The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1909-10-11
RUSSIA AND ROYALTY
A Shadow That Darkens the
Path OF the Cars.
THE FEAR OF ASSASSINATION
Plots That Were Woven Around Alex
ander II. and tho Bomb That Shat
tered His Body--An Internal Machine
That Failed to Kill Alexander w.

round. w hereVer the Tuler OF MI lhe
Russias may happen to be. there the
shadow Of fear lies.
Once IN Paris, once In the palace
gardens, Alexander II. was fred at
Again In the Winter Palace square
one Solorieff. wearing the uniform of
an official, passed the guards one day.
and again the ear was fred upon.
Alexander ran for the palace. Solo
riefY followed him and fired three
times. The car ran In Zigzags, how
ever. md so escaped. Not long after
ward two mines were laid to blow up
the imperial train. One did not ex-
plode. but the second wrecked the
train. Once more the car escaped.
Watching eyes had saved him, their
owners having persuaded the ruler to
take another train.
Later Alexander ii. owed his life to
the fact that he came late to func-
ton at the palace. A bomb blew clean
out large portion Of the imperial resi-
dence, but the car was not present.
But OF all the attempts on the lives
Of Russia's rulers two stand out most
clearly for their amazing ingenuity.
One tells the story Of little UMPIRE
tentious shop in Malaja Sadovaja
street Kobozeff then unknown to
the police, took the shop and set out
to impress the police. who were al
ways making sudden inspections OF
premises along the thoroughfares
through which Alexander IL. passed.
that he was nothing but a provision
dealer. Nearly every one in that
street was paid spy. but kobozef
joked with his customers, pleased his
purycyors and was most affa bic and
apparently harmless.
The dealer inspired confidence. and
his custom increased gradually No
wonder. for most of the parcels that
his customers were carrying away by
day contained nothing but earth
earth that during the night hours had
been scraped by the man and his
wife from beneath the street. 1t was
by such ingenious method that tun-
mel was followed and cleared under
the thoroughfare and a mine laid be
meath the way the car often passed.
an innocent couch upon which the
housewife slept covering the entry to
the tunnel
Yet all the work was useless. On
the day the scheme was to be carried
out the car upset all the arrange
mentS by going off to lunch with the
Grand Duchess Catherine Michaelovna
Among those who were watching on
behalf Of the terrorists was heauti-
full girl-a countess. too-named Pc
rovskaya. 1t was she who, seeing the
altered arrangements. gave warning
The car would return to the palace
another way. Along this route four
men carrying bombs were stationed
One threw his. Men and horses We're
killed all around but the car stepped
from his coach unsCathed 4 second
man holding n bomb came forward
and threw it. "ThiS time the effect
was awful" says Waclaw Gasiorow-
ski, who describes the incident in his
book. Tragic Russia" The czar fell
as if cut by a scythe. His legs were
shattered to pieces So died the car
who had escaped as by a miracle
many times.
Alexander III. followed. and there
were attempts upon his life. The
fourth was one Of the most seusa,
tional in the entire list of nihilist plots
On a bright autumn day the impe
rial train Travelled at full speed on the
track well guarded by soldiers. 1t was
toward noon, The imperial family
were in the dining car, where lunch
was about to be served. The cook and
his help were making the last prepara
lions for 1t when an assistant was
taken H.
The court physician attended the
man and. having stated that he had
fever, with symptoms of some inex-
plicable ailment, decided that the man
could not remain In the imperial train,
and he was left at the next station.
The train moved forward toward
Borki, travelling at the speed Of eighty
Kilometres an hour. Then the cleo,
tricaI hell notified the cook that the
imperial family were ready for lunch
con. A few seconds after the hell
sounded 4 terrific noise was heard.
and a violent explosion changed In the
twinkling OF an eye the luxurious i'm
periai train into heap of broken
iron. Of wrecked ears. of mutilated
corpSeS, cuveloped IN smoke and made
all the more narrowing by the moan
ing and cries for help Of the wounded.
Yet the ear escaped The dining
room car that the nhiliStS had in
tended should he n grave for the cZar,
his family and his suit saved him for
although its roof and floor were
wrecked its sides were preserved
They inclined toward the center prop
ped each other like two cards and re-
manned In that position. protecting
those who were there from being
crushed
The cook who had been put or tho
train had worked the whole thing He
had placed an internal machine In a
cone OF sugar and had faxed his III
hess. thus getting clesrs .-Pbila-
1elDhia Ledger sFt