The Yale expositor., 1911-10-26

| bring them before me-"
| His instructions were carried out
to the letter. Some fourteen men
were rounded up and brought to the
central police headquarters for exam
ination. They were examined, but
nothing of any Importance was found
on their persons. Then the canes were
taken and carefully scrutinized This
search brought rich results. Every
one of the sticks proved to be hollow
| and each one contained a sheet of
| tissue paper on which was printed a
| call for a meeting of revolutionists. 1t
was the biggest haul that Trepoff had
| made in many months. The evidence
proved that the men were enemies of
the government. 1t did more than
| that-it paved the way to another dis
covery which bore directly on the mys-
| terious explosion of February 5, 1880.
| One of the prisoners, being put to tor
ture, revealed the names of several of
| his associates.
One of these was a certain Victor
Chalturin. He was the son Of peas
| ant, very energetic agitator and an
| experienced organizer of associations
of malcontents. The police visited his
rooms and made thorough search of
| the premises. A number of books and
pamphlets found on the shelves and
in closets indicated that he was a
man with Nihilistic tendencies. That,
in itself, while interesting, was not
very important. The searchers con-
| tinued at work and finally came to
cabinet with locked doors. 1t was
! broken open and in secret drawer
they found blue print of the plans of
| the winter palace. 1t was worn and
| frayed at the edges as though 1t had
been carried in someone's pocket for
| long while. Most significant of all,
the lines indicating the great dining
hall were marked with a cross. These
facts were promptly communicated to
| Trepoff, and he sent out a description
of Chalturin to every police official in
the Russian empire.
While awaiting reports from his sub
ordinates the energetic chief Of police
! made another discovery. 1t was
slip of paper which was found in the
basement of the imperial palace. On
it was written these words:
'Do not delay any longer. Now is
| the time to act"
Some bits of paper corresponding
with the material on which this was
inscribed, were found in Chalturin's
room. The case against him appeared
| to be complete. 1t was in March,
| 1S82,-over two years after the explo-
sion occurred-that the chief culprit
| was taken into custody. He was given
a speedy trial and on the 22d of March
of that year was executed, and it was
then, and then only, that he was rec
ognized as the man who had intro
duced himself as a carpenter in the
winter palace.
The testimony which was brought
out at the trial of Chalturin gave the
authorities some idea of the marvel
Gus ingenuity and wonderful perse-
verance of the Nihilists. Just prior
| to the explosion in the winter palace
they had organized their forces under
the title of "The Will of the People"
and at once began to issue proclama-
|
their numbers and strengthen their
cause. In January, 1880, their secret
| printing presses were discovered and
seized by the police, and numerous ar
rests were made. In spite of this, they
managed to issue, on the 26th of jan
uary, program in which they de-
clared that unless the government
| 81 hn
must die. The result of this was fresh
arrests, banishments to Siberia for
some and death on the scaffold for
others.
1t was at this stage Of the game that
| the Nihilists planned their most dar-
| ing program. 1t was to blow up the
| emperor in his own palace. It's execu-
\ tion, as has already been stated, was
| undertaken by Chalturin, who was
| young and fervent and filled with an
| exaggerated sense of his own wrongs
and the wrongs of the people. He
was clever cabinet maker and this
| enabled him, under the assumed name
OF Batyschkoff, to obtain a situation
as a carpenter in the imperial palace.
4
| ing room was above the cellar in which
the carpenters were at work, although
between 1t and the cellar there was
| guard room used by the sentinels OF
the palace. Chalturin lived in the
palace for nearly four months, and
every night he used package Of dyna-
mite for his pillow. A gendarme had
been installed in the carpenters cellar
shortly after he began to work there,
and this made the Introduction of the
dynamite exceedingly difficult, and in
cidentally had delayed the execution
of the plot for many months.
It became generally known during
the investigation in this case that the
winter palace for years had been the
refuge for vagabond workmen, friends
of the servants, and others. Many Of
these were without passport and
could not have lived anywhere else
with impunity. 1t seems that there Is
an old law which gives the right of
sanctuary, so far as the police are
II