Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1902-12-08
TIE. FACTORY that
IS NEVER LEFT
(Original.1

tOriginall
In the Ural mountains. between Rus
- and Siberia, 10 the largest manu-
factory Of sheet iron in the world. 1t
y owned and operated by the Russian
government, and it's w0rkmen live and
die within the limits Of the factory.
Once entered on the rolls of the COM
pany an operative has hidden goodby
forever to the outside world.
Dmitri Nikanovich, young Rus
sian, having been out Of employment
for long white, saw his wife and
children starving before him. 'There
IL but one chance for our lives" he said
70 his wife, II must 60 to the iron
works. There shall receive regular
wages, which can send to you and
our children"
In vain his wife protested. They
might die together rather than that.
the husband and father should be dead
20 them forever. No, he said. The win
ter was at hand, and II they escaped
starvation they would surely die by
cold. kissing his little ones, who were
too young to understand what he was
about to do, and leaving his swooning
wife and them, he went to the iron
works and entered himself as a work
man.
Four years passed. The wife and
children of Nikanovich knew that he
was still alive, for they received his
wages regularly. He knew that they
or some of them lived, for the money
was not returned to him. This is all
that either knew of the other.
One day new workman was en-
terea at the factory. He was young,
delicate looking fellow and was given
the lightest work that was to be done.
He soon applied for heavier labor,
which was surprising to the superin-
tendent, for he was receiving more pay
where he was.
One morning this workman who was
entered under the name of Nicholas
Artemvich, was standing beside Dmi-
ri Nikanovich, both waiting to handle
some sheet iron that had just been
rolled, when Nicholas whispered:
BE at the west wall tonight at 9
o'clock, midway between the fifth and
sixth sentry towers.
Nikan0vich, astonished, stared at the
speaker. Nevertheless he had the pres
ence of mind to hold his peace, and in
another moment both were handling
the iron.
That night Nikanovich walked, as
was permitted from to 9 o'clock, be-
tween the factory buildings and the
wall, and when the bell rang at 9 and
the other workmen had disappeared he
saw Artemvich beckoning him in a
dark corner formed by the contiguous
buildings. Indeed the base stones of
the buildings touched, leaving recess
behind them. Artemvich's head and
shoulders only could be seen. NikanO-
vich cast hasty glance around, and,
making sure that no one saw him, he
sprang o>ser the stone into the recess.
"Dmitri, l am Anna, your wife"
The thought that his wife had enter
, ed this place to be with him and that
, she had left their children filed him
with alternate Pushes of Joy and sor.
row. For a moment husband and wife
were locked in each others arms. Then
Anna spoke rapidly:
"You had scarcely left us when my
Aunt Martha died and left me 10000
rubles. The first year spent getting
possession Of the money, and the re-
manning three in planning and prepar
ing for your escape. Two years ago
began to dig a tunnel from the river
bank to a point near the spot where We
stand, It was completed before en-
tered this place. and since / have beer
here have come to this corner at nigh
and dug till l struck it, carrying thu
earth away in my pockets and keeping
the entrance in this corner, where NJ
one ever comes, concealed. nave sen
our children beyond the borders. II W.
escape, we may join them and hno
home in America"
With that she drew from under hel
wooden shirt case knife and begal
to dig. In a few minutes she had I'm
covered a square piece of wood ana
lifting it, entered perpendicular tun
mel not much larger than her BODY
From this ran another dipping slight!
from the horizontal. Anna, followe'
by her husband, made her way through
this horizontal tunnel. 1t was crampe'
at first, but grew larger as they ad
yanced. The outlet was on the rive
bank a few feet above the water ant
covered with logs and brush. Just DC
fore emerging they passed through
space sufficiently large to contain
rowboat in which there were pair o
oars.
Those rowlocks," said Anna, nav
been muftied for nearly year. ana IN
cloths are quite rotten. Still, they WI
serve to get us past the river guaro
without the noise of rowing.
"How did you get this boat I'D mere
asked Dmitri.
II watched six months for the "a!e
to be sufficiently high to float II ID.
Ibid over man have q wife so paIfeIi