A MYSTERIOUS INCIDENT

Otago Witness, Issue 2654, 25 January 1905, Page 19

A MYSTERIOUS INCIDENT

TAMPERING WITH A GUN. NARROW ESCAPE OF THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL, PARTY. DESIGN RATHER THAN ACCIDENT. ,-\* ST. PETERSBURG, January 20. The Czar, the Czarina, and the Dowager Empress and a brilliant company participated in the ceremony of blessing the waters of the Neva. When the Metropolitan was uttering the benediction the guns of the fortresses of St. Peter and St. Paid saluted simultaneously, and something crashed through the upper window of the St. Nicholas Hall of the Winter Palace. At first it was attributed to the concussion of the guns, but it was soon found! that an iron bullet an inch in diameter had penetrated the window. The Imperial party at once retired to the Palace. The crowd was greatly excited. Later it was officially explained' that a charge of shrapnel instead of a saluting charge had been fired from a gun belonging to one of the batteries stationed near the Bourse. Some of the bullets struck the facade of - the Palace, breaking four -windows, and a policeman was wounded. Apparently the 17th Battery. First Horse Artillery — the most aristocratic corp£ in the army, — fired the shot. It -was stated that after gun practice on Tuesdayva loaded shell was inadvertently left in the gun. It is popularly considered highly suspicious that this gun happened to be pointing in the direction of the pavilion where the ceremony was proceeding. There are sinister rumours to the effect that the- incident was the outcome of a military conspiracy, and the whole battery implicated in the matter has been arrested. Court officials admit that they were warned that something untoward would happerfT The Court is startled, because the regiment is officered entirely by noblemen. The Czar exhibited marked coolness. He held a diplomatic reception afterwards. The incident is shrouded in mystery. St. Nicholas Hall was filled with diplomatic, Court, and military dignitaries, none of whom were hurt. The plot theory in connection with the incident is gaming ground. Two gunners belonging to the Bourse Battery are suspected of being connected) with the revolutionaries. January 21. It has transpired that the shot was fired at the Czar. Its ineffectiveness is attributed to the weakness of the saluting charge. BERLIN, January 21. The National Zeitung declares that officers alone were concerned in the Bourse cannon incident. They are against the reforms that Jiave beeu urged by the Grand Duke Sergius, and the fall of that officer has convinced the aristocracy that their power is waning. It adds that such a plot was only hatchable in the Czar's entourage. LONDON. January 20. The Rus&ian Embassy in London states that he has unofficially heard that an agitator fired a shot in the direction of the Palace from across the river, hoping to create a demonstration. Some accounts allege that missiles either killed or wounded one officer and some soldiers.

At the Perth Court on 11th January 52 men were each fined £2, with £1 costs (in default 14 days' imprisonment), for having been faivhd in a common s'amins; hou^e. Edward Dawson, Louis Wilks. and Albert Kaufman, who were charged with having kept the gaming hou=e, were remanded on bail pending certain incpiiries. On a bVai-wa of havina- assisted in a betting house Edmund Myers was ordered x-o pay, a fine of £30 or go to gaol for three months, and John Wood £10 or one month.