Omaha daily bee., 1906-10-15
STRENUOUS LIFE in WARSAW
soldIery. Bomb Throwers and THE, ..
Keep People on the jump in
POland's Capital.


warsaw women carry tueir five ruble notes
underneath their stockings; the British
consul, Captain Murray showed me sew
enty kopeoks. Il never carry more
out with me than that" said he. A woman
changed GlO English money at the Hotel
Bristol, then on the way tu
the Indo-European telegraph ONCE two
men, one after the other rushed at her
leaving the impression Of their fIoury coats
upon her shoulder. Presently a friend
remarked, why what have you rubbed
up against? Your shoulder is all white "
The lady. who had been holding her purs.
within her pocket. lifted her hand TO strike
away the hour-at the same moment a
quiet looking gentleman STROBE past her
bearing with him the purse and all the
ladys money.
Recently a man struck woman down
in dark corner of Smelna street threw
up her skirts and extracted from her under
clothing twenty rubles; the Polish thieves
are the cleverest and boldest in the world.
They arc not only skillful and daring, but
numerous: you see them everywhere, and
tho most dangerous OF them are BOYS OF
thirteen and fourteen, who swarm like YER
min in the dark streets, who surround
YOU and relieve you with more facility and
deNteritY than the Artful Dodger himself
or any other pupil of the illustriuus Mr.
Fagin.
There were not TO be found as many as
ten honest people In Sodom There are
about ten left in Warsaw. The rest have
been arrested Those honest ten would
be hard TO find. They have taken away
the brass plates from their doors they
have clothed themselves in rags, and since
they have not been arrested It is probable
they are seldom seen in the streets. There
is a threefold terror hcre-first from the
thieves. second from tn soldiery and third
from the bomb throwers.
TO the peaceful citizen there Is nothing
very dreadful in the incidental ssa ssina-
ton Of a general. What skaters the
nerves is the continual apprehension OF
danger. Within the first hour OF my ar
rival in this city / was twice searched for
dynamite and revolvers cursed In Rus
sian, arrested, heckled, buffeted and as
sauted, inssmuch that I began 20 think
Of that list Of suffering st. Paul cata-
loEued for the Hebrews
Since then I have strobe along almost DE-
serted streets at midnight and have seen
the doddering uspravniks examining the
padlocks while probably the thieves were
within the padlocked dwellings; but the
uspravnik has written In his heart the
gospel of St. Dogberry. Three sentries
stand abreast upon the narrow pavement
80 that one cannot pass without striking
against them; ones progress at night is ac-
companied by continual thrills OF spprehen-
sion and relief Patrol after patoI has TO
be passed, and you are lucky IL you escape
roolestat!on. r |f'
II you are arrested your release may cost
you ruble or a hogging. or probably
both. Formerly this was the gayest ~
cities at midnight thousand lamps lit
up the faces of pleasure seeking crowd;
tonight at It is dark and quiet. Few
people dare come out after dark. Yet.
except for the thieves Il has seemed 10
me safer. II perhaps rather more horribly
ing, at night The soldiers who enter prl-
vate residences and restaurants TO search
for political offenders may be watched in
security from without; these have their
orders. and seem never to care TO stay
to arrest curious pedestrians.
The bombs are mostly thrown in the
daytime. The tremendous dust raised al
lows the thrower TO escape easily. and
often ten minutes elapse before the sol
diers awake from their astonishment; then
the passerby has hot time All along
the walls Of the chief streets OF Warsaw
# needs no Sherlock Holmes 10 detect the
shot marks. Volley after volley IL hrcd
in all directions from the scene OF the
bomb explosion. A friend of mine ran
hard on one OF these occasions that he
rushed into lake and was nearly
drowned Many have died OF new nervous
diseases. No.
Here, now, f. an occurrence trivial
enough. but quite nerve-shattering In its
character. An officer OF police. guarded by
two soldiers. was walking along a crowded
pavement. Suddenly from third-story
window a chest OF drawers laden with
bricks and stones, was levered out, and
fell with fearful crash killing a beEgnr
child and smashing the leg Of the oficer.
The terrorist who achieved the deed prob
ably escaped. for the room WAS found To
be- untentated, but whether he was caught
or not the knowledge Of the possibility
OF such thunderbolt il continual father
Of gray hair.
The perils Of the streets are certainly
increasing. and even the drosky drivers
run you down In the most cheerful way
in the world There is no one TO protect
society when an eruption such as the
Siedlce massacre takes place here. / ven
ture to predict It will be unparalleled In
Polish history, and the soldiery will not
get of unscratched. The widest OF the
terrorists are here. the most brilliant OF
the thieves. the ccverest Of the Jews
The Polish national movement r. fierce,
and bombs are as splentiful as candles.
though more frequently hidden under
bushels. Let the world watch To parify
Poland they must mako a desert OF it
London News.
One Of the Family.
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