The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1905-06-16
SECRET PRESS IN
AUT0GRAT|C RUSSIA
Daring Work Of Men and
Women Who Strive for
Freedom of Speech.
JEW STARTED The FIRST
1t Was in 1877 That the First "Free'
Printing Office Worthy of the
Name Was Started in the
Heart of Spydom.

destine press in Russia is most DANGER
GUS.
1t is 10 eight and twenty years
since n jewish conspirator. Aaron Zun-
delevl@ by name. a native of wilma in
Lithuania, came orward and assured
the organization to which he belonged
that IL they would find the means he
would find the press, and would, more
over. set 1t up in St. Petersburg. A
sum OF money was provided, and from
abroad Aaron struggled into ST. Pet
set to work to learn the compositor's
art Gust as. in the first days Of the
Propaganda. young mobiles taught
themselves Il trade in order to go down
among the people') and in 1877 the
first free" printing Office worthy of
the name was established in the heart
and center of spydom.
During four years Iundelevic ran his
press under the nose. as it were, OF
the Third Section, and waS only then
detected by a mere mischance. From
that date. however. the Russian secret
press has never been in a condition
Of absolute allegiance. AS often as it's
work has been interrupted in one place
it has been instantly resumed in an
other. Father Gapon indicates the
spirit in which it is pursued: I'VE shall
continue" he said the other day at
detieNa, 70 launcn man!1eStoS. and
work steadfastly. but secretly, toward
our ideal-the overthrow of uppre
sion and the bureaucracy and the es-
adjustment Of popular government.
We will. we must. win in the d.
This clandestine press is %clandestine
N everything. 1t is the most secretly
conducted press in the world. There is
10 editorial office, with an editor in IL
snug inner chamber. receiving the
visits of his contributors, discussing the
articles for the next issue. a mystery
and ~inHiolate secrecy govern the whole
working of the affair. The editor him
self may, or may not, know The
persons who are responsible for the me-
2hanical production of the paper; he
seldom, II ever, visits the place at
which it is produced. a confidential!
messenger comes TO Il given spot on n,
given day To receive manuscript from
the editors hand: he comes again to
deliver the proofs. and the rendezvous
Is never twice the same. The con
~tributors are known probably to none
except the editor. In a word, precau-
tons, the most minut and e]Xtraordi-
nary. must be observed if the secret
press is successfully to battle the ever
lasting efforts of the police to I'M
mask it.
At Office Only Once.
Stepniak tells us that during the time
he was one of the editors of Land and
Liberty he was taken once, and once
only, to the printing Office. An import
ant piece of news had to be inserted in
the number that was about to be is
sued, and he made his way to the Of
flee lin one of the central streets of the
city The chief of police had declared
that his office could not possibly be in
st. Petersburg. because otherwise he
would infallibly have discovered it,"
stepniak found the people of the Of
ice, and the women who helped them
and managed for them. living in almost
absolute d%.rance.
Inc workers of the secret press are,
in fact. prisoners, and, in addition to
their all but total loss of liberty. they
ahdrre the anXieties of people Who are
carrying on an illegal business in the
midst of IA ceaseless vigilant policeA
Leo Tikhomirov. the author of Con-
spirateurs of Policiers." has drawn a
vivid picture Of the hidden life of one
OF these strange undergrounds. 1t is
the office OF the paper with which Step
MAX himself was associated. "Narod-
naia Volia. '-'Land and Liberty"
In five rooms Including a little kitcll-
en-. four conspirators We're installed,
two men and two women. Maria Kri-
loft. who passed as mistress of the
house, a woman of about 50, had de-
voted her life to the ~"cause;'' she had
been transported to Siberia and es-
SoPNN. Liz Ollle "OlIIiIl OIL the party
was under 20, air and delicate: name
unknown. OF the two men. one was
Basil Buch, of Boukn, the son of a
general and the nephew OF a SENATOR"
The second was a figure as enigmatic
as the younger woman; he was known
on!5T az "Ptiza." "L'Osieau" and THE
Bfrd"-a nickname which he owed to
his voice. The men were entered as
Nine. kriloff's dodgers. the delicate in
cOnnue was the nominal maid of the
household.
Outwitted the Police.
These -four brought out the Narod-
naia VOLTA. which the head of the po-
lice declared could not be produced in
st. Petersburg. The plant of the paper
type, a small and large cylinder, a jar
or two Of printers ink, and a few
brushes and sponges. 1t was a modest
outfit, but remember o dark 1t must
be kept. The dvornik had to be hood
wln&ed from day to day.
Maria kri,off went upon the bold
plan OF sending for him at any and
every hour, and conducting him
through all the five rooms, under the
pretense of hunting for a troublesome
rat. They learned in this way how to
dispose of the plant at from five to ten
minutes notice. AT night. behind a
double curtain of canvas called across
the window, the type was set. In the
strangling monotony of this existence,
the workers tasted only one excitement,
but that was n daily and an hourly one,
the likelihood Of discovery and arrest.
So ever-present was this danger that
1t passed into a joke. and the aides
used to speculate at their meager even
Ing meal whether they would be hanged
or transported to Siberia.
The expected happened at last at the
office of the N%arodnaia Volia. One
night the police came down on it. What
they had reckoned on as an easy
seizure transformed itself into a four
hours siege and battle. Maria Krilofr
drew on the ~gendarnes with her re-
volver, and to a challenge of this sort
the response is always prompt and
merci.ess in st. Petersburg. The office
was riddled with bullets. but for four
hours the conspirators kept their stand.
The survivor was THE Bird" who blew
his brains out when the game was up.
He has transmitted no name to pcs
tey;ty: he is among the Russian terror
lists who have elected to be nothing but
a memory But while there are such
to choose from the clandestine press il
tnvlnctGle.