The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-22
Blood Shed Along Baltic.

Riga Wednesday, December 20 (Morn- ing)--Refugee landowners are arriving here. 1t is reported that there was blood shed at Talsen yesterday. Revolutionary peasants entrenched themselves in their houses, from the windows of which thV fired on the patroling soldiers. It Is es- timated that forty infantrymen and caval- rymen were killed or wounded.
 Additional details of the rebellion at Tukum, Courland. have been received The revolt began December 12. when the municipality requested Captain von Muel- Ter, who was stationed there with fifty infantry and forty dragoons, to withdraw the military patrols fro mthe streets. be- cause the inhabitants wished to establish a sivilian guord. The captain agreed to do this, but forgot to inform his soldiers who upon resuming guard duty were en- countered by armed agitators The lead CT of the latter shouted that they had received von Mueller's permission to carry arms. but the soldiers fired on the ~agi- tators, and fight ensued in which fifteen persons were killed.
 On December Is the soldiers buried their comrades, but the people fired on the funeral procession from the windows of their houses. More dragons arrived, and another fight occurred. The soldiers were finally compelled to retire with their wounded. leaving Tukus in the hands of 5000 armed revolutionists. The revolution ists then set fire to the building In which the officers and forty dragons were houses The officers and men tried to escape, but were prevented by entangle- ments. and were fired on by the revolu- tionaris from the windows of houses. re- sulting in the killing of Captain von Muel- Ter and twenty-four dragoons and the wounding of an officer and thirteen pri- yates. Only three escaped. The revolu tionaries then frightfully mutilated the bodies of the dead soldiers.
 Next day five companies of reinforce ments with three guns arrived but the revolutionaries compelled them to retire by fusilade from the windows.
 Purely Political and Economical.
 General Chorounchenko then ordered the artillery to Lombard the town. Many of the inhabitants who had not learned of the arrival of endorsements thought that terrorists were throwing bombs. and fed fin panic in all directions. The troops surrounding the town fired ou the peo- ple. killing. according to refugees, 400 of them. The bloodshed lasted from o'clock fin the evening until 9 o'clock in the morn- ing when the townsmen surrendered.
 The leaders of the revolutionaries .es- capped, however. Two-thirds of the inhabi- tants fled the town.
 Similar occurrences are reported from Goldingen and Talden, to which places endorsements have been sent. No de- tails of these disturbances are yet avail able.
 Meanwhile peasants continue to devas- tate the estates of the Baltic nobility. and a total of fifty estates are reported to have been burned.
 The Associated Press today interviewed the leader of the socialist party, Lapa Janson, who is the editor of Lettish rev olutionary organ. He said:
 Ordered to Bombard Town.
 Our struggle is purely political and economical. We will not rest until autoc- raey and feudalsm in the Baltic have been fully extermnated. All the military and other officers in the Baltic provinces are either Russian or German and not a single one is Lett. Since 1901 the Let tish democracy has secretly worked to organize the country people. The strength of the peasants and workmen's organiza- tions has been gradually increased, and when the Emperors manifesto making concessions to the peasants was pnhiish"d they were able to partly
 long standing yoke of de ss