Birmingham state herald., 1896-04-05

playing, banners flying, in the midst of feasting and drinking, in the home of the powerful noble and hovel of the peasant, there will be nothing bright and hand- some enough to hide this monster
 Terrible at all times, it will be doubly awful on that day, for on great occa- sions of this kind the czar feels that he IS more at the mercy of the assassin than in ordinary times. No rumors of nihilis- tic effort at the coronation have been in circulation, so far as the outside world knows but information of that kind does not travel in Russia the way 1t does In other countries. Newspapers are very guarded in what they print, for the small est offense might land the editors in some filthy dungeon, or, worse still, in the mines of Siberia.
 This coronation, to which the nations or the world will send their ablest men, enhancing it's splendor and importance will be the engine of more misfortune and misery than any happening in Rus sia in years. It will swell the Siberian colony to untold figures, and heap the thousands of prisons in the empire with armies of unhappy men and women: Al ready, the cable informs us, the thlrd sec ton has its drag net out gathering in suspects on all sides. This work will go on day after day, increasing in its scope as the date of the coronation hears.
 The merest shadow of suspicion is all that is necessary to land some unfor- tunate in prison Nine-tenths or these suspects are as innocent of the crimes at tributed to them as a citizen in this far off country But that makes no differ ence. If the Russian police arrested guilty people only there would be many empty prisons in the czar's domain. ln- nocence counts for naught when brought face to face with the third section
 The third section Is one of three divi- sions of the Russian police system. The first division or section is the ordinary street police force, the members of which are uniformed and patrol the streets of the big cities just as they do in this ana other countries. They arrest the petty offenders, the thieves, thugs, murderers and blacklegs in general who always in fest cities of importance. There IS noun ing unusual about them except thelr - willingness to be bribed on every occa- sion. They are miserably paid: in fact, the members of all the three divisions are underpaid, and as result blackmail' bribery and extorton thrive in Russia to an extent unknown in any other coun- try the world over.
 The second section is made up of the rural police. the chiefs of which are ap- pointed by the state and the ordinary or ficers by the different villages. These are the most rapacious wretches on the face of the earth and the way they grind down the helpless people in their control would bring tears to the eyes of a man of stone.
 The Dreaded Third.
 The third section, whose chief Is spo- ken of in a whisper as the White Terror, is made up of the dreaded secret police. The organization of this force is well guarded mystery and therein lies its vast power. It is under the immediate control of the minister of the interior, and its one particular busine ss is to fer ret out enemies of the czar and of the imperjal government.
 Much has been written about the third section, but no complete story of its or gantzation has ever been told Even the cleyerest and the most relied upon detec- lives in it's employ do not know the real facts of the matter. Americans who have lived in the principal Russian cities and who have written about 1t have only been able to obtain the bafest skeleton of it's formation, but that Is as much as any one knows.
 Secrecy and mystery form its founda- ton. How many men compose the force is unknown. They may number 50O0 and possibly 10000. The section includes men placed in every walk of life. from the humblest to the most powerful. the artisan and the diplomat, the high army officer and the common soldier, the la borer and the society man, the merchant and the thief. In every big city the