REVOLT IN RUSSIA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10302, 9 March 1905, Page 4

REVOLT IN RUSSIA.

BRUTALITY OF THE SOLDIERS

CROWD HEWN DOWN WITH SABRES AND BAYONETS, i LONDON, January 28. : A St. Petersburg correspondent on ( Wednesday said : — All eye-witnesses of ' Sunday's tragedy affirm categorically that ] the order to lire was generally given ' without warning, often without the ( slightest provocation, and' always with- ) out the slightest attempt at violence by j the unarmed crowds, in one case the wounded men tell mu tlie people knelt down in the snow and besought the sol- : diers to let them pass. Thereupon the '. oilicer gave orders to lw?w them down i • with saores and bayonets, and! the soldiers carried the instruction out to the . letter. Men and women who were kneel- i ing on the snow with bended necks re- , ceived slushes on their heads, necks and backs. Some persons, including one wo- ; man, had their head's completely severed from the trunk, and were taken to the hospital in. two parts. A trustworthy and prominent member of Russian society known personally to me saw tlie. female victim's headless, body. Children and girls were struck when running away, and in various parts of the town many men were shot in the back when escaping. Women who were on branches of trees were fired upon opposite tho Admiralty, and brought down as in pigeon shooting. On Basil Island, in the fourth line, -,wheix the troops found barricades constructed on scientific principles by an officer, who Uad gone over to the people, they tired, and the, crowd dispersed; but two, students still stood! behind the barricades, and the soldiers raised tliem both on bayonets. MASSACRE OF CHILDREN. A correspondent says : — Among the vie. thus of the firing in the Palace Square we're ' it, number of children, who were playing and sliding on the ice in the Alexander Gardens. It is stated, that of these 26 perished or' were wounded. News has reached me that a body of workmen which started; out towards Tsarskoe Selo, where the- Czar is staying, were stopped on the way thither by a force of four companies of infantry, with two squadrons of cavalry and! a battery. A bloody conflict ensued. Many of the strikers vrexe shot dtown while crossing the ice on the Neva.

The rioters have broken the windows of tlie palace of the Grand Duke Alexis with stones.

Bullets have smashed some Avindows in private houses a- long way from the scene of the firing, and have embedded themselves in the walls and doors.

Piece by piece the tale of this terrible week is coining to light. I have the following incident from an exceptionally good source : —

While the troops were passing, n. tram c;u % somebody on the roof shouted the word "Bloodsuckers." The officer at once slopped the car, and declared tliat he would kill everybody in it unless informed who was responsible for the insult. A youth dressed in artisan's clothes presented himself. He was cut to pieces on the spot.

To escape the volleys of the infantry a number of workmen fled across the ice of the Moika Canal, but were picked off like rabbits until the ice broke under the weight of the corpses. Thousands of strikers are starving. Hundreds upon hundreds of fathers of families have been killed, and their bodies have not been recovered. Everyone of the stricken survivors has become doubly a- revolutionist. We shall probably be face to face with food riots in a few a»ys andl if they come the troops will not wail.

For ordinary residents of the city tlie aftermath of the strike is more alarming than Avere the massacres thcmselvas. Sturdy ruffians are exploiting the situation to beg from everybody they meet, and if the coast is clear they not only beg, but steal. Foreign ladies are leaving the country by the lmndred. WOMEN ARRESTED. The new Governor-General .of St. Petersburg is now turning his attention to -women agitators. No fewer than 158 women have been arrested since yesterday. Arrests take place hourly. Women—many of them ladies of refinement and education— were dragged from their beds during the night and lodged in prison.

The police arc vigorously prosecuting tlioir domiciliary search for revolutionary leaders and seditious documents. •

The new Governor-General works swiftly and in silence. Besides the arrest of the women, I understand that large numbers of influential people were removed to 'the fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul. Tlie peisons arrested include lawyers, pliysiciaiis, professional men and students. Some of the smaller factories have re■sumed work to-day, and 300 men out of '3000, have returned to the Baltic .works, .which are 'surrounded by strong bodies of troops to prevent any interference on •the part of the strikers.

The extent to , which the meii will 'return to -work' is still uncertain. J hey say that the matter, will be determined at a meeting to be held to-morrow

GUARDING THE CZAR., Whatever else the General may be, heis a very vigorous and determined dictator. He seems to have provided against every possible chance of outbreak. Fifteen thousand troops guard all the l'oads to Tsarskoe Solo, so that the workmen shall not advance to make an attack upon the person of the Czar. In the suburbs all house doors are closed at 6 o nock. Cossacks still patrol the streets. The authorities are persisting m their attempt to 'minimise the extent of Sunday's massacre. I have already tulJ vou about the burial of 60 victims ;n a c:niuion grave during the early hou's of Wednesday morning. So that :t si-all appear that those 60 represented the full extent of the massacre ; the remaining corpses have been sent by the Finnish Railway for interment in common graves at Uspenski. ; ' The corpses "sent out last night liiled ten trucks.

The Czar at last knows tlie whole .ruth about the extent of the troubles. He was told 1 by the Duke of Leuchtenbui-g, who went to Tsarskoe Selo for Hvi \urpose., The Czar was profoundly surmised when he heard what had happened. It is reported that he gave orders for a number of persons to be liberated f-cin the prisons, and gave instructions that his Ministers should at once proceed with the elaboration of the reforms nlrtady promised. . "MURDERER." . ■The breach between the Government and the nation is irreparable. The Cz;iv lias no more influence. He has practically abdicated, and for the first time treason to the throne is openly discussed. A week ago no man dared fo say a word against the "Little Father." To-day he is repeatedly called! "murderer." 'This means that no matter what his forthcoming proclamation may promise, the people no longer believe in him.

The cliange hi the Russian Government will probably prevail for a time, until the army— as it inevitably will — : comes round to the side of the people. The great fear of the Government at present js the temper of Kuropatkin's starved and swindled army. The danger in the East is as great as ib is at home. The fear of revolt in Manchuria is the j spectre that haunts the new despots at the Ministries. THE LOST OPPORTUNITY. A piquant despatch -from a St. Petersburg correspondent appears in the Gil Bias, Paris. He says that 'the Czar, after listening to the arguments of Prince Mirsky, had almost madte up his mind' to receive the working men's delegation on Sunday last. As soon as this was known by tiie Czar's advisers it was felt that .something must be done to make him -inker his mind, so the little inci'dent of the loaded cannon was arranged. Among all classes of the St. Petersburg population, says the same correspondent, there' is a feeling of d'eep resentment against the Grand Dukes and their party. The Grand Duke Alexis is publicly jeered and laughed at, not, of course, directly, but by insults- levelled at his constant companion, Senorina Ballela, who, whenever she appears on the stage, weai's enough diamonds to buy the entire Baltic fleet. FINN REVOLT. Details received of the conflict at Helsingfoi's show that the fighting "was of a very desperate character. Between .6000 and 7000 workmen organised a demonstration, and marched through tlie' streets; ■ singing reolutionary songs,- demandingireedom frbni tlie- Russian yoke, waving red flags, and crying : "Down with the , tyrant! "Down .with the autocrat!" ;

_ A strong body of police was called) out, «irid the mob was ordered to disperse. As tlie men refused to separate, the police changed them with, drawn swords. Some of the' men were arniedi with revolvers, arkl on their lead'er .firing a shot, the men closed' with tlie armed police, and a hand-to-handi fight took place. ' ff .The ''.police, overwlielmed by numbers., made ;i determined' resistance, hacking and slashing at tlie rioters in sheer diesperatiou. Reinforcements came up and ; attacked. 'the crowd from the rear, and a wild .-struggle ensued, in which many were fatally injured on both, sides.

At Mr Stead's farm, Ooriuga,;:Canter■bui'y, 87 bushels of oats have been threshed to the acre, the.' wheat yield ".being 55 bushels per acre. 5 ' '

,> •, As the SDevonpbrt^ 'Eeiny= ' Cf.mpaJiy's tug-boat Awarua was .proceeding t» live Thames on Saturday night, abo it halfpast eight o'clock, Captain G. Laiety's attention,-. -jvhen, off North.. J-end. . was drawn ,t6^ah# oil launch* ■ which wis on five. There were se-?en men nn<l tbr-:-€ ■women on board the launch, -which w;i.s leaving fora, ovuise down tho jrulf 'lie Awarua's bout was lowered, nr.d iKnkml 'oy-ery -assistance. The'lad: is wei* up in the 'bow. of* thtfboat,, sol as to: keep ; cleai of the fire, whiUtJhs mule portioaiof the. party were engaged in ; a ,eeyere struggle to suppress the flames: 'The 'party were soon rescued; and the. fire was suppressed.