The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1906-08-30
A TRUE STORY of THE
RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
1OriCinal.l


aSy committee in New York recently
came upon q man the sight of whom
startled him.
@Why, Sergius, L thought you were
dead"
sBut you see am alive"
sYour name certainly came through
our secret press as having been exc
cuted together with a 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 a COssack was coming
from behind to cut him down.
"Come with me-" said the other. ct
will take you where you will feel more
comfortable You cannot have been in
this free country long or you would
aot fear your shadow. When did you
arrive?"
J., Yesterday
When they were settled at a table
In cafe with something warm before
them to restore the courage of the new
ly arrived man he told the following
experience:
'You know, of course, of the putting
down of the revolution in the Baltic
provinces. You also know that my
fathers paper did not support the revo-
lution, though it was liberal. Since the
GEAR had promised liberty Of the press
we supposed we were safe. But the
troops were all about us, and whenever
they entered 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 visitation. Some countries fear
hurricanes, some fear earthquakes. /
would prefer either to what came upon
us. The soldiers respected no one, old
or yoxng, sick or we'll. male or female.
Ny father was arrested as editor Of
our paper, and I, having written for it,
was also arrested. was Ill at the time,
eve were tried by the sdrumhead,'
which should be named the black
DEATH and, of course, convicted. It
mattered not whether we were inno-
cefs or guilty, certain number must
be sacrificed to strike terror into those
iwho remained There were about
eighty of us selected to be shot, my
father and / among the number.
cit is horrible thing that which is
common at home tOday-t0 be marched
cut In a gang to be shot down like
dogs. Men and women were driven to-
gether to pen while our fellow citi-
zens looked On without power to help
ms. can see my horror stricken COM
panions wailing, praying or nearing
their end in silence. 1 can see"-he put
his hands over his eyes-.my father
standing among the rest and the look
he gave meme whom he had brought
up from q babe. / can see that line of
death, hear the word Of command from
the officers. I saw these men raise
their pieces and bring them to an aim
U,he suspense between the aim and the
aire was too much for me, weakened
as was by illness. tainted and as
bhe balls moved down my companions
u fell, too, but from another cause.
When came to myself. remember
ing the horrible situation, I supposed
that / was in the agOnies of death.
Then, In darkness, suffocat1ng, load
upon me, 1T occurred to me that I had
been buried alive. I 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 Twas not hurt. was thrown
IN with the rest and all were covered
over with earth, but not, deep or l
would not be here with you today.
"But was not thinking Of this then.
/ was working as we'll as my strength
would pefnit-of course It was greatly
magnihed by my situation-and at last
scrambled out. AS I lay on the surface
gasping to fill nay lungs L saw it was
might. There was q chance for my
life.
81 lay still for some time, listening.
There was NO sound near me that I |
could hear. No sentry was needed to |
guard the dead. Perhaps the troops |
that had stricken us had passed on to |
Ehe next town. At last I gained sufi-
Gent strength and courage to crawl |
away. You remember Ivan Drovon-
sky. WeN, his house was not in the
town. 1t was on the outskirts and |
NEAR the shooting pen. I went there
and called him up. When he saw me |
standing at his door he thought I was
my ghost. / 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 1t. They furnished me with a
disguise and started with me, since I
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 I was supposed to
be dead. / reached the border safely |