The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-11-02
Copyright. 1918. by Curtis Brown.)

7r Copyright, 1918, by Curtis Brown.)
UT. PETERSBURG. November L.
- Especially -Russia is in the grip of
~ Its regular tri-yearly attack of
brigandage Minister of War Sukhom-
linoff is engaged in feud with Minister
of Interior Maklakoff over the question
of it's suppression. Minister of Interior
, Maklakoff thinks II would best be checked
by spreading civil institutions, while
! Minister War Sukhominoff wants uni
, yersal rtial law. Experts say that
!. neither solution will do, as under civil
government the police connive at brig
andage, and under military rule the SOL
diers are unfit to cope with the brigands.
! Were it not for some particularly lively
- recent cases of robbery, abduction and
murder nobody would worry. much about
the brigands. The Caucasus loves them
and Russians sympatize with them, and
quote with approval the remark on the
authorities ascribed to the brigand, ABB
dull the Avenger": Yes, rob. They
steal
81 Every three years there is a fit of eau
casus brigandage. 1t lasts for about two
years. The present fit began In 1912, and
It is still merrily going on Lately at
Pirsaclf, which Is near Erivan, and Mount
Ararat on the o-Turko- Par S an
frontier, the two daughters of the Rus
sian settler. Kamentseff, were carr ed
Off, and when dozen "strazhniki," that
is, armed guards. went on their heels
the "strazhnik" got voiley. The girls
are supposed to have been taken into
Turkey, where they are in some Kurd's
harem. And q few weeks later there
whs an attack of the same kind on an
Armenian family near Kulpi. The pur-
suit failed. But one of the bandits who
was caught. wounded. informed the po-
lice that the head of the band was a
certain robber, Kerim, who has been
sought for by the police of two coun-
tries for 20 years. Next raid was made
on q government sub-treasurer of Kars.
The treasurer escaped. His guards de-
G. sclared they recognized from descript' ons
the same KERN. And now this most dan
q gerous best educated and most slippery
of all bandits in Caucasus history Is
supposed to be hidden near Mount Ararat
and 300 Cossacks and "strazhniki'' are
trying to ! his trail.
- Kerfm'S bandit career Is uncommon.
, He is Russian Turcoman by birth, the
"a grandson of chief who rendered Rus
rsia service in the great war against
Scilamyl. Kerim was sent to school in
g 1.-THE excellent gymnasium of Elizabeth
pol. He had French and German teach
Aiers, and when he was IS he spoke four
Caucasus dialects, also Turkish, Rus
asian, French and German. He was a
highly cultivated man, and when % he
translated bits from the poet Pushlxin
into Turkish. Suddenly, for reasons no
man knows. he turned bandit, and he
proved the most mobile bandit in eau
casus history, for In five years he plum
dered In every district of the broad
trans Caucasus. Kerim never let his
band increase beyond 20 men: he usually
had 10. and with these he barled or
I circumvented whole regiments of SOL
diers He had some daring individual
exploits. Dressed in city clothes. and
speaking good French. he entered the
!. office Of the military governor of Kars.
asked to see the governor. SLAPPED h 9
face, threatened to kill him, and made
s.llim apologize for having said In re-
port that Kerim had become bandit be-
cause he was caught swindling at cards.
Kerim's next exploits are recorded from