St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1911-12-16
.SCHOO[B0YS
KILL MATE
Schoolboy Revolutionist Be-
comes Too Talkative.
Young Companions Kill Him
Outside Of Town.
Shoot Him in Back While He
Drums Funeral March.
Send Family Letter as Ruse
Demanding Ransom.

St. Petersburg, Dec. 9.-The mur-
der of Nikolai Sokoloff. boy of a.,
by one Of his schoolfellows has caus-
ed a profound sensation in Saratoff.
Nikolai was the son of prosper
Gus corn. factor, Russian of the
old-fashicned sort, greatly respected
in the town. At the commercial
school which the boy attended he
learned the glib creed of the revo-
lutionists. Older boys quickly con-
vinced him, with the usual facile ar
guments that the ideas and practices
of his parents were wrong and fool
ish. Nikolai began to refuse to go
to church; he scoffed at the holy
ikons he announced in the family
circle that no man of sense now be-
lieved in the existence of God. It
had never occurred to his father and
mother to doubt the teachings of the
orthodox church, and they were un-
able to meet arguments glibely ad-
vanced by the child in support Of
his contentious. The boy accepted
the doctrines of Socialists and An
archists with the Ga e facility as
atheistic principles, an6 referred
Familiarity to the Gear as .Kolya, the
shortened form of Nikolai.
HELD FOR RANSOM.
A week ago Nikolai disappeared.
He left home in the afternoon and
did not return His father informed
the police, and he and his wife went
to the Troitsky Sober, where they
lighted two candles before the ikon
of st. Nicholas and murmured the
eternal prayer of the Russian church
Lord have mercy" many times as
they bowed before the picture and
crossed themselves. The police
searched Saratof and telegraphed to
police of other towns, bus Nikolai
did not return.
The day after the boys disappear
ance a letter, purporting to come
from the Fighting Wing of the So
cial Revolutionists of Saratcff," was
received by his father. 1t stated
that ''The Party" being in need Of
money, were holding the child fol
ransom. A messenger would cal
for $3.50, and if betrayed Nikola5
would be at once murdered. The
police laughed at the letter. There
were no Social Revolutionists III the
city, they declared; the whole gart
was in prison or in Siberia. The
letter was mere ruse.
It occurred to the head Of police
to question some of Nikolai's school
fellows. Two lads of sixteen, Sasns
| and Vanya, were brought to the po
lice station, and under threats o
the black hole and taste CT th'
nagaika, they finally told the truth
| MURDERED BY FELLOWS.
| eve determined to form a bant
of expropriators," said Sasha, "ant
we talked the matter over with Mix
OLAF He thought the idsa was al
excellent ons. We were to pass our
selves off as Social Revoiutionist'
and to frighten people into giving
us money. 1t was mistake to nav,
taken Nikolai into our confidence
He was only fourteen, and grea
chatter-box. We talked the matte
over, came to the conclusion that n
fmight betray us by sheer careless
ness, and, therefore, thought it bes
to kill him. We went to MS home
told him to fetch his fathers rcvolv
er and hunting knife, and then too
him to disused quarry outside o
town. We told him to sit down
and gave him balalcika and toll
him to play the funeral march
| While he was drumming the string
1 went behind him and shot hiI
dead with his fathers revolver.
| The Social Revolutionary lette
he admitted, had been written as
ruse. The police found Nikolai'
body, frozen stiff, in the quarry.
was pierced by five bullets.