The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-03-01
He Told n Tale of Conspiracy which
Involved Many Men Of High Rank
I'm the Army.
IS NOW A SIBERIAN CONVICT
RETRACTED CONFESSION AND SAID
HE SOLD FALSE INFORMATION.
Owing to Doubt. Germany and Other
Purchasers Cannot Act on the
Stories Told Them.

half OF his head and beard shorn, holds the
peace Of Europe. of the>world. perhaps in
the hollow of his hand, hardened and dis
figured by Shaving in Siberia's copper mines.
That man is the former Colonel De
Grimm, Of Warsaw, the head of the gang
OF titled and panopiied criminals that
placed Russia at the mercy of her enemies.
With her military secrets known to Ger
many, England and the Turk, uncertain of
the loyalty Of her highest military COM
manders and suspecting that her fortresses
and other defensive works may have been
tempered with, Russia's very existence is
wrapped up in the preservation of peace.
But, II that be true, what prevents her
enemies from Selling the opportunity 20 in
fict the long-threatened blown" The man in
chains, who Toasted so long at the expense
Of Berlin, London and Constantinople and
who cannot get morsel nowadays until
he has dug his several hundred-weight of
copper ore!
Before sentence was passed De Grimm
swore upon the cross that the information
he sold to Russia's enemies was false every
bit Of 1t, but whether he perjured himself
like patriot or spoke the truth for once
in his life no one knows.
The Car himself cannot look into a
mans heart Of hearts. and while foreign
governments can bribe another princes
subjects. they cannot make him keep faith
with them. Unless a second De Grimm
has evolved from the Hydra Of Russian
army corruption within the last twelve
months the Germans, English and Turks
have no means for verifying the informa-
ton regarding our fortresses. war stores
nlo Of
the Warsaw colonel. They may be correct
or not-De Grimm alone knows which, If
the truth could be got from him either
by Russia or-the others, 100000 men
might be called out this spring to lay down
their lives for the doctrine of Iand-grab-
bling. Truly, the peace Of Europe rests
in the throat of this half-shorn traitor,
eating the scant bread of Punishment.
A MILITARY CONSPIRACY.
Here follows the story of the greatest
military conspiracy of the age from the
official records the information heretofore
published of this important case was most
ly guess work. This is the first complete
and authentic story:
Exactly one year ago to-day, March 1,
1902. Gar Nicholas received the following
anonymous letter. dated Nice, France:
Your Majesty. as chief of the Russian
in1nr,s and preserver and protector of the
er be able to pardon the misdeeds 1 am
about to confess. But if your Majesty will
take into consideration that fought long
and earnestly before yielding to the tempt
er, you may perhaps feel inclined to regard
my crime and misfortune with charity
=, inyi nrst trao s act was but piece
hand and foot, to your Majesty's enemies;
1T made me the blind tool of those conspir-
ing against our country's safety.
Loyalty and the peace of my mind fed
at the same time. Ever since | began selling
my country's military secrets 1 have not
known what happiness is, being tortured
night and day by the fear of sudden discov-
cry. AT the same time 1 was betrayed as
woman even as / betrayed my country. Be-
lieve me, your Majesty, would have ended
ii all by bullet long ago If the element of
revenge had not entered into my calcula-
lions. / am craving for revenge against
those who dragged me down to the position
of a female Judas
'Your Majesty, do not hesitate a moment
before you issue an order of arrest against
Colonel Grimm in Warsaw. He is the most
dangerous spy in the whole empire. He is,
moreover. responsible for my first disoyal
act, initiating vast number of similar
crimes. Grimm approached me under the
lover only to degrade me to the position of
hired spy. And when L could no longer
be of to him in that capacity he de-
''Your Majesty, the whole Warsaw mill
tary district is teeming with spies. You
will find, upon investigation that there
every officer of superior rank lives far
above his legitimate themselves on the
scale OF an ever-lucky gambler. Why?
Because the whole gang is in the pay
of the enemies of Russia. From general
down to lieutenant colonel, all of them
treble their income by selling the mill
tary secrets Of Russia. / am the widow
of a captain Of artillery i who served
and was a respectable woman until De
Grimm entered into my life. He made me
the lowest of the low, Russian conniv
ing with the enemies of Russia. My curse
upon him! May your mighty hand crush
the bastard.
Your Majesty, the guilty one will try to
deceive you by declaring me mad woman
and returning a verdict that there is not
a spy in all Warsaw. Beware of that
verdict, If you love crown and people. 1
have documents to prove the case against
De Grimm and the rest-documents that
cannot be sworn away manipulated
into falsehoods. Your Majesty, pray do
not instruct me to trust these documents
to the mails. 1t Is long way from Nice
to st. Petersburg, and there are a great
many people interested In spiriting away
these documents.
II submit to your Majesty, to send to
me a trusted persons with orders to give
him the proofs / speak of. BY mail 1 will
send you photographs of all the papers,
without your messengers knowledge. Thus
every possibility OF deception. or substi-
tuition, can be avoided.
81 am. your MaJesty's unworthy SUBJ
ject, -
THE WOMAN'S NAME.
The name of the woman who wrote the
letter whereby she rendered Russia a serv-
ice so great as to almost wipe out her pre-
vious infamy, is Ekaterina Ivanovna Was
sill, a lady well known in Warsaw society,
where. after long period of gilded power
ty, she branched out as a woman of fash
ion. throwing away money right and left
and becoming leader in sports and luxur-
ious living.
Madame Wassilli now resides In a small
French town and the Car has granted her
a pension of 5000 roubles for life. She is
under surveillance of the Russian secret
police, Of course-as much for her own
protection for the good OF the ST. Peters
burg Cabinet, that may want her at any
time Twice foreign agents have tried TO
spirit her away, and one Of them paid with
his life for meddling with Russias crown
witness. Others may suffer the same fate.
Ekaterina. who knows Russian Official
methods, addressed his Majesty in care OF
the Empress marking the envelope with