Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1911-07-29
I I

ing minarets and the nine
domed cathedral Of st. Basil
circle the crows. For a time
they perch on caves and win
dow lodges and then, as If by vul-
lures signal, wing down to the plaza
at the foot of the bloody staircase.
One In Moscow does not mention the
thrice-repeated tragedies of these so
limestone steps. 1t is discreet to be
mute Tipped when bayonets point to
your breast, but the story has been
set down and sent hence by friendly
hands. And what a story 1t is!
1t was upon these steps, hanging to
the side of the synod palace, that Ivan,
the first to take the name Of car, a
Slavonic form of Caesar, beat In the
brains of his own son, and here he
thrust pointed staff through anoth--
er's foot, pinning him to the steps
and leaving him, first alive and then
dead, food for sharp bills seeking car
rion. And here, too, Sophia, regent
over joint sovereigns, saw blades
raised on every step and men. die
along the entire length--a multi-kill-
ing which made her heart beat fast
with satisfaction.
To reach this setting Of atrocities of
other centuries you cross first the
place Krasndia and skirt the weather.
worn walls to the Savior's gate, called
here Spassky Warota, a dark ten-yard
tunnel leading to the Kremlin, or in
ner city of palaces, churches and pub
lie buildings, which stands on an emf
hence overlooking the Moskwa river
and the city without. No one, not
even the car. may pass through that
dismal gate without uncovering his
head. In the old days, for not show
Ing this reverence to the little altar
; or shrine hung overhead, the penalty
was to bow 30 times to the ground,
kissing the cobblestones. with each
bend Of the knee. Now, If one offends,
4 wild-eyed, shaggy-haired moujik ad-
ministers personal chastisement
Once through this gate and the
gates OF the cathedral and. the inner
plaza is reached. The bloody stair
case rises where the morning Sun falls
warm on the palace walls. When Mos
COW was the Russian capital 1t was
down these steps that the czars, ar
rayed for coronation, passed on their
way from the. sacred vestibule In the
synod palace to the plaza leading to
the Cathedral Of the Annunciation.
A Monster Of Cruelty. go.
Ivan the Terrible, the Nero of his
time. who was brutal. from love of bru-
tality, lived within the Kremlin. He
became czar at the age Of three. To
ht him for the exercise, in their way,
Of the absolute authority which was
10 be his, relatives schooled the lad
TO rob and torture. He was an apt
pupil. Suffering of his own making
moved him to outbursts of .glee In
, this he was encouraged. BY the time
be reached manhood he was a mas.
ter OF atrocity. The homicidal vaga-
ries OF disordered mind are not to
be compared with the infinite variety
Of Ivan's murderous achievements. He
halted at nothing. .~t e..'i
Early in life 1t was his delight to
ride forth with pack of half-starved
hounds and set them upon babes and
Z toddlers playing in the byways When
the dogs had torn them limb from limb
he would order his soldiers to toss the
heads into the laps of the parents
Next his outbursts of monstrous cru
slty would be directed against WON
en- One Of his proud moments was
when he hanged all the women in 9
village at their cottage doors and Their
set guard to see that, others In the
, household passed in and out, day BY
day, under the swinging corpses.
The fiendish idea OF the skeleton a.
the feast was another thing that ap
psaled tc his d, love of the horrible
Into a country town he rode, with his
> uniformed murderers, under most sat
tsfactory orders to kill at least one
man in each household This done
with swift-swinging blades, tn,
corpses were fastened in chairs a
the places at table occupied by then
In life and at these boards those whC
had been spared were forced to ca
!, while they gazed upon the dead. Oh
another occasion-for Ivan turned Il
. new forms of cruelty each day-h,
! buried score or more of men IL
D trenches up to their necks and, thel
spread feasts upon nearby table 81
that all the victims could see Will,
! he and others sat down and ate clear
8 the board. This was repeated. da,
q by day. until starvation had done iii
A work. '9-ft n =
. And while these things were being
/. done Ivan was building the gorgeous
y frescoed Cathedral OF St Basil