The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1881-05-05


A eablexfm fko0 correspondent at st.
Peterbsrg, nys: 4 would be dificult to ex-
aggerats the gfHyity 81 the situation in Rus
sia # the psesest asmcnt. Never before
was tie need Il steady hand At the helm so
deeply and 90 universally felt. 1t required
nothing less than the tragedy Of the 18th of
March - open mems eyes to the fact that the
reform which the reyelutiensts endeavor to
wiring from the Government by deeds Of
bloodshed cannot and must not be long de-
layed by majority Of the intelligent persons.
In the matter Of intelligence the women of
Russia are much superior to the men. II
they yentured to formulate their desires they
could repeat the demands contained i'm the
last proclamation Of the famous Executive
much there Is in common between Russian
intelligence and the revolutionary party.
The distinction between them lies not in the
end but in the means. The very absence Of
that freedom which some demand and all de-
sire, leaves the Russian refOr;ner o choice
but silence or sedition. No one who has
travelled through Russia lately can have
failed to mark the difference between the
peasant Of the past and the peasant Of the
present. Seryilc politeness has given way
TO an independence rude and sometimes brli-
tai. Where an old man bows to passing
stranger. the youth goes on his way with \
sulen stare. The latter has q dangerous
knowledge OF his rights and wrongs, which
makes him in many cases willing listener
to the insidious counsels Of revolutionary
propagandists. Go where you will-fr0m
the White Sea to the Black Sea, from the
Danube to the Amoor-the peasants are
awakening from a dcath-likc slumber OF GEN.
dawning: the trees still look withered and
dead; the winter snow still whitens the
ground; the chilly sleet rustles through the
branche' but the sap is rising and the leaves
blossom, and the fruit will soon spring forth.
What sort of crop it will be depends main
~ on the decision which must shortly be Ia
ken. Meantime the Emperor lives in retire
ment at Gatchina and secs no one but the
Prince Variontaon Ooadkof. People in Of
fetal circles speak OF the neral abdication
and shake their heads when they speak Of
the future. 1t may be, however, that ere
Iong we shall have manifesto Of some sort
and an indication of the policy to be pur-
sued. At present there is none and Russia
is without government.
A letter from st. Petersburg gives gloomy
account Of the new Cars life at the castle
Of CATCHING, thirty miles from the capital.
Before the court removed thitbcr several
hundred artisans OF the Precoboajonsky reg
iment were sent to make the necessary alter
alton. At midnight they were assembled in
the church at CATCHING, and were sworn to
silence-death or Siberia being the penalty
of an infraetion Oftheir oath. and ten rou5les
was the price Of each mans silence. The al
terations were made in forty-cight hours.
men, and the following is description of the
precautions which have been made against
assassination in the palace Of the Car. a
subtcrranean passage leading from the Car
room to the stables, where number OF
horses are kept saddicd and bridied day and
night. Sentincls are posted at intervals of
twenty yards all around the building. The
imperial bedroom has two windows, pro-
tected at night by massive iron shutters.
which can only be reached from the outside
by passing through three spacious ante
chambers, in which are posted eighty Cos
sacks armed to the teeth. They are allowed
TO speak and move about in the two outer
rooms, but in the hall adjoining the Cars
bedroom perfect silence is maintained. All
night the General on duty for the day sits IN
in an easy chair, his Cossacks sitting on !,
divan which runs around the whole room.
At the Generals right hand is the knob OF
an electric apparatus which rings . bell IN
every guard house on the grounds. When
the Emperor is about 10 retire, before shut
ting the door, he removes the outer handle.
so no entrance can be made until he person
ally opens the door from the inside. Unlike
his father he cannot endure armed soldiers
in his bedchamber. Several mines have been
discovered at st. Petersburg, and quantity
Of dynamite was seized just after it had been
introduced into the courtyard of the Palace
Of Gatchina, concealed in a load Of hay.
The CxariRa is seriously ill, being subject TO
severe nervous attacks and strange hallucin-
ations.
IIessy lleGman's illness is expected 10 be
brought 10 Il close in very short time and
il is thought this will be the signal for her
execution. The Faris Lsraasigeant declares
that she has been ruthlessly tortured since =
nrisoupr