Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-07-14
DAILY STORY
TRUE STORY OF THE
RUSSIAN REVOLUTION,
(Original.1

dead.
But you see am alive"
"Your name certainly came through
our secret press as having been exc
cuted, together with number of 9TH.
erS."
The man addressed seemed haunted
by some danger, some memory-what it
was his friend could not tell. He
looked about him as though he feared
a policeman or n CoSsack was coming
from behind to cut him down.
Come with me-" said the other. 81
will take YOU where you will feel more
comfortable You cannot have been in
this free country long or you would
not fear your shadow. When did you
arrive?"
Yesterday"
When they We're settled at a table
in u cafe with something warm before
them to restore the courage of the new
~ arrived man he told the following
experience:
You know. of course, of the putting
down of the revolution i'll the Baltic
fathers paper did not support the revo-
luton, though it was liberal. Since the
car had promised liberty of the press
we supposed we were safe. But the
troops were all about us. and whenever
they entered a town they would declare
martial law and by their drumhead
courts martial proceed to get rid of
those they thought proper to destroy.
One day our peaceful village received
such Il visitation. Some countries fear
hurricanes, some fear earthquakes.
would prefer either to what came upon
US. The soldiers respected no one, old
or young, sick or well, male or female
My father was arrested as editor of
our paper and l. having written for II,
was also arrested. l was i'll at the time,
but that made no difference.
I'VE were tried by the 'drumhead.'
which should be named the black
DEATH and. of course. convicted. 1t
mattered not whether we We're inno-
cent or guilty, certain number must
be sacrificed to strike terror into those
who remained. There We're about
eighty of us selected 10 be shot, my
father and 1 among the number
u
common at home today-to be marched
out in n gang to be shot down like
dogs. Men and women were driven to-
Gether TO Il pen while our fellow citi-
ZenS looked on without power to help
us. l can see my horror Stsicken com
panions wailing. praying or nearing
their end in silence. / can see'-he put
his hands over his cyes-''my father
standing among the rest and the look
lie gave meme whom he had brought
up from babe. can see that line of
DEATH hear the word of command from
the officers. l saw these men raise
their pieces and bring them to an aim.
The suspense between the aim and the
fire was too much for me, weakened
as l was by illness. l tainted and as
the balls moved down my companions
1 fell, too, but from another cause.
When / came to myself, remember
ing the horrible situation, l supposed
that l was in the agonieS of death.
Then, i'll darkness, suffocating, load
upon me, it occurred to me that / had
been buried alive. / had struck the
truth. After the execution the bodies
were gathered and thrown into
trench dug for the purpose. The bullet
intended for me had gone over my
head, and / was not hurt. l was thrown
in with the rest slifd all We're covered
over with earth. but not deep or 1
would not be here with you today.
But l was not thinking of this then.
L was working as well as my strength
would permit-of course it was greatly
10y my situation-and at last
scrambled out. As lay on the surface
gasping to fill my lungs L saw it was ,
night. There was a chance for my |
life.
Il lay still for some time, listening.
There was no sound near me that | |
could hear. No sentry was needed to |
guard the dead. Perhaps the troops |
that had stricken us had passed on to |
the next town. At last L gained suffi- |
Gent strength and courage to crawl |
away. You remember Ivan Drovon- |
sky. Well, his house was not in the |
town. 1t was on the outskirts and |
near the shooting pen. l went there
and called him up. When he saw me |
at his door he thought | was
my ghost. 1 told him my story, and he
took me in and concealed me.
Fortunately, as you know, we were |
not far from the German border, and
my friends advised and helped me to
reach it. They furnished me with a
disguise and started with me, since /
was too weak to get on by myself. OF |
course / had better chance than one
the police were looking for. No one
looked for me, for L was supposed to
be dead. / reached the border safely |
and, travelling through Germany, took
a steamer for the United States
"But / cannot shut out that dreadful
scene. L see strong men and weak
women waiting for the slaughter.
see their neighbors. their children, who
lave followed them to the place of ex-
ecution. L see again and again always
that fearful line, their pieces aimed at