In spring 1900, Višinskis responded for a call for Lithuanian exhibits to the world's fair held in Paris by sending 70 photographs and 16 items, including kanklės. Vaineikis was arrested in May 1900, but Janulaitis managed to obtain a permit to stage "Velnias spąstuose" on 21 July in Liepāja and on 23 July in Jelgava. The posters and programs were published in both Russian and Lithuanian languages. Since the performance was legal, Višinskis decided to hang the posters in Pašvitinys. The police soon tore it down as an illegal Lithuanian-language sign. He then posted them again in Joniškis for which he was put on trial. The permit for theater performances was revoked and several Lithuanian activists, including Janulaitis, were arrested. Many others were searched or questioned, including Višinskis on 23 August, Petkevičaitė-Bitė on 13 October, Avižonis on 7 September, Bilūnas on 13 October, Pečkauskaitė on 5 December 1900. A total of 24 people received various sentences (mostly a few years of exile in the interior of Russia) in February 1902. Nevertheless, Višinskis continued to contribute articles and reports to "Varpas" using a multitude of pen names, including some of those used by the arrested people, to confuse the police.