Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-30

NEW IOhhs nldl @o.-LuC AOAAONAuS ACe
ter has been received from Ivan Surinnof, |
Russian Nihilist, by friend in this city
To escape the vigilance of the police it haC
to be taken to the frontier to be posted:
ST. PETERSBURG, May IA 1889.
MY DEAR FRIEND; The greatest excitemen
prevails in our beautiful city. and cloud blacke
than the blackness of midnight hangs over oul
heads No one is sure of his life. for at any mo
ment the storm of autooratic thunder may de
Bcend and sweep thousands, the innocent as vel
rs the guilty. into the whirlwind of its tremen
dous wrath. That some terrible event il
about to happen we are well aware, and tht
people convulsed with the agonies of sus
pense, are awaiting its fulfllment-not with
patience but with a nameless terror. No one
knows the moment he will be rudely torn from
hustled into the black-painted CONVEYANCE for
criminals will in short time find himself
within the confines of the Petropavloosk
Fortress.
These black karetas have ratified through the
streets during the long hours of the otherwise
silent night sending terror to the stoutest
heart Even your friend Ivan, "stout of
heart as you always called me, quailed before
the tempest when the gendarmery sounded the
alarm before my house during the night But
1t was not they wanted. 1t was another mem
ber of the household, visitor But my time
will also come; it cannot be much longer de-
layed As the black carriage passes on the way
",
whisper. "God. have mercy.n 1t is impossible
TO estimate the number of arrests or to learn
the names of the accused except in occasional
Instances but thar their number is legion we
have not the slightest doubt.
THE sILENCED NEWSPAPERS.
No one dares openly to question the cause of
This sudden activity on the part of the despotic
police, nor the reason for their continued acts
of brutality toward unoffending people The
fc oil sill he Nofa
has appeared in print in regard to the attempt
made on the life OF the Gar in the garden yes
terday. Rumor says the Gar was shot at twice
by an officer of the IzmaijlovsH Regiment
that he was wounded in the left arm, and that
afterward the officer shot himself in the temple
and was taken away by the police in an un-
conscious condition. his name is believed to
be Izioloo Pavlovitch Nszimof one of 40 men
selected by lot from different circles of the ma
tiOnal secreS society, 'Ziemla VOLTA TO as
sassinate our despot at the first convenient op-
portunity.
1t is known that at least lSO officers of the
army are confined to the fortress suspected of
comphcity in the plot. The victims selected
for incarceration are from all ranks of life, but
people high in society are known to contribute
the greatest number of suspects.
A large number of bombs have been found in
the possession of persons of whom the police
had previously not the slightest suspicion.
Many ladies of high social position have been
found in the ranks of the Nihilists and placed
under arrest All last night the work of raiding
houses weGron, and the gendarmery were the
reverse Of gentle in their treatment of prisoners.
People wrapped in slumber were, without
moments warning. dragged from their beds,
and in the name of the Gar ordered to enter
the black kareta- Men. women. even children,
al received the same treatment Fifty-three
persons were taken from the house of Povloh,
IS Bolshay MOrskay. Among them was a beau
tiful princess, Anna Narishking, l6 years old
Her brother a young man of Is maddened by
the brutal way the police were treating her,
rushed sword in hand, to protect his sister,
when be, too. was beaten into insensiDility and
carried off in the black kareta. 1t is feared
the shock Will upset their poor mothers rea-
Son.
FEAR AND TREMBLING AT COURT.
The story of these terrible scenes is told in
whispers and only among friends. Most
persons maintain silence, fearing to speak lest
it be to an enemy, and almost every tace bears
a look of deepest sadness. Members of the
secret police are the only persons whom the
gift of language has not forssken, and they
infest the hotels and public places, openly ex-
pressing their feelings, apparently with all
sincerity. Their talk is but a snare to allure
their victims. Yet our people (the Nihilists),
as you are aware, are always on their guard
and refrain from giving utterance to their
thoughts We work in the solemn hours of the
night and in the unthought-of places of the
great city. The poor peasant from the inland
parts of the empire is the one most easily LED
into the trap.
The Gar has lost all control of himself, and
acts more like an infuriated madman than a
being possessing reasoning powers, and the Off
GERS of his court tremble for the safety of their
lives and fear to approach him. His orders are
more than ever despOtic, as If his tyranny amy
Ozarina is completely prostrated, and has gone
TO the Yar-Skoyesela (CZar's village). The
Gar, after attending mass in 1saak Cathe-
dral (most likely TO offer prayers for his safe
deliverance), took an express train and also re-
Fired into seclusion at the same place.
The issuing of foreign passports is for the
present suspended by order of the Gar. and
al letters to and from foreign countries are
opened and read without the least ceremony.
All foreign residents are under police super
vision. Among the arrests made from our cir
Gle last night may be mentioned Semen
Aphanasievitch Orloff, Niera Streimkoff,
Vasielewskl Ostroff and DR.. Stepan Ivanevitch,
together with many others. Our circle is par
ficularlY grieved about the doctors arrest, as
he gave mp an extensive and lucrative practice
70 engage in the work of the brotherhood.
Among the ladies Of our circle wEo were arrest
ed was Elena Isakof. She was dragged from
bed, ana, with nothing but night dress and an
old blanket which gendarme threw around
her to protect her from the chilly air, was car
Jied 10 the black kareta and cast inside with
several other prisoners.
A TRAGEDY APPARENTLY IN THE AIR
We are, as you know, brave lot, but the
thought of separation from our loved ones sad
dens us. Then everything is so uncertain. No
one knows whose turn will come next It is
possible that before my letter reaches you,
TOO, may be numbered with the victims of our
cruel tyrant 1t is blood, nothing but blood,
everywhere. But we are prepared for the
worst. The Nihilist has but one aim and OBJ
sect in life-freedom. For that he willingly
sacrifices his life. His freedom means death,
but to coming generations it will possess
deeper, a more significant meaning-peace.
During the present crisis guilty and innocent
suffer alike. The police have apparently but
one thought. and that is to test the capacity of
the prisons to their fullest extent The officers
of the army are thoroughly aroused and loudly
condemn the brutalities practiced by the police
on many of their comrades. The wholesale ar
rest of officers last night has engineered among
their comrades a feeling of the bitterest hatred.
st. Petersburg is not alone in her sorrow over
her captive children, for Moscow, Saratof
Samars, Mil Novgorod and Kieff have put on
sackcloth and ashes and mourn with their
greater sister. In all these places the prisons
are full Of suspects.
There is a terrible tragedy in the very air we
breathe, and do not be surprised if YOU hear of
strange events in the near future 1t cannot
be otherwise when the Gar on his golden
throne Is surrounded by spies, treacberous
gendarmery and corrupt Tchinovniks What
security is there for his life? Even now the
muttering of thunder is heard in the distance
and the despot trem6es. In his eagerness to
crush out the life ofour people he but adds fuel
N the flame, which rapidly increases dailv
His acts of brutality drive recruits into our
camp in thirst 70 avenge the unjust treatment
of their loved ones. Those officials who remain
loyal to their sovereign (they are few are in q
dazed stupefed condition, and do not know
whittier to turn for sympathy and advice.
Now that the soldiers, the pillars of the throne,
have risen in their righteous anger and passed
judgment, the collapse OF autocracy Is but
To appreciate the better part Of life we must
nrst pass through the evils, and already, my
dear friends, see through the darkness igno-
md