Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1908-01-22
A FIGHT FOR LIBERTY.

Tragic Incident Of life IN the Uneasy
Land OF the Car.
The chief of gendarncrie Of the To
bolsk government has sent to the cen
trial authorities at ST. Petersburg
full report Of the desperate attempt at
escape made early in October by
convoy OF prisoners who had been
halted in the village Of Kutarbitka.
The convoy numbered thIrty-three
prisoners, Of whom four were "p0liti
calls" They were being marched from
Tuman to Tobolsk, the escort consist
ing OF eighteen soldiers 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 convoys OF prison
ers are lodged for the night The con.
victs had behaved exemplarlly during
the march to Kutarbltka, and their
guards had no suspicion that an out
break had been planned and all the de
into two rooms, the escort occupying
two other apartments, with one senti-
mel 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.
Some OF the soldiers were drinking
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
Zone, two, threer' 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 a few seconds the soldiers Of the
escort were massed in the passage.
where a 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 n 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 neighborlng
forests. One of these men, who car
ried a carbine, was struggling to get
over the wall when a soldier ran to
ward him and addressing him as com
rade" offered to hold the carbine for a
moment. The prisoner. believing him
to he a 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 escaped, with nine carblnes
and sixty cartridges. Three were re
captured the following morning, and
five carblnes were recovered,
The noncOmmissioned officer I'm
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 a slight character, but the
sixth ended fatally. Twenty-Five of
the convicts were killed-Baltlmore
Sun.