The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-07-03
WOULD PREFER TO DIE. 4 RUSSIAN OFFICER CONVICT
 ED
Of Treason Objects to n Sentence of
 ImpFIson ment.

of the conviction of Colonel Grimm, Russian military officer, who was charged with treason to the Czar, of his sentence to imprisonment for twelve years and bamshment for the remainder of his life, and of his determination to appeal to the autocratic ruler of the country to change the sentence to death as one more merciful.
 Colonel Grimm was an officer sta toned at Warsaw, who was sent to Vii enna and Berlin on duties connected with the government. At the latter place he met a German officer attached to the secret service, who, after some nights spent in carousing, offered to pay him a good round sum if he would be- tray to him certain Russian army se- crets and would secure the plans for the defenses of Warsaw. Colonel Grimm was not in what would be called atfiu- ert circumstances and his private in- come added to his pay and the expenses allowed him while on his mission was not nearly sufficient to meet the cost ot his manner of existence. He was at- tached to mistress whom he had brought from Warsaw, was fond of good living and was addicted to the gaming table. He was in possession or the information that was wanted by the kaiser,s government and after very short time he was, according to his own confession, handed the sum of twenty five hundred dollars. He took his mis- tress into his confidence, and she made several trips to Warsaw and to St. Pe- tersburg to obtain information and to obtain drawings, all under direction ot Colonel Grimm, and which were hand ed over to the German officer. The lat ter paid literally, apparently, for after his arrest, the colonel said that in all ne received something like fifty thousand dollars. But as the money was secured he added to his extravagant habits. He made his mistress the envy of the Wo- men of the German capital, and his plays at the gaming tables were heavy.
 Having got into the mire of treason he sunk deeper and deeper. He made She acquaintance of an Austrian army officer and entered into an arrangement 2 with him to sell information. But, the more money he received the more ne souandered, and as word of it reached the Czar's secret service men an inves- tigation followed and he was ordered back to Warsaw and was placed under arrest. His mistress who followed him was also arrested, and in her possession were found papers that was complete expose of the arrangements that had been entered into. There was for a time talk of international complications, b1t further investigation showed that the information sold was of little value. Tn fact. the biters had been severely bitten in turn. The plans that had been paid so dearly for were, for the most part obsolete, and others were. for little or no value. Much of the infor- nation was of a semi-public character and might have been obtained without near so much trouble in an open way In fact, the only injury done to Colonel Grimm, who was forced to stand trial on the most serious and debasing charge that could be made against him. He had no means to pay for conducting ms defense. and from the ill-gotten money there was left but about five hundred dollars which were found upon his mis- tress when she was taken into custody.
 special military court was con- vened in the famous Zamoyski Palace, Warsaw, and the trial took place on June 12 and IS. The reading of the in djctment lasted two hours. The counts included the treacherous betrayal of mobilization and fertilization plans, as well as the plans for concentration on certain lines in case of a German inva- sion. It was admitted by the prescott ton, however, that the treachery could do nobody any good, as all the plans sold had been radically changed. Grimm made a full confession and said that he had been tempted to commit treason by a prominent officer on the German general staff. The members of the court consulted for four hours, and then passed sentence, stating that the capital sentence was not pronounced, as Colonel Grimm had by altering some plans and giving false ones lessened his crime
 Colonel Grimm, however, has appa- rent1y been long enough in Russian of- ficial life to know that the sentence Of \ the court, if carried out, would be worse X than death, hence his expressed inten- tion to appeal to the Czar to substitute the death penalty.
 If the sentence of the court is carried out Colonel Grimm will be forced to submit to the following: He will be led before the assembled troops in Warsaw dressed in full military uniform. His epaulettes will be torn off and his sword will be broken, and he will then be beaten with the broken portion of the sword After that his uniform will be stripped from him. This is his degra- dation before the army. One-half of his head will then be shaved and he will be dressed in a convicts garb and chains will be placed about his wrists and ankles. In this condition he will be sent across Siberia to the convict settle lnent on Saghalien Island, in the Sea of Okhotsk. There he will be forced to work in the coal mines except for for weight hours in each six weeks, when he will be confined in a dark cell with out food. If he survives this for twelve wears he will be set at liberty in some Inaccessible Siberian village, where he will be forced to remain for the rest of his life.
 Of all the Russian convict settle ments, that on Saghalien Island is the most dreaded. The island is long and marrow, rocky and mountainous, with out agricultural resources and for nine
 months of the year is swept by the icy