Dewey County advocate. [volume] (Timber Lake, S.D.) 1910-1913, 1911-11-03
rh. CONFORMATION Of AZeffs charac-

ter as a spy was given to Vlaoiinii
Bourtseff. historian of the reVoiu'ion'
on a railroad train in Germany by Lo'
poukin. assistant secretary of the lnte'
rior and chief of police, for which ACT
the official was exiled to Siberia III
1909. Azeff was tried by a revolution.
airy court at Paris in his absence anu
condemned to death. He is In nloins'
If the revolutionists ever find nlm-
Gould not the treachery OF Azen
be balanced with his revolutionary
work in helping to kill grand duKs
and a minister of state?" was asked
NO" replied Mr. Menscnikon'
"Azeff was a beast"
James Persitz, late an official in the
Russian secret police, now IN NEW
York engaged in writing his memoirs
gave an account of his adventures as
a spy among terrorists.
"One society which l Joined IN the
course o. my duty provided me with an
experience which l shall never forget.
BY the fierceness of my declarations
and the enegry l displayed rose un-
til l was selected to carry out des-
perate deed involving the murder OF
a number Of prominent officials. Need
less to say, the plot was communicate
ed by me to the officials of the secret
police. Communication with them
was, of course, extremely dangerous.
l took the greatest possible care to
cover up the traces of my handlworK'
but nevertheless the anarchist police
outwitted me and secured incontro-
vertible evidence that l was police
spy. Their method of doing this was
interesting.
"The chief of the society wrote out
the details of an attempt to be made
on certain high official. At time
when only the leader and were in the
room he made some excuse for leav-
ing me alone for few moments. In
my eagerness to fulfill my duty l rap
idly searched over the papers he had
left, noting the place and the date
when the scheme was to be put into
execution. Shortly afterward the an
archist chief returned and pocketed
the documents.
ION the fatefui night the chief in
formed me that the attempt had been
postponed. AS l afterward found out,
some members of the anarchist police
sent to survey the neighborhood had
detected signs of the watching officials
and realized that their plans had been
divulged to the police by some traitor.
Since the chief of the anarchists and
myself were the only two people who
had any knowledge of the intendd
outrag-which, of course, was simply
sham affair prepared to trap me. l
was Immediately known to them in
my true light as police spy"
After this, Mr.. Persitz says, he was
decoyed to lonely wood near Mos
COW. bound hand and foot by the ter
rorists and ordered to confess. AT
first, rendered desperate by my peril,
l stoutly refused to admit my guilt,
shouting frantically, I deny it all!'
But, with many curses and blows,
they told me that was already con-
victed. They ordered me to divulge
to them the secrets of the political
police. This, however, l refused to
do. My captors then held consulta-
ton and decided to follow the methods
of the inquisition and wiring from me
by torture the particulars they were
seeking. -. Pins were forced in
to all parts of my body, each tormen.
tor apparently vying with the others
to discover place which would pro.
duce the most excruciating pain.
The lash was applied in addition to
the pins. Then the captors, consid.
ering it vain to gain any information.
discussed methods of killing the trai.
tor. A handsome young Polish Jew.
ess, says the narrator came forward
and exclaimed:
Il have an excellent idea. All the
deaths you suggest are too quick. He
is tied; let us lay him on the railway
The Petersburg express will shortly
be due, and the Gus will have the
pleasure of lying helpless while he
sees the train coming nearer and near.
er. 1t will give him time to think
over his treachery.'
"The suggestion was heartily an.
proved. With many a curse and blow
was pro mptly carried off and laid
across the rails of the Moscow Peters.
burg railway. being tied face upper
most to the rails by the ropes that
pound my hands behind my back. After
having brutally kicked me almost into
nsensioility and wished me sarcastic
goodby,' my onetime fellow anarch.
SITS disappeared in the gathering dark.
ness of the night.
Slowly the minutes passed awav
and. at last. to my horror. heard the
tumble of the approaching train.
Never shall l forget the unspeakahle
error o. that moment. Nerve rackine
.hough the period of suspense had
'een, it was as nothing to this. Pres.
entity the rumble grew to a roar. and
.urnin9 my head. l saw the lights Of
he express approaching. Then think
lost AL control of myself. In a fren.
y of fear redoubled my efforts tn
escape. flinging myself this way and
hat. Larger and larger grew those
'laring orbs of light. nearer and near.