Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-01-01
A FIGHT FOR LIBERTY.
Tragic Incident of Life In the Uneasy
 Land of the czar.

Tragic Incident of Life In the Uneasy Land of the czar. The chief of gendarmerie of the To- bolsk government has sent to the cen tral authorities at St. Petersburg full report of the desperate attempt at escape made early in October by a convoy of prisoners who had been halted in the village of Kutarbitka.
 The convoy numbered thirty-three prisoners, of whom four were ''politi- calls" They were being marched from Human to Tobolsk, the escort consist ing of eighteen sofd3srs of the Ninth Siberian reserve regiment, commanded by a noncommissioned officer. Kutar- bitka consists of one long street, at the end of which is a large isolated build ing, where passing conveys of prison CTS are lodged for the night. The con- victs had behaved exemplarily during the march to Kutarbitka,. and their guards had no suspicion that an out break had been planned and all the de- tails arranged. The prisoners were put into two rooms, the escort dccupying two other apartments, with one senti-, nel in the corridor and another outside the building. which is surrounded by a high wooden wall. At 10 o'clock all was quiet in the prison.
 1rtn ,sno tea, while the others had already set tied down for the night. A few re- marks were exchanged between the prisoners in the two rooms, but, being in Yiddish, they were not understood by the sentinel in the corridor Then
 "One, two, threev, rang out sharply and distinctly. and the prisoners in both rooms burst open the doors and rushed pellmell into the corridor. The sentinel shouted the alarm, and with in few seconds the soldiers of the escort were massed in the passage, where furious fight ensued for the carbines stacked at the farther end.
 The prisoners managed to secure nine of these weapons and strove to come to close quarters with the soldiers, who were soon pouring devastating fire into their ranks. The greater part of the fight took place in complete darkness, as the lamps were shattered by carbine bullets. About twenty of the prisoners were killed or wounded in the corridor. The remainder sue ceeded in escaping from the building. Three were shot by the sentinel out side.
 The handful who survived, hamper ed though they were by the chains on their feet, clambered up the wooden wall and made for the neighb0ring forests. One of these men, who car ried carbine, was struggling to get over the wall when soldier ran to- ward him and addressing him as ''com- rade" offered to hold the carbine for moment The prisoner, believing him to be fellow refugee, dropped the carbine to him, and the soldier there upon bayoneted him to death.
 Another soldier armed himself with a bar of iron and killed one of the con victs, whom he struck with such force that the latter had hand completely severed from the arm. In all eleven prisoners ese d, with nine carbines and sixty cartridges. Three were re- captured the following morning, and five carbines were recovered.
 The noncommissioned officer in charge of the escort seems to have acted with great presence of mind and courage in the face of the unexpected attack.
 The six casualties among the sol diers were all bayonet wounds. Five were of slight character, but the sixth ended fatally. Twenty-two of the convicts were killed.-Baltimore Sun.