The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1917-01-03
Body of Gregory Rasputin Re-
covered From Beneath
Neva Ice.
PRINCE NEAR CAR INVOLVED
High Society Of Petrograd Is
Stirred by Assassination
of Court F ayorite.

the report that come out of Russia
announcing the assassination of the,
notorious mystic and adventurer,
Gregory Rasputin. who Is supposed to
have exercised such an influence for
evil upon the mind Of the Gear of
Russia.
According to a correspondent Of the
Daily Chronicle, several young men
of the highest society of Petrograd,
cast lots to see who should assas-
sinate him. The story of the murder
Is told in yelled form.
Men of High Society Implicated.
On Friday night two young raen be-
longing to the highest Petrograd So
ciety drove up in a motor CAR to Ras-
putin's house. This man was taken
in the car to a large house on the
Molka canal, owned by Prince Yusup-
off Sumarokoff-Elston. The garden
attached to the house extends from
the canal. to Offitszerskaya street.
AT o'clock Saturday morning
policemen heard the sound of shots
and cries from the garden. One
policeman saw several persons coming
out of a gate and asked them what
had happened, but received no ex-
PLANTATION. Shortly afterward a motor
car drove up into the garden and an.
other car arrived at the door of the
house.
According to one version the body
of the murdered man was put into a
car, wrapped up in a fur coat. One of
the young aristocrats took his seat
beside the chauffeur, and the car was
driven to an island at the mouth Of
the Neva.
Body Discovered.
"In the course of Saturday and Sun
day an investigation was made by the
judicial authorities, a number of per-
sons were examined, and the main
facts as to the assassination, were es-
tablished. In the ice on a branch of
the Neva- near Petrovsky Island,
freshly made hole was discovered.
Near the hole were traces of blood,
and not far away lay a pair OF golosh-
es with suspicious red marks. Divers
were set to work, and it was rumored
last evening that the body had been
discovered"
The Daily Chronicle adds that Felix,
Prince Yusupoh, belongs to the Suma-
DTdHCn Ol one VI the nO-
blest houses of Russia. He Is twenty
nine years Of age and was married
three years ago to Princess Irene of
Russia, second cousin of the Car and
eldest daughter of the Grand Duke
Alexander.
Rasputin Was Pro-German.
The attempted. asss ssination Of last
spring is supposed to have been due
to political causes. Rasputin had
been well acquainted with Gen. W. A.
Soukhomlinoff. who was Russian
minister OF war during the fatal
campaign in East Prussia, when trait
ors were believed to have betrayed
the Russian armies in the field and
left them without reserve of NUM-
tions at home. In June, 1915, Souk-
homlinoff resigned and was later ar
rested and lodged in the fortress Of
Peter and Paul.
Among the witnesses sought was
Rasputin, who was known for his pro-
German sympathies. It was said that
he had been discovered by the secret
police and would create a sensation
at the trial. Before he had a chance
10 testify. however. he disappeared.
Then came the news OF his assassina-
tion from Bucharest, which, however,
& proved false. His long immunity
from arrest as witness is said to
have been due to a certain clique of
the ministry, who. il not actually
pro-German, were nevertheless work
ing for a separate peace looking to a
desertion OF England and France and
subsequent treaty with Germany.
The complete reorganization of the
ministry under pressure of the Car
and Duma alike. a month ago.
changed all that. The trial of Sioux
homlinon was ordered, and Rasputin
was brought to Petrograd, where he
lived under police surveillance, ready.
it has been reported. to tell all he
knew.
In Close Touch With Berlin.
The Gar first met Rasputin in 1905
through the Countess Ignatieff, wife
of former governor of Siberia, and
much interested in the cult of the
Chlysty's sect of haggellants. which
Rssputin was trying to revive. In the
countess circle, where the Gar was
then an occasional visitor, were the
Montenegrin Princess Militia, wife of
the Grand Duke Peter Nikolaievitch:
Prince Putjatin, court marshal; Count
Behckendorff, Prince Orloff, and, final
~, General Soukhomlinon.
It has been said that when the war
began the genuine Muscovites gradu-
ally dropped away from the circle,
leaving only Baltic Russians with Ger
man ideas behind, and that the circle
then became the center OF German
propaganda to which Brusiloff re-
ferred in April, 1916, when he took
command of the southern Russian
armies and said to the war CORE
spondents:
Not a line can you write from here
not a message will go forth till
something happens. In Petrograd
. they have a switchboard with connec-