The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-10-25

n pages 10 puhHIoueu ia ASus
tk8oR sia every month, and for
the last FIVE years the spies and de-
tectives of the police have been search
4 dng in vain for the place of its publ
cation. From the same press come
many proclamations, handbills and
booklets of a revolutionary character,
(which are spread broadcast through
but the Cars dominions.
i u The members of the General Jewish
Workingmen's League of Russia and
/ Poland, who engage in the publication
and the distribution Of revolutionary
matter, are constantly smuggling re-
Evolutionary pamphlets across the from
| tier. The adventures which this busi-
mess in contraband literature leads to
and the many escapes the smugglers
have would furnish great fund OF
material for romantic novelists, but for
the greater part these stories will re-
main untold. A few striking Incl
dents of this underground journalism
may be related here.
t,.To begin with there is the secret press
bf the Bund, the Jewish Workingmen's
League referred to. AS has been said,
the printing of the twenty-four page
monthly journal Of the league, which
is called the Workers Voice, has been
kept up for five years. -.
1 This is the second press Of the Bund.
the first one having been discovered
by the police and destroyed five years
ago. The bundists who were working
ON the paper at that time were all
arrested, but ten days later the
Workers Voice, better printed than be-
fore. and full of new life, came out
Rgain.
The men. who were arrested were all
sent for varying terms to Siberia, but
the Bund soon filed their places. To
show the enterprise Of the Bund, it
may: be said that the press on which
the new issue of the magazine was
printed was a new one, the printing
material was all new, and all had
been obtained within ten days after
the eonfiscation of the first press.
The Voice as produced by the first
press was very crude sffair, the
copies being proof slips taken from
the galleys. but the copies of the new
Issue that found their way into the
hands of the Government officials were
neatly printed. Since then the Bund
has set up other presses.
t Where are these presses located?
How is the bulky material handled?
How is it that no sounds are heard by
people living near the printing shops?
Where does the paper come from?
How is it brought into the country?
Such are the questions which for the
past five years have puzzled the Gov
ernment officials. A.-.s...
Light will be thrown upon these mat
tiers by an account Of how the Voice
was got out by the men in charge of
the first press. The printing place was
in the city OF Babroisk. In the Jewish
quarter there was married carpen-
ter. In the same house was another
Jewish family.
The carpenter had little outside Gus
. fom, and the neighbors had the i'm
preston that he worked at home for
furniture factory. Often they saw
packages carried out, and believing
them to be articles of furniture the
matter caused no comment. The real
business carried on in the house was
described to the writer by member of
the. Bund.
|, "0nce when visited the house
brought a package Of lead type. The
package was quite large and heavy,
but no embarrassing attention was
caused.
II entered the shop with the car
penter, whom I met at the station.
The first room was to outward ap-
pearance an ordinary carpenters
shop.
h "The second room was we'll fur
nished. In the centre was fine tea
table covered with big cloth, on
(which stood lamp.
t'"In q corner Of the room was a
closet. OF. printing shop there was
NOT the least indicat ton, yet the most
important part Of the plant was in
this room.
"The carpenter took the lamp and
the cloth off the table, took hold Of one
edge Of the table. and the pretty
painted board moved. Underneath
there was disclosed q large, shallow
box, and in this box were number of
smaller boxes filed with type. Here
thn fyna Was Snt m
"When any sound caused suspicion
the board was slid into place, the
cover put on. the lamp placed back
on the table and all was as before.
"The great difficulty to me was
where the printer kept the mass of
paper necessary. He took me to the
closet. and touched springs here, set
ting in motion hidden machinery.
Various compartments were disclosed,
fin which there was ample room to
store paper and other things needed in
the printing of the Voice. !:
|. "The third room was dark. In this
room there was 4 fat stone, upon
which the type was laid and the forms
locked and printed, proofs being all
that the Voice consisted Of at that
time. Al! was very crude, but ef-
fective.
tt"Five hundred papers. in an hour
have been printed by hand. as the
printers were very expert and had de-
Nised an arrangement Of rollers to run
the papers more rapidly over the face