister of the Interffir teleorders to close the headquarbUnion. This was

done, however, by the workmen themselves without police interference. The morning passed without incident, but in the afternoon the military and the public were again in conflict on the Nevsky Prospect, and firing on the crowd was resumed, -At least two deaths occurred. A student named Loory, belonging to the Mining school, was killed on the spot, wh.le another student named Savinkoff, of the Polytechnic institute, has since died of the wounds he received. A fresh terror was added to the situation by the failure of the electric light, which caused a panic. In many quarters occupants of houses and offices rushed into the side streets. The failure of the electric light was due to the strike of the men of the Helios Company. Many quarters of the city were plunged in darkness. Not a lamp was lighted in the Nevsky Prospect, and not a gleam of light came from the houses which border it. In the gloom all that could be discerned were the dim silhouettes of the mounted patrols, who are stationed at intervals of about 100 yards along either side of the avenue. In the centre the trams, winch showed no lights, were running with the greatest difficulty. The Prospect was almost "deserted. The smallest gathering was immediately dispersed by the patrols. All traffic was stopped in the Litieny Prospect, which runs into the Nevsky Prospect, and access was barred by troops as not far from that place, in the Znamenskaia Square, there liad been a sharp encounter between the strikers and a detachment of soldiers. The adjoining streets were dimly lit by gas lamps. The majority of tho -shops were closed, the windows in many cases being protected by planks hastily nailed across. The 1 heat res were also closed owing to the failure of the electric light supply. THE JACOBIN CLUB. xTlio St. Petersburg correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” managed to send off a series of weighty despatches, which, in the turmoil, escaped the usual rigorous censorship. Everybody felt after the bloody events of Sunday, the correspondent -says, that the issues now bemg tried are far greater than any question of workmen’s rights or peasant reforms. Among the higher Liberal classes, “many prominent literary men appear keenly conscious that the Russian nation and the partisans of the autocracy are fighting to the death.” This idea was expressed on Sunday by several speakers at a meeting of a committee of literary and journalistic writers, which, the correspondent affirms, may be aptly compared to the Jacobin Club in French Revolutionary history. “This association,'* he adds, “which has no legal existence or name, contains all that is most gifted, most upright, and most humane in Russian society.” In illustration of the manner in which the revolutionary movement lias grown, without any apparent conception of the significance of their action on the part of those participating in it, the writer describes bow civil servants, academicians, professors and privy councillors — men who were known to the world as bureaucrats. —came smilingly to banquets, never dreaming that they would . there sign a document calling on the Czar to put an end to the autocratic regime. At the dinner some one conceived the idea of drawing up such a document and handing it round for signature. At first the assembled notables were struck with dismay, and passed the paper on disapprovingly. “A few minutes later they were almost snatching it from each other’s hands and signing it with effusive delight. All were filled with the revolutionary spirit which had suddenly descended upon them, and they began to speak with tongues foreign to them before.” The Jacobin Club sprang up in a similar way, and on Saturday night, Jan. 21. 200 men and women, representing all shades of Liberal opinion, gathered together, under the presidency of M. Annensky, who had been banished by M. de Plehve and recalled by Prince Mirsky. M. Hessen, of Odessa, a leader of the Liberals, was another of those present, and “in an obscure corner of the room sat Maxim Gorky, his forehead in wrinkles, his shoulders stooped, chary of speech, unsuccessful as orator, but ever ready to do and dare anything in the people’s cause.” All, says the correspondent, were enlightened, humane writers, but, with the possible exception of M. Hessen, no visibly strong man among them —no Mirabeau, no Danton. GAPON DENOUNCES THE CZAR. From his hiding-place Father Gapon immediately issued the following letter to the people“ Dear Comrades and Fellow-work men. —There is no Czar now. Innocent, blood has flowed between him and the people. Long live the struggle for freedom! I bless you all. To-morrow I shall be with you day I am too busy.—Father George.” Three letters written by Father Gapon were circulated at a secret meeting held in St. Petersburg on Monday. The following is the exact translation of liis epistle to the Russian army:—“Against soldiers and officers who are slaying their innocent brothers, together with the wives and children of these, and against all oppressors of the people, I utter my

pastoral curse. Upon soldiers who help the nation to win lEierty I invoke a blessing, and from t. A military oath of allegiance which they took to the traitorous Czar, at whose behest the blood of innocent people was shed. I do hereby absolve them. —(Signed) George Ganon, Priest.” To the operatives he wrote : “Brothers, Working Men, The innocent blood of the people has been spilt. We harbour within us sentiments of bitterness and vengeance against the bestial Czar and the jackals, his Ministers, and, believe me, the day is near, very near, when a host cf working men will rise up mare menacing, more conscious, and, like one man, will strike for their own freedom and for the freedom of all Russia. Weep hot for the slain heroes: be comforted. Beaten we have been, but not conqueied. Let us tear up all the portraits of the bloodthirsty C’zar, and say to him, To thou accursed with all thy most august reptile brood/ —(Signed) George Gapon, Priest.” The third and most vehement letter ran as follows : “Brothers, Working Men, whose chalice has been filled with blood. -We intended to go peacefully to the Czar with a petition on the 22nd. Of this our intention we informed his Mameluke Ministers beforehand, requesting them to withdraw the troops and not to binder us from approaching our' monarch. To the Emperor himself in Czarsltoye Selo I forwarded a letter on January 19, requesting him to come forth to his -people with grateful heart, and courageous soul. At the price of our own lives wo guaranteed him the inviolability of his person. And what came of it ? Innocent blood was none the less shed. The miscreant Czar and his malicious officials, who are robbers of the Treasury and plunderers of the Russian nation, deliberately resolved to beat and massacre our unarmed brothers and their wives and ch ld-en. The bullets of the Emperor’s troops, which at Nava street killed the working men who were bearing along the Emperor's portraits, pierced those portraits, and killed our faith in the Czar. But we shall wreak vengeance, brothers, on the Czar, accursed by his people, on all his Imperial reptilian brood, on bis Ministers, and all pillagers of the illstarred Russian land. Death to them all! I call upon all who are seriously desirous of helping the hard-working Russian people to live and breathe freely to come forward and assist when and how then can. I call upon aIL thinking men, upon students, upon .revolutionary organisations. Social Democrats, tnd social revolutionists to lend a hand. He who is not with the people is against the people.” The “New York Journal” on Tuesday published a statement from M. Maxim Gorky, who said the Russian revolution had commenced, and the prestige which the Czar held with Russia’s working classes existed no more. He went on to give the description of what, happened at the Narva Gate : • Father Gapon and the other leaders of the movement carried sacred ikons, portraits of the Czar, and the Holy Orucfix before them as proofs of the peacefulness of their intentions. Nevertheless they were fired upon at the Narva Gate without any warning from a distance of fifteen paces. The wounded who tried to rise from the snow were fired at a second time. It was cruel, unnecessary work. It was evidently the intention to exterminate the group of Leaders in the centre, in which were Father Gapon and Father Sergius. That this was the deliberate intention has been proved, and the spectators of the scene confirm it. I myself had a narrow escape from death- I certainly should not. have been here to-day if all the soldiers had fired properly. Indeed, very few would have remained alive. While I was in the Nevsky Prospect yesterday, a friend was shot dead right by my side while he was making a speech to the crowd.” Asked where Father Gapon was, M. Gorky refused to say, adding, however, “He is alive and well.” The “Capitan Fracassa” states that Father Gapon is of Italian descent. One of Ins ancestors, whose name was Gabboni, followed Napoleon I. to Russia and settled there, his wife and little child subsequently joining him. Father Gapon’s father died five years ago. “DOWN WITH MONARCHY.” Finding even the rout© Leading to the Palace barred, the Putiloff strikers collected at the headquarters of the union to the number of 10,000. Revolutionary tracts were thrown from the windows and the leaders delivered incendiary speeches protesting against the force employed by the military and declaring it characteristic of the Czai s attitude towards the people. These sentiments were received with cheers and shouts of “Down with Monarchy! A serious conflict occurred between the military and the Putiloff strikers. The latter, who were flocking towards the centre of the city were stopped by tho military patrols. The strikers then assembled ‘to the number of several thousands, but a squadron of Uhlanfi charged and drove them back They still, however, maintained a menacing attitude, and the infantry at first, fired blank cartridges, and afterwards ball cartridge/’ The workmen threw themselves flat on the ground, and the troops

fired on them as they lay, killing and wounding 80. The place was like a shambles. Driven from the Palace Square, the people retreated along the Nevsky Prospect. As they fell back the troops fired three more vodeys, lulling 30 and lvounding many. In their rage the mob tore up the roadway and hurled stones at the officers. Here, a* elsewhere, many women and children were among the killed. Bullet marks found as high as the second storey on buildings near Lyceum street show that a considerable number of the soldiers must have disobeyed or neglected the injunction of their officers to aim low\ HEADS CUTOFF. All eye-witnesses affirm categorically that the order to fire on Sunday was ge..erai!y given without warning, often without the slightest provocation, and always without any attempt at violence by the unarmed crowds. In one case wounded men have described liow' the people knelt down in the snow and besought the soldiers to let them pass. Thereupon the officer gave orders to hew them down with sabres and bayonets, and the soldiers carried the msiructions out to the letter. Men and women wdio were kneeling on the snow with bended necks received slashes on their heads, necks and backs. Some persons, including one woman, had their heads completely severed from tho trunk, and were taken to the hospital in tw'o parts. A trustworthy and prominent member of Russian society saw the female victim’s headless body. Children and girls were struck when running away, and in various parts of the town many men and lads were shot in the back when escaping. Women wffo were on branches of trees were fired upon opposite the Admiralty, and brought down as in pigeon shooting. On Basil Island, in the fourth line, when the troops found barricades constructed on scientific principles by an officer who had gone over to the people, they fired, and the crowd dispersed, but two students still stood behind the barricades, and the soldiers raised them both on ba3'onets. Half a company of a Finnish infantry regiment, when marching upon the multitude at Basil Island, were appealed to by the working men, who said: “We are not Japanese, but brothel’s; you and we may change places in a year or two, and you should treat us now as 3’ ou would wish us to treat you then.” When the order was given to fire the soldiers did not obey, and were immediately ordered back to barracks and others more obedient substituted. Two doctors who liave attended the wounded and dying affirm that in their opinion the bullets used by the troops were in some cases explosive, whether by accident or design, ario that the wounds produced were uncommonly hideous, complicated, and dangerous. Rye-witnesses say that a tramcar full of workmen was stopped on the Bolshoi Prospect by Cossacks. One of the workmen called the Cossacks “Butchers,” whereuoon the occupants of the car were compelled to alight, and were struck by the Cossacks with the flat of their swords. One of them was wounded. Opening their windows, the inhabitants of the neighbourhood assailed the Cossacks with shouts of “Assassins. brigands!” SCENE WITH THE GRAND DUKES. Reuter’s correspondent quotes tlie following telegram from St. Petersburg which appears in tho “Aurore”: —A family council has been held at Ozars-koe-Selo in the course of which an extraordinary scene took place between, the Czar and the Grand Dukes. The Czarina, }had Expressed ,her desire to place her children in a place of safety, and the Czar had been contemplating the possibility, according to circumstances, of starting for the Crimea or Denmark.