Iditarod pioneer., 1917-04-07
TELLS OF ASSASSINATION
 OF RUSSIA'S MYSTIC MONK

The report of the discovery of the body of Rasputn, shot through with many bull lets and thrust beneath the ice of the Neva at Petrograd, is the final chapter of strange tale of court intrigue and Oriental supersti- ton. For many years II has been rumored that the power behind the Russian throne was the monk magician from Siberia Greg ory Rasputin. Ignorant and iiliterate, coarse and Ecentous, yet he became the chief ia vorite of the czar and czarna, and con trolled the removal and appointment of the highest dgnltaries of church and state. Some called him the evil genius, others the guardian angel of the czar, but both parties agreed as to the extent of his influence He is accredited with having induced the czar to abolish with stroke of the pen the sale of alcoholic liquor throughout the Russian empire at the outset of the war. He is accused of endeavoring to persuade the czar to premature peace, such as would sacri- flee the interests of his country.
 Rasputin gained a reputation among the common people as a miracle worker when he was curing the sick in Siberia by the laying on of hands His eloquence made him the leader of one of those mystical movements so common in Russia, and about ten years ago brought him into favor with nobility and royalty. The czarina had dis appointed her husband and her people by presenting them in succession with four daughters but no son. and when at last an heir appeared he was sickly, some say deformed, from birth The mystic monk" was called to treat him, and apparently ac- complished what the doctors thought i'm possible But whenever the czarevitch was taken away from his healer his health de clined, so Rasputin became an indispensable intimate of the imperial household.
 Many attempts have been made to re move him in more or less legitimate ways, but hitherto without success He has been openly denounced in the duma as danger to the realm, but his status at court was unshaken. In July, 1914, he was stabbed by a woman, Julia Guseva who gave as her reason for the act that he had ruined the lives of young girls and brought scan dal upon the church It was while he WAS disabled by this wound that the Russian armits were mobillzed, which precipitated the great war. His friends believe that the attempted assassination was a plot to get him out of the way so the czar could be forced into war in spite of the pacif>t prin- cples with which Rasputin had inspired him
 Whether his death was instgated by jealousy of his political power or by the fear est be should betray Russia to the Germans Is known only to his murderers There are several versions of the assassina tlon, and since they are equally unauthentic we choose the most dramatic. This is that he was invited to banquet at the palace of Prince Felix Yusupov in Meika street There were said to be six young men of prominence at the dinner and after drink ing together one of them handed revolver to Rasputin and told him to shoot himself. He took the revolver, but fired instead at the man who had given it to him. The shot hit and killed wolf hound, and while the monk was trying to escape he was brought down by three bullets. His body was taken to the Petrovsky bridge and dropped over into the river, but the attached weights broke of as the body in falling struck the end of bridge beam, so 1t was carried down by the current instead of sinking to the bottom. No action will be taken against the assassins as the police are said to have reported that the act was committed in "self defense. ."-New York Independent.