The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-29
WORSE THAN MURDER.
DfmmwteR to Rassian Government POR-
 f tended by Mutiny.

| DfmnnteF to Rasslam Government For. tended by Mutiny.
 st. Petersburg, June 2e.--(2:So a m. More serious In It's possible efeci
 than all the defeats in Manchuria oI
 the destruction of Rotestvensky's fleet was the news which reached St. Pe- tersburg early last evening that the
 standard of open rebellion was foat- ing On board one of the emperor's bat.
 tleships in the harbor of Odessa and
 that with shotted guns the mutinous
 crew, headed by eight officers, was
 holding the ship against all corners.
 The authorities are almost in a
 state of panic and at the admiralty
 consternation relgns. Admiral Wire
 nus, chief of the general stan of the
 navy, said to the Associated Press that
 the admiralty had received advices re-
 garding the mutiny, but he was unable
 to give details. He frankly confessed
 that tho situation was very grave and
 that he did not know what to expect.
 The Black Sea squadron which left Sebastopol Tuesday under command of Vice-Admiral Kruger. was due to ar- rive at Odessa last night and a battle with the mutineers may occur at any moment.
 The KnIaz Potemkine is a more pow- erful ship than any in Kruger's squad ron and the gravity of the situation is increased by the fact that the city Is practically in the possession of the strikers who, according to the dis patches, had already been encouraged to open resistance by the sailors and were erecting barricades and fighting the police and the troops in the streets.
 The body of omiltchuk. lying ex- posed on the quay inI view of thou sands and the story of( his cruel death evidently fired the imaginatlons of the workmen. who in Odessa are of par ticulariy turbulent character, espeeial- ly the dock and wharf men. Should the sailors of Kruger's ships join the mutineers the government would have to face revolution which would spread like wild fire to other towns from which sailors are largely recruited. are imbued with the sociaiistic and revolutionary propaganda.
 At Sevastopoi less than a month ago disorders were suppressed with diffi- culty.
 Ever since the war started, ugly re- ports about the crews of the Black Sea fleet have been current. Men have been shot and even officers courtmartialed for disobedience. and yet at Sevasto- pol twelve sailors were condemned to Imprisonment for mutiny.
 No better evidence of the spirit Of the crews than for an official announce- ment made by the admiralty yesterday that Admiral Nebogatoff and the other officers who surrendered in the sea of Japan would have to stand trial by upon their return. Practi- cally all of the crews of the vessels which surrendered came from the Black | Sea.
 The fact that odessa Is not a fortified | port explains why the Kniaz Potemkine | is able to lie in the harbor unmolested. |
 The news of the mutiny coming just l at this time when Poland is fin state | of ferment, when agrarian disorders are | coming to a head and when the Govern | ment is attempting mobilization involv- | Ing about 20e.O00 men, may easily pre- ,ipitate a crisis and the authorities are | to keep 1t from the pub | lie. All newspaper dispatches have been | stopped and the newspapers have | been forbidden to mention the mu- | .nity. Nevertheless. the Liberals | and agitators have means of spreading | .he tidlngs through underground chan nels and for instance in St. Petersburg | he news was known in all cafes at | midnight
 The radicals hail the event as the | lawn of an actual assembled revolu- .ion The moment for which we have waited has come" said one In front of | 3 restaurant when he heard the news i name will so down In