THE DEATH OF GRAND DUKE SERGIUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2671, 24 May 1905, Page 79

THE DEATH OF GRAND DUKE SERGIUS.

SOME STRANGE STORIES.

fFHOii Ot7B Own Correspondent.)

L.CHSJDON, March 4. 16 is strongly felt, even by English people who loathe anything like anarchy and murder, that the killing of the Grand Duke Sergius was virtually an act of war if not au execution of mere justice on one who himself was a murderer of blackest dye.

Sergius was, perhaps, the most bloodthirsty even of all the Russian Grand Ducal crew. He had on his head the blood of hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent persons. He was a vicious and depraved reprobate in every respect. Married' to one of the beautiful daughters of our own Princess Alice, he treated his wife with the grossest outrages. His infidelities and brutalities ta his wife were - matters of common notoriety. And yet, with the affectionate forgiveness of many noble and charming women, she seems to" have cared for him in spite of all. This last idea rests, however, upon certain Russian accounts of the great tragedy. which must not be received as absolutely authentic. Perhaps the most impressive of all the different accounts of the tragedy itself was one given by a casual eye-witness of the wi»ole_ scene. In. its-very brevity; combined with its curious gruesomeness, it seems to me blood-curdlingly horrible. " After the explosion/ he said, " I saw- the horses rush away with the remains- of the carriage, leaving on. the enow several black and red things, which, on approaching I found to be the various portions of a human body, which had been torn apart." Then, it was said, the Grand Duchess rushed out wearing only her indoor dress, with merely a handkerchief over her head, and no cloak or other wrap, notwithstanding the intense cold. She proceeded, it is stated, to search among those ghastly human fragments for fcli<e " face " of her late husband, but could not discover it. " I want to find his face ! I cannot find his face," she is reported to have wailed, and it does not seem to have been found by anybody, for when the ceremony of lying-in-state was enacted, a silver " ikon. " covered by a veil was placed in the cofSn where the head should have been.

All the fragments of what had once been a Grand Duke were collected and scraped up so far as possible, but many were left in the snow, and same were secured and preserved by sympathisers with the perpetrator of the death. It is auspeeted that the head, either whole or in pieces,, was also secured by the same peopl-e. as ifc has not turned up. Sa terrfble had been the destruction of the unhappy Grand Duke's bodily frame that when the fragments, after being collected, were placed in the coffin, which was- of the size usual for a. large man, they seemed quite lo^t. There was much, too, of dramatic power in the delivery of the terrible news to the Czar. His Majesty was entertaining Prince Leopold of Prussia at a family lunch in the Alexandroffsky Palace at Tsarkoe-Selo. He sat in the centre of a circle of bright-hued life. The guests were comfortably smoking,

and conversing freely in groups, when the Emperor's aide-de-camp (General Hesse) suddenly left the apartment, and, after mysterious oommunings outside, returned open-mouthed, wild-eyed, and colourless. His look and gait may have prepared the monarch's mind for the appalling tidings which General Hesse, in words known to none of the guests, communicated. As soon a.a his Majesty realised what had happened the effect was withering. The news operated like a wind-borne blight. The blood fled from the Emperor's cheeks, 'tis head was bowed towards his breast, and for some moments he made no remarks. His only recorded words are, " But how can that be? Everything is so quiet — the strikes are ceasing, the excitement is subsiding. Whatever do they want?" A very embarrassing pause followed, after which the foreign guests rose and took their leave. The family dinner to which they were invited on the following day was countermanded, and Prince Frederick Leopold departed on the day he arrived at 11 p.m. It is noticeable that most of our newspapers shrink from referring to the man who threw the fatal bomb as the " murderer" or "assassin" of the Grand Duke. I will call him " the prisoner." He was instantly arrested, and did not deny that he was the bomb-thrower. But he-refused, and still refuses, to reveal either Ijie own identity or the names of any confederates. It is fortunate for him that Russian prison methods do really seem to BSW- been- in some degree mitigated. Not so .very long ago he would have undergone sobe exceedingly unpleasant experiences uhtiT he made the revelations desired. Formerly, obstinate prisoners performed a compulsory fast the first day ; then w<?re fed on excessively ealt provisions, after which their attendants forgot to 6upply them with anything to drink. A few waterless days usually induced full disclosure. In other cases the prisoner was put to bed and firmly secured to hi 3 couch. He then was assiduously attended by a nurse, who happened to b© one of those women employed as police agents. It was her duty to extract confession, and she seldom failed. On© of her methods was to take care that the prisoner did not get a wink of ele&p until he told what was desired, but she was not unduly hampered as to h&r proceedings. But now the authorities seem quite reconciled to their prisoner's reticence. The only stroke that has apparently been tried is a visit or two from the widow of the victim — viz., th© Grand Ducness Sergius. At least Ft is asserted on what really dees appear good authority — if anything Russian can bo depended upon ! — that on two occasions the Grand Duchess Sergius paid a visit to the nrisoner in his eell — one&, attended by an =co"t. for about 15 minutes, and the second time unaccompanied. THe prisoner is treated uo-i as a person already condemned. Everything he possessed, including his clothing, linen, and boots, has been taken from him, and he wears coarse linen and th© prison apparel, the chief garment being a long grey dressing-gown without buttons or girdle, which he can keep wrapped round him only by folding his arms. No knife or fork is "allowed him for his meals, and his meat, whenever it is provided, is cut into little bits and served nearjy cold. It is said that: " Th© Grand Duchess's motive for visiting the revolutionist was a desire to influence him beneficially by touching his heart and convincing his understanding, and, if possible* to discover the real aim of the Terrorists, and to dissuade them from pursuine' those aims further. Her words did produce a perceptible effect upon the prisoner, who received the distinguished lady very oolitely, manifested genuine sympathy with her in her bereavement, and showed respectful attention to her exhortations and arguments. He expressed great satisfaction that th© Grand Duchess was. not accompanying her consort when the bomb was thrown at the carriage, and gave- utteranc& to his sincere regret that he had caused her gri&f by depriving her of her husband. Of tEat doed, he said, he would neither boast nor i renent. It was a matter of duty — less 1 difficult, indeed, than many other tasks j be had discharged in life. Every Russian : roatriot who could discern things as they are would have done the came. For between Russia and prosperity the dynasty stands a& a formidable- obstacle, and national progress is- henceforth unattainable until the obstacle is removed. That hindrance is the real and permanent cause of the- deeds of violence. The- Grand Duchess, who endeavoured to move the prisoner to see the matter in a different litght by setting, religious motives befpre him, pointed out that murder is always a orinie, and can never be justified. The revolutionist answered that the Government had committed wholesale murders for the benefit of the- dynasty, and had spoken of them as wholesome and necessary. The people had taken this lesson from their teachers, and they argued that the murder of a few individuals for the benefit of 130,000,000 must be more justifiable still. The prisoner added that love of Russia, not hatred of any particular personage, was the leading motive in all these deeds of violence, which would systematically be continued. The Grand Duchess was much affected by her failure to bring the accused to a sense of the heinousness of his crime." So runs the story, which I give without comment.