The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-02-24

place nearly mile broad, excludes all posi-
bility of Nh attack from that quarter. The
main southeast front of the building in
which, as will be seen, the explosion took
place, is separated by vast open square,
nearly half mile broad from large semi
circular building, the southern part of which
is devoted to the offices Of the imperial staff,
while the northern wing is occupied by the
Foreign Office, the private apartments of the
Chancellor Of the Empire, Prince Gorts-
chakof, and the offices Of the Finance de-
partment. The southwestern front faces the
Admiralty buildings. Between the latter and
the palace lies IN open space, generally used
as a drilling ground The northeast front is
separated by a narrow passage from the So
called Eremitage," the celebrated art gal
lery which forms in some measure part of
the palace, the second floors of both buildings
being connected with each other by covered
passages. The Ermitags' contains moth
ing else but the world famed picture and
sculpture galleries and few reception halls
in the upper floor, is daily filled by throng
Of visitors and is subjected to the same in
spection as the rest Of the Winter palace.
Beyond the " Ermitage" there flows q narrow
but deep canal, connecting the Neva with the
large Moika canal. Next come the barracks
of the Preobrajeusky regiment, reported to
be one of the most loyal, best organized and
most thoroughly drilled regiments in the I'm
perial Guard
BUILT ON A MARSH.
Thus it may be seen that the residence of
the. Gar il on all sides encircled either by
the river, which in itself offers natural and
insurmountable barrier TO all underground
work, or else by government Offices, the oc-
cupants of which, orat least the majority of
the latter, would certainly be the last to take
whole imperial family. There is one cir
cumstance, however, which more than any
other shows tho impossibility of mine being
conducted from outside the palace, and that
is the confguration of the soil on which ST.
Petersburg, and especially the parts of the
city adjoining the river, are built. The
banks of the river on which Peter tho
Great has built the capital of his Empire
ae low and marshy-nearly on level
with the water. All the soil on which the
Winter palace and the adjoining buildings
have been erected had to be raised OH pillars,
and even now it rises barely six or seven feet
over the water level. The ground in those
places is so unsteady that the great st. Isaac
Cathedral situated at the southern extremity
Of the square, sinks yearly about twelve
inches into the soil, and that great efforts
have to be made from time to time to pre-
vent the huge structure from sinking still
lower. In all these parts of the city it IS i'm
possible to dig deeper into the soil than FIVE
or seven feet without striking water. The
laying of mine would, therefore, necessitate
the building of regular vaulted tunnel, an
operation demanding so great an amount of
time, working power and materials as to rem
der detection inevitable.
LAID FROM INSIDE.
Thus, of the two alternatives SGT up there
remains but one which deserves serious con-
sideration. That is, that the mine which
caused the explosion on Tuesday night was
laid within and fired from the Winter palace
itself. This fact Is Of the utmost importance
for the present situation In Russia, and opens
an entirely new and unexpected view of the
so called Nihilist movement. The various
apartments Of the Winter palace are inhab-
tied by whole army Of men and women
whose destinies are all more or less connected
with those Of the Imperial family and the
Court. Most of the offices-even the hum
blest--attached to the service of the palace
are hereditary, and have passed from father
to son since tho times Of the Empress Catha-
rine. The Winter palace with its population
is, so to say, city BY itself, status
in statu, which lives end breathcs in the at
mosphere surrounding the court and
knows nothing beyond it. In order to
find aocomplices and abetters in this sphere
the authors Of the last attentat must not only
be vested with the power which numbers and
energy Of purpose can convey, but must
necessarily be connected with some of the
highest officials of the court or with MEM
Der ofthe imperial family itself. There is
no other manner to explain the astounding
fact that murderous plan, requiring the
labor of many hands during weeks and
months, could have been prepared and car
RED out within the walls Of the. Winter palacel