Connecticut western news., 1882-07-12
THE KNOUT.
A Frightful Story of Russian Army
 Life.

that happens in Russia. The other even- while smoking 8 cigar with one of my old friends, who has seen, read and travelled a great deal, I was told of an in- cident which occurred some forty years ago at Novgorod, quite as sinister as that which recently occurred at Smar- gon, when population of raging mad men flung children into blazing fire, and reveled at the sight of the poor lit tie bodies writhing like vine stems upon the blazing coals. But in the narrative l am about to relate there was no race hatred or religious passion for motive.
 The colonel of certain Russian regi- ment, ferociously tyrannical and, may say, merciless toward his soldiers, was in the habit of treating this human flock like pack of brutes. He disciplined with the knout; sentencing men to whippings for having one button insuf- ficiently polished; whipping non-com- missioned officer for one stain on his cloak; striking veterans of Borodino in the face for saluting too slowly; sending poor wretches to Siber1a for giving too free an answer. In short, during the lapse of years, this colonel had made himself so detested by his men that he reaped frightful vengeance from the seeds of hatred he had sown.
 One morning during parade he sud denly saw file off from the regiment company of soldiers bearing, instead of muskets, those long rods which cut deeply into the flesh at every blow.
 Nevertheless, he had given no ordersl There was no soldier to chastise.
 "Who Is that for P he demanded.
 A grenadier advanced from the ranks and replied with terrible coolness:
 "For thee p
 stoned officers and soldiers, were in the plot, which had been concocted in the barracks. The whole regiment was present at the terrible spectacle. The colonel was seized, his uniform torn of, he was tied down in a wheelbarrow and wheeled up and down before the ranks of the grenadiers, armed with rods, all of whom struck and insulted him.
 The officers who attempted to aid their colonel were immediately seized and bayonets pointed at their throats. Some where taken away; others gar. roted. Only one soldier attempted to take part with them. Then sergeant, still pallid from the effects of his last whipping with the knout, put his mus ket to the soldiers temple, and blew his brains out.
 And all the regiment saw it's colonel pass under the rods.
 When it was all over they opened a kiln-oven. The colonel was flung into it, all bleeding, together with the officers who had obeyed him. And when the furnace was we'll fed, the soldiers heated it slowly, slowly-until at last that hideous, heavy and revolting smell of melting fat and burning flesh arose in the air, which the savages of the Rus sian frontier inhaled some days ago at a Jewish cemetery at Smargon.
 But the tragedy of Novgorod was not yet over
 An imperial courier bore to the Czar the news of the mutiny. Nicholas listened, became white, but said noth- ing except to order four batteries oi artillery to Novgorod. Ten days afte, white haired and gray-mustached major general, accompanied by single aide-de- camp, knocked at the door oi the barracks which the soldiers had never left since the murder of theil , chief.
 The general gazed coldly upon those F pale men, all neatly and faultlessly 8 uniformed, who gave him the military
 salute.
 Not reproach-not one useless word
 He only said to them:
 sAt o'clock tomorrow morning tn
 regiment will assemble in undress uni
 form and without arms at the Tarta
 Camp, upon the Little Square. Orde |. of the Czar."
 Not one voice replied. But the ne1 day, upon the narrow square, all i ,. ranks without arms, in their long gra .. coats, their sergeants at their usul = posts, all the mutinous soldiers wei :S there, in lines regular as if adjusted t
 a string, with double line of lance - bearing Cossacks before and behind ,e Then all at once all the great bells b " gan to toll. The Cossack horseme 'L withdrew. Only the unarmed infant1 ~ ~'H remained upon the square, with folde ,S ,J arms, waiting Then there came long, low roll of drums, and with from all the avenues leading into u y square came volleys of grape like ire o hail.
 .. Then nothing was heard awhile b - the thunder of the cannon in that cit a otherwise silent as O cemetery, wh' m men, women and children, kneeiing b o fore their holy images, were prayiI Q for the soldiers they were shooting dov o. Tn the square. And during an interv o in the cannonade hymn rolled up fro the square; for the soldiers were dyil " with the prayers of their childhood upt ' their lips. The cannon thundered 110 hours. Then all was silent. Powd o5 and iron rested awhile. The canno .o:' eers entered the square ans recoiled l0 the sight of those ranks of men nov LID down like wheat-the marsh of bioo oo From under the dead they pulled out few still breathing victims, able to Ii no awhile.
 De "What shall be done with the 1' Generalp Shall we put them in t , hospital ?'
 1 "Put them under the knout!'