Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1880-11-24

Ihe AysASsinattOn ~ AMes HkooeI0Jt.
THE following details Of Nine. Skobe-
Ms assassination by Capt. Usatis have
Vienna from Philippopolis
lime. Bkobeleff, during her two months
in Bulgaria, had devoted her time,
money and energies to the development
i benevolent institutions In different
,arts Of the Principally. and had made
cxcursions with that object,
the escort Of gendarmerie Of
to her by the local authorities, on
The ground that she was too well known
the country to run any risk
81 molestatiOn. During these expedi- |
Hons she was only accompanied by .
young female attendant, BY q faithful
and intelligent man-servant named Ivan.
off, and by Capt. Uzatis, formerly her
sons Aide-de-Camp, who had earned
great distinctions by his splendid gal
Iantry during the late war, and whom
she was accustomed to address as /" her
SON." To this young officer she had
upon several occasions presented con
sfderAble sums Of money for the purpose
o. enabling one Of his brothers, = civil
engineer, to erect . mill in Demendere,
. village near Philippopolis, but had
recently refused an application on his
part for a further gift, holding out, how
ever, hopes that she might grant the
asked-for subsidy at some future period.
Nine. Skobeleff had set her heart upon
establishing a model farm in East Rou-
melia, and started by carriage from
Philippopolis for Tchirpan on Sunday,
July Is, with the object Of purchasing q
piece of land suitable to the fulfillment
Of her project, taking with her 25. 600
roubles, which Capt. Uzatis assisted her
70 pack up in . valise. This money was
destined to pay for her purchase. To
avoid the intolerable heat Of the sum.
mer's sun, she commenced her journey
At 3 p. m, accompanied by her
usual attendants, with the excep.
ton Of Uzatis who excused him.
self, alleging indisposition and the
necessity OF remaining with his brother,
who was also on the eve Of departure
from Philippopolis. For about half ar
hours drive, after quitting the town,
Nine. Skobeleff's carriage was closely
followed by q vehicle containing Mile
Smolekoff, the Directress of the Philip
popoiis Hospital, and . Russian officer
named Petroff; but the two carriage.
separated at Kemer, close to . stone
bridge over the Martha, on the road t.
A~drianople. Mime Skobeleff's carriage
had proceeded a few hundred yards fur
ther, when ~Ivanoff, who was seated on
the box with the coachman, espieC
Capt. Uzatis q little distance off by tn,
roadside, and, turning round TOWARD
hta sutstpuoo vnhn - tho vnouptivna kor
fallen into q dOzs,awoke her with the an
nouncement that the Captain was ap
preaching the carriage on foot. Tn
old lady ordered the coachman to stop
and, leaning out of the window, was ex
pressing her thanks to Uzalis for tn
trouble he had taken TO wish her good
speed on her journey, when he suddenl,
drew his hand jar and cut Ivanof
down. At the SAINT moment four armed
men made their appearance and fel
upon the attendants with their yata
ghans. While they were slaughterinj
the Bulgarian driver and Nine. Skobe
1eff's maid-upOn the former of whom
they inflicted fourteen wounds, and upol
the latter four terrific slashes, each Q
which vas sufficient to cause death
Uzatis deliberately butchered his age
b~enefactress, despite her piteous ap
peals for mercy and despairing offers Q
III her money and valuables il only h,
would spare her life. He thrust hi
broad blAded cimetar completed
through her body, killing her on tn
spot, and then proceeded to plumber tn
corpse, while his accomplice
t broke open the trunks and rifled ther
of their valuable contents. Meanwhile
Ivanoff lay still, feigning death. H
! had received eight severe wounds, but
when the mnrderers made of with thei
booty, he c0ntrived to crawl away, and
after incredible exertions, during whic
he lost SO much blood that he repeated
tainted, reached the Russian Consulat
In Philippopolis about midnight, wher
he related the horrors Of which he ha
been q witness. A detachment of Cav
airy was at once dispatched to Demen
dere, whittier Uzatis had betaken hin
: self, having previously returned TO Phi
/, ippopolis for the purpose Of changin
his clothes and concealing his weapons
t He and one Of his fellow-assassins WEI
In the mill belonging to his brother whe
he perceived the militia squadron al
preaching. Forthwith they took hor'
{ and galloped off toward the Turks
frontier, but found the high road occl
pied by q section of infantry, the ofic,
commanding which summoned them
surrender. Dismounting they fed up
hillside and took refuge in q mario
glen, where they defended themselv'
P Tor some minutes with their revolve
against the soldiers pursuing then
Presently, however, seeing himself su
rounded on every side, Uzatis put Il
muzzle Of his pistol in his mouth an
{ blew out his brains. His companio
was captured alive, as we're later on Il
9 other three rufians who had shared
y his atrocious enterprise. The vail
containing the stolen money has not
Il yet been discovered. Mime. Skobelefi
: body, embalmed by order Of the Ru
sian Consul General, will be convey,
: TO St. Petersburg via Constantinople al
Odessa.-LondoN Telegraph.