Evening journal., 1905-01-20

IN RUSSIAN records, but that the EN-.
peror should barely escape death by
a shot from his own artillery while
he was engaged in solemn religious
rite. surrounded by priests Of his
church, is so difficult TO realize as to
be almost incredible. Yet this is what
happened, and the Russian public is
left wondering and mystihed.
BY the merest chance the imperial
family escaped unhurt; but public
opinion is stunned by what might
have been the tragic results of the
affair.
What seems to have been an at.
tempt to assassinate the czar, if not
10 annihilate the entire imperial fam
lily, occurred here during the annual
ceremony of blessing the waters of
the Neva, part Of the Epiphany cele-
bration. One of the saluting guns
across the river from the winter pal
ace fired a charge of shrapnel. The
emperor and imperial family were di-
rectly in the line of fire, but the aim
OF the gun was too high. One police
man was killed and three marines
were injured. A widespread plot is
suspected.
Emperor's Miraculous Escape.
The emperor had an escape almost
miraculous. Some bullets actually
struck the little open chapel in which
the emperor was standing, cut the
stan of one of the standards and fair
ly riddled the basement of the palace,
killing a policeman outright and
wounding an officer and three marines.
Had the gun been aimed little lower
the charge of shot must have wiped
out the whole Romanoff dynasty.
Everything on the surface seems to
indicate the existence of a deadly and
ieep-laid plot against the emperor, in
which artillerymen we're Unlisted. The
officers and men of the battery have
not been arrested, but are confined to
barracks, and by the military regu-
lations are so closely under restraint
hat 1t is impossible for the culprit or
,ulprits to escape until the RESPONSE
bility is determined.
The official account of the shooting
affair is as follows:
During the ceremony Of the bless
ing of the waters of the Neva, in the
presence of the emperor. as the usual
salute was being fired an accident
happened. A charge of grape instead
of saluting charge was fred from a
gun belonging to one OF the batteries
stationed near the Bourse. Some bull
.ets struck the facade of the winter
palace near the quay gardens, break
Ing four windows, A policeman be-
longing to the st. Petersburg force
was wounded. According to the infor-
nation to hand at present no other
accident occurred. Inquiry continues"
This statement, it is significant, is
Of the extremely conservative type
employed when something big is
afoat.
It is now stated in official circles
that the grape was fred from one of
the guns of the 18th Battery of the
First Horse Artillery of the Guard,
the most aristocratic corps in the Rus
sian army. It seems that at gun prac-
uce on Tuesday a loaded she'll was
inadvertently left in the gun.
From an authoritative source It ap-
pears that doubt of the existence of
q plot arises from the fact that shrap-
nel was distributed to the battery in
anticipation OF possible trouble with
rioters, the most alarming reports
having been reported TO the authori-
lies of a proposed attempt on the
emperor's life. Upon this fact rests
the only theory of a possible mistake
made by a gunner.
"If this was deliberate plot" said
an officer especially charged with safe
guarding the person of the his ma
iesty. 1T was very ingenious. We have
been prepared for an anarchist at
tempt in any form we could conceive,
but an attempt TO kill the emperor
with one OF his own guns under the
guise OF firing q salute was never