New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-12-13
SOME RUSSIAN SCENES.
sTHE DYING PROPHET-MoUJIKS IN
FAMINE-RED TAPE.
St. Petersburg, November l6.

ton of Russia. Certainly he Is most extraor-
binary being II he be what is claimed, more
wonderful parsonage does not exist. If he be
an impostor, then he is the most marvellous i'm
postor of the age. The audacity of his preten-
sions, the skill with which they are maintained.
and, above all, the profound effect produced upon
Ill who come in contact with him, have no
parallel in modern history. So strong, indeed, is
the impression created by his doings that the
Procurator Of the Holy Synod and other high
ecclesiastical officers of the Empire dare not IN
terfere. Appeals have been made to them to stop
by force of law the vast pilgrmages that are con-
stantly being made to the Prophets home, since
they are in defiance of the Orthodox Church. But
these stern defenders of the faith, who do not
hesitate to persecute the Stundists and Jews.
tremble at the name Of the Dying Prophet" and
let him work his miracles unmolested.
This strange person is named Tagarelli, and
Is Of French or Italian extraction. lie was. how
ever horn at Tifis, in the Caucasus, where he
now lives lie is yet young man, OF humble
rank in life, and of only ordinary education
Since childhood he has been bedridden and utterly
helpless For years he lay in his humble cot
tage, In the outskirts Of Tiiis, with nothing to
distinguish him from any common invalid. But
few months ago q curious change was observed.
In brief, he died. to all appearances. His friends
dead According to all ordinary tests. he was
certainly dead That Saturday. They
prepared his body for burial, and the corpse lay
in it's coffin until Monday, when the funeral was
10 take place At the very hour set for the
obsequies, however, the young man suddenly re-
turned to life. Ever since, the same event has
occurred every week, with the exception, of
course. of tie preparations for burial! which arc
now omitted On Saturday he dies. On Mon
day he returns to life.
What of the time between? He declares that
he really does die, and that his spirit, departing
from his body, passes into the other world. What
manner of world it is he will not divulge. Nor
will he tell anything of his doings there, save one
That is, that he has access to the book kept by
the Recording Angel, in which are set down all
the sins of humanity On its fatal pages he
finds the names of all his acquaintance, and
reads set against them the catalogue of their mis-
deeds, even of their evil thoughts. The cata-
logue is a long one. Men are more wicked than
their fellows suppose. So the Prophet" comes
back to life much saddcned by the knowledge he
has gained. Indeed he would like to look no
more upon that dreadful book; but greater
power than his own compes him to do so. Nor
is bis information confined to the records of his
own acquaintances The book of the whole
world is open to him, and he can ascertain
actly what charges are set down against any
member of the human race.
OF all his pretensons, of course, only one is
susceptible of proof, and that is the correctness
of his information People who visit him know
perfectly well whether he tells them the truth
about their misdeeds. 1t is said that he has
never made mistake at any rate, no one has
ever charged him with doing so. There is scarcely
q person In Tifis who has not visited him. They
xIo tIo oh ho 0ain ct
them, and tearfully beseech him TO intercede with
the powers of the other world in their behalf.
Thousands of people from all parts of the Empire
daily throng about his cottage, seeking to know
from him the story of their own ill-deeds. Many
of them 60 in idle curiosity, or in a sccptical
spirit, but all who are admitted TO his presence
come away convinced of his supernatural knowl-
edge. Among some who went from Moscow TO
see him, recently, was a shrewd newspaper cor
respondent whose avowed purpose was to expose
what he believed to be fraud. He came from
Tagareli's room with bristling hair, blanched
face and trembling limbs. Take me away" he
cried to his friends IL have lived an hour in the
Day of Judgment"
Some curious traits of peasant-nature in Russia
have been brought prominently forward by the
famine The average moujik is person little
understood by the outer world. He is es-
sentially Asiatic in mind that European can
scarcely understand him or appreciate him. His
ignorance, of course, is proverbial. Education is
forbidden him, "by order of the Car" But his
laziness and his utter lack of moral sense are not
so well known. The "Vedomosti," of Moscow.
gives an extraordinary illustration Of the former
quality. In the country traversed by the Kurok-
Voronesh railroad there is much distress. AT
point people are actually dying of hunger. The
railroad company, however, is making large i'm
provements on its line, and offers employment suffi
Gent to supply livelihood during the entire
winter season to the whole of the local peasantry.
The company offers to single laborer twenty
three rubles a month, and for a man and horse
thirty-ive rubles 1t also offers TO provide all
necessary tools free. Now, these wages may
seem small to an American. But they arc
really pretty good according to the European
standard At any rate. they would enable the
men who received them TO purchase food and
maintain their families in comfort. few have
accepted the offer: the great mass of the starving
and idle population utterly refusel 1T. They
prefer to starve, or rather, as they hope, to
he supported by the bounty of the Little Father.
Now and them the railroad people, by dint of
persuasion and rcproaches induce some of them
TO go to work. But in a few hours. days at
most they throw down their tools and return to
ideness and beggary. Others. says the same paper,
are willing to see their wives do the work which
they refuse to do, and then spend the bulk OF
the women's earnings for vodl<. and in their
drunkenness bewail the failure of the harvest
1t is also related in the Moscow Gazette"
that in many places peasants who harvested fairly
good crops sold their grain secretly, and are now
proclaiming themselves destitute and seeking the
bounty Of the charitable. Others have hidden
their grain away, and make the same pretence.
At the same time, drunkenness is increasing so
terribly that the dstileries are unable. though
working double forces night and day. to supply
the demand for vodki Even the honest and
sober peasanfs do little better. ThpY are hopeless