The news & observer., 1905-12-30
IT'S BACKBONE BROKEN.
The Insurrection at Moscow is Fast
Going to Pieces.
(By the Associated Press.)

Moscow, Dec 2S.--The backbone of
the insurrection is broken, and the
uprising here is rapidly going to
pieces. The Revolutionists are able
to keep up only a guerilla warfare,
but the ease with which they can
move small detachments from place to
place renders the task of suppressng
them slow and tedious The Brun-
naia quarter has been cleared from
the members of the "Drupina" as the
fighting organization of the Revolu-
tionists is called. They have trans
ferred their operations to East TVers-
kaia consisting principally of sniping
from the roofs of houses occasionally
throwing bomb on advancing patrols
and making off on the appearance of
artillery.
The remnants of the insurrection
now lack a head. The city of Mos
cow bears the picturesque appearance
of a battlefield. Officers are every
where seen galloping through the
streets or being driven about in rapidly
moving sleighs accompanied by es-
corts of Dragons or Cossacks. The
center of the city for the first time
today showed signs of life. The stores
were reopened, and the inhabitants
who had been cooped up for five days
were venturing out for a breath of
fresh air.
Smashing the Barricades.
The troops began operations this
morning at the Triumphal Arch, bonn
harding and demolishng an immense
barricade, near the car stables Of the
Belgian Company Which had been
built behind overturned tram cars.
Thence slowly pivoting from the Arch
the columns swept eastward clearing
all the streets off Tverskaia and
north of the boulevard which sepa-
rated the battle ground from the CEN
ter of the city. A correspondent of
the Associated Press accompanied one
of the columns for an hour during
which time the soldiers of the Drupina
now here attempted to hold the barri-
cades. After firing few shots they
Invariably Scampered off.
A Mile of Scattered Ruins.
The operations of the troops in the
Brunnaia district disclosed many in
teresting traces Of yesterdays fight
ing which brought the walls of hun
dred houses tumbling about the ears
of their defenders. The Prokhoroff
cotton mill the headquarters of the
Drujina and many other houses for
the distance of a mile between the
boulevard and the Triumphal Arch
were in ruins. Every street tributary
of the Tverskoi Boulevard was stouty
barricaded, as many as seven being
counted within 200 yards of a single
street These evidently formed the
first line of defence and the network
of streets behind were barricaded at
intervals. These barricades were left
standing, the troops having strategi-
cally made a circuit to an open plain
west of the city which enabled them
to take the Revolutionists in the rear,
compelling the evacuation of the posi-
Revolutionists were unable to fight the
ARTILLERY with revolvers and they pos
sessed few rifles.
A Deserted Battlefield.
House after house showed yawning
chasms produced by shells. The spirit
shops and cheap lodging houses occu-
pied by the student Revolutionists
were the principal sufferers. The bar
ricades though they could not be de-
Tended against artillery We're well con-
structed of telegraph poles, fences,
heavy doors, iron court yard gates and
signs all interlaced with wire. A lum-
Der yard in the vicinity furnished ma
terial for thirty barricades. Red flags
were still defiantly floating over some
of the barriers, but throughout the
district the correspondent saw
neither "Drujinists" nor soldiers. 1t
was like a deserted field which the
| tide of battle has swept.
| 1t is not possible to venture an
estimate of the casualties which, how
ever. are not heavy either in the case
of the troops or of the Drupani. The
lpopulace have been awful sufferers,
| Crowds have been moved down by
rifle volleys, the fire of machine guns
and the grape and shrapnel of the
artillery. Innocent persons fell be-
fore the bullets of the Revolutionists