Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-19
MYSTERIOUS BULLETS
Swept Over Chapel Where
Gar Worshiped.
HAS NARROW ESCAPE
ONE MAN KILLED AND CLOSE
CALL FOR OTHERS.
Incident Occurred Near Winter Palace
on the Neva at St. Petersburg To-
day During Chapel Service.

Official life in St. Petersburg was
disturbed today by what the police
believe to have been deep laid plot
to kill the car. During a religious
service in chapel near the winter
palace on the Neva a number of
bullets, apparently from shrapnel,
were fired in the direction of the
chapel and broke number of win
dow lights. One man was killed
and others had very narrow escapes.
While the czar is reported to have
been unmoved by the incident
many of the assemblage were ex-
cited by the mysterious shots.
ST. PETERSBURG, January 19.-The fes-
| tival of the Epiphany, the blessing of the
waters, had just concluded at 1 o'clock this
afternoon when simultaneously with the
salute fired from the st. Peter and st. Paul
| fortress either rain of bullets or shrap-
| nell shell swept over the little chapel built
| over the frozen Neva in front of the winter
| palace where Emperor Nicholas and every
member of the Romanoff family were par
! ticipating in the service.
The missiles went high. entering windows
| of the splendid row of salons along the
water front from which the empress, the
| ladies of the court and the members of
! the diplomatic corps, including Ambassador
! Mccormick, Secretary Eddy and Second
Secretary Bliss and all the high dignitaries
| OF the state, army and navy were witness
| ing the glfttering spectacle below. For
ma SCn ny-ar 1n nnn 10
| OF all present, striking the opposite wall
and Gathering down on the parquetted floor
of the white salon.
The first impression of those who heard
the crash was that it was due to falling
crystals from the glass chandeliers and
caused by conclusion from the booming
guns. Everybody had been laboring under
a more or less nervous strain because of
the strike situation, and when the truth
was realized the windows were hastily va
Gated and the greatest excitement reigned
within the palace.
Bullet Size Of Birds Egg.
Lieutenant General Fulton chief of police
of St. Petersburg, himself picked up a
| missile in the white salon. 1t was the size
of a birds egg. The police chief was i'm
medately surrounded by officers Of the
guards, who examined the bullet and ex-
pressed the opinion that it mad come from
a shrapnel shell which might have been
Bourse Esplanade and which replied to the
salute Of the st. Peter and st. Paul for
tress, explaining that a gun might have
been charged with loaded cartridge by
mistake.
Such a thing, however, it was admitted,
was hard to conceive without a deliberate
plot. From the holes passing through the
double windows it is certain that the bull
let's came from the direction of the bourse.
In the meantime there is no evidence
| outside of what occurred. The crowds OF
people, who formed black lines along the
Quays, the palace bridge, the steps of the
| in the white Arctic landscape, did not be-
| tray the slightest excitement. Neither did
| the imperial party In the chapel below.
Emperor Not Disturbed.
Although the actual ceremony was ended
| the emperor remained and accompanied
| the metropolitan and clergy as they circled
| the pavilion around the chapel to bless the
gorgeous standards of the famous guard
regiments assembled there.
Then the procession moved back to the
palace and the original program was car
ried out. The emperor displayed splendid
| nerve. He did not show trace of excite
| ment. He received the diplomats in his
usual cordial, gentle manner, reviewed the
guard regiments on the square behind the
palace and subsequently had luncheon
served in the state dining ROOM
When the correspondent of the Associa ted
Press (who was about to go down to the
white salon, when one of the missiles flew
right over his head left the palace he saw
| hole in the window of another salon and
holes outside in the stucco of the massive
red building.
Police at Work
The police are actively at work trying to
clear up the mystery as to where the shots
| came from.
The strike situation has not been chang
| ed by this holiday. The men are holding
meetings in various parts of the city, and
a test Is expected tomorrow when the en-
ployes will make a final answer to their de-
mands. While no collisions have yet been
reported there is feeling among all
| classes Of high tension. The news that an
| attempt had been made on the emperor's
| life spread like wildfire during the after
noon, leading to all sorts of versions and
generally increasing the tension.
Cars Miraculous Escape.
| Additional particulars show that the en-
peror had a miraculous escape. There is no
| longer any doubt that the missiles came
| from a gun of the Bourse battery, which
| was loaded with grape. not with shrapnel
Some of the bullets actually struck the
little open chapel in which the emperor was
standing, cut the staff Of one of the stand
ards and fairly riddled the basement win.
right and wounding an officer and three
| marines. Had the gun been aimed a little
lower the charge Of grape might have
wiped out the whole Romanof dynasty.
Deep-Laid Plot Indicated.
No official statement has yet been issued,
| but the suggestion offered that the gun was
| loaded with grape as a precaution in view
of possible strike rioting hardly meets the
| fact that 1t was aimed with such accuracy
| at the chapel
| Everything on the surface seems to indi-
cate the existence of deadly and deep-laid
plot against the emperor in which artillery
men were enlisted. 1t is understood that all
| the men and the officers of the battery were
Immediately placed under arrest for exami-
| nation.
| Th police took charge of the spot where
| the battery still stands and drew double
| Gordon across the river, searching out every
thing in the line of fire. An old barge frozen
| In the ice was thoroughly examined to as
certain whether the bullets could possibly
have come from 1t. but no evidence was dr.