RUSSIAN RULE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 80

RUSSIAN RULE.

BOY'S TERRIBLE TALE OF MASSACRE. The special correspondent of the Daily Telegraph in St. Petersburg says a gruesome scene of provincial terrorism has occurred in the Don military district bor dering on the provinces of Saratoff and Kharkoff, and is depicted by the Moscow press. The victims "were two prosperous families belonging to the Protestant sect of Mennonites. A neighbour, calling on the family of Bondarenkoff, pushed open the door and beheld the farmer's daughter, Xenia, lying diead. On the floor of the next apartment the corpses of Bondarenkoff's son and a labourer were str-etched in pools of blood. In the stables the visitor discovered the lifeless remains of the fanner and his wife. Quitting the house horrified, the visitor heard the whining voices of children, three of whom leaped from a window. One was aiged four years, and two aged respectively seven and eight. The visitor then repaired to the Grechenkoffs' house, where Grechenkoff, together with his wife and his brother, lay murdered. Curled up on a bed were the dead bodies of a boy aged five and a girl aged seven-. The surviving boy of eight told a story which the police pieced together as follows : — The family, having supped and retired to rest, were awakened by the noise of carts coming down the hill. The carts stopped at the door of the house, and a shot was fired through the window. The sleepers jumped in alarm. The door was burst open, and hre-e men entered, lighted candles, and cried : " Let all come out, otherwise we will fire." Other men- '

then entered, carrying cords and revolvers, and, seizing the members of the family, bound them. Bondarenkoff's daughter Xenia, hearing her father and mother weeping and entreating mercy, screamed. Then the rumaii6 threw a sheet over the girl's head, dragged her to the corridor, and killed her with a hatchet. The farmer's eon, Nikita, was next dealt with, and after him the labourer. Each one was first struck on the forehead, and then his head cloven in twain. In a corner of the room a cat and dog crouched silently, but the ruffians, killed them in like manner.