The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-27

---S--NAAS pACNCulllS the Taking OIL the
census, news would crepe out in the dailv
press about most peculiar Incidents here
ana there peaceful and well-to-do inhabi-
tants OF a given district would hurriedlv
dispose OF their property a a ridiculously
low hgure and disappear as If the earth
mad swallowed them up; farms and or
ehards valued at $1,000 and 10000 rubles
would be sold for miserable pittance, for
so or 4OO rubles, so long as the property
was disposed of before the enumeration
OF the population should take place. Thus
II was that many of the most law-abiding
and wealthy villagers, whose relations to
the sectarians were never before ascer.
tanned, proved themselves to be of the
runners, for not all Runners are
"ramps in His name;" large percentage
of the sectarians are sedentary people.
who live on farms and pay their taxes reg
ularly their secret mission consisting in
providing a safe shelter and succor gen
orally for such of their co-religionists as
save their souls by 'leavng all their be-
longings and following Christ"
Now that the taking of the census is
over and the crime that has taken place
in Ternovka, as a consequence of the ex-
element, is exposed the facts Of the case
come slowly to light, being dug out by
the attorneys of the crown commissioned
to investigate the case
Six persons, including Theodore Kovalef
were discovered on his farm at Ternovka
at the time of the taking of the census.
One and all of them refused to give any
information about themselves and conse-
quently all were lodged in jail. Here they
stubbOrnly refused to take any food what
ever, and were so Enthusiastically bent on
earning martyrs crown" for them
selves by starving to death-the highest
ambition of all Russian zealots-that the
authorities thought better of the case and
set the fanatics at liberty on their own
recognizance, but a severe police surveil-
lance was established over them. Sepa-
rated for a time from his co-religionists,
Kovalef broke off on course of his own,
and voluntary confessed that he immur-
ed and helped to entomb a number of his
own people, still hoping through that con-
fession to earn that much coveted mar
tyr's crown" for himself. The truthful
ness of his testimony is not questioned and
corroborative testimony has been obtained
in every instance from his neghbors and
friends; his own mother, who was largely
instrumental in planning the self-immola-
ton of her family, has since disappeared
and is thought to have committed suicide
on her own account.
1t appears that the sectarians' retreat
at Ternovka was quite regularly visited
by a sectarian nun, called Sister Vitalia,
woman of a striking personality, to
whose efforts was mainly due the founding
of the retreat, some twelve or fifteen
years before. Whenever the nun would
arrive the singing of psalms at the retreat
would go on louder than ever, and many
prayer meetings would be held in the only
good-sized cells of the Skeet. While in the
world Sister Vitalia bore the name of Vera
MokeyeVa, and came from family of
small merchants in the city of Kherson.
So strong were the magnetism and the in
huence eXerted by that woman on all peo-
pie who came in contact with her that
even the priest of the hierarchic sectarians
of Ternovka testified that it was impossi-
BILE to resist the charm of Vitalia's won
derful eloquence. AS to the sectarians,
they obeyed implicitly the slightest word
uttered by the masterful woman, selling
their belongings, giving their property
away, throwing it away, in fact, as well
as their own lives, as appeared at the
tragedy that was to follow
AS the time for the taking of the census
drew near, the visits of Sister Vitalia to
the skeet at Ternovka became more fire.
quent, her appeals TO the asceticism and
fanaticism of her followers more and
more imprisoned, and all the time the
excitement Of the sectarians at their pray
er meetings grew apaCe, reaching a high
degree of intensity. Such outsiders as
used to meet Vitalia at that time were
all struck by her wonderful air of dignity
anu duA4AOAiNy VIII WHICH sic NdlliNQ nti
erect figure, the extreme austerity of her
face, her great eyes illuminated by the fire
Of fanaticism raging within her 1t was
at that time that she issued an appeal to
her coreligionists (couched in the old Sla-
vonic language used in all religious writ
ing of the missions), calling upon them to
stand fast by their allegiance to Jesus
Christ, to refuse to comply with the new
laws of the realm; but rather to give up
their lives for their Saviour That appeal
seems to have been scattered far and wide
and had a powerful influence on the minds
of the sectarians.
Teodore Kovalef speaks freely of Sister
Vltalia now, that she herself, as we'll as
his own people, have inundated them
selves on the altar of their religious con-
Victions, for Vitalia was immured by him
while alive, like the rest Of the group.
All the time the final preparations for
death by suffocation went on Vitalia
preached her cruel religious tenets, and
strange to relate, it seems that her elo-
quence was not only all-powerful with
grown people, but that she held even the
small children under her spell. At least
the fact is established by the prosecutors
OF the crown that when, prompted by vi
talia's passionate appeals, nine sectarians
determined to let themselves be walled IN
alive by Kovalef-the men having drawn
lots and the part of eXecutioner having
fallen on him, barring him, TO his intense
disgust, from his share in the common
martyrdom-all the fanatics went on sing
ing and rejoicing to the end. When dis
covered their bodies were found immured
in a dark, narrow cave alongside the wall
of the cellar built in the Kovalef's cottage
The cave has since been minutely exam
ined by the police, and the only entrance
into il was found to have been by means
of a small hole, through which a grown
person could have squeezed his or her
body only by the use of persistent effort
In that one spot only a few stones were
found, with traces OF fresh cement on
them, showing they had been removed and
replaced recently. All the other sides Of
the walls of the cave were examined most
carefully, and not a place found whence
the stones could have been removed with
in years.
Thus II was proved beyond a doubt that
that executioner, Kovalef, could not have
possibly dragged any of his victims into
their living tomb; that one and all Of
them, children included must have squeez-
ed themselves into the aperture of the
cave OF their own free will Besides that,
all the ladies' were found lying peacefully
side by side on empty bags and clothing
spread on the floor OF the narrow cave,
not a suggestion OF a struggle or Of vlo-
lence appearing IN the position OF the bod