New Britain herald., 1917-08-16
ROMAN0FF FAMILY
 GOES TO SIBERIA
May Be Located at Tobolsk, a
 Lonely Section

Petrograd, Aug. 16-The seni- official Russian news agency an- nounces that the deposed emperor and his family were removed from the palace at Tsarskoe-Selo and that it was reported they were being trans ported to Tobolsk, Siberia
 The provisional government firmly refuses to reveal the destination of the family. No one except the local military and officials especially sent from Petrograd witnessed the start, and, according to a statement made to the Associated Press by N. V. Nek- rasoff, Vice President of the Council of Ministers. the accounts published ill the only newspaper which reported the incident were imaginary.
 It appears that the scheme was to remove Nicholas before dawn, but the train arrived at Tsarskoe-Selo several hours late.
 Nicholas was very depressed in ap- pearance, but Alexandra, who was seen walking for the first time in sev- eral months. seemed lively and pleased at the prospect of a change in surroundings.
 In view of the need for special pre- caution. the guard on the route from the palace to the railroad station was not composed of any single unit but of delegations of eleven trusted men from each battalion of the Tsarkoe- Selo garrisons. An hour after the train arrived Nicholas appeared on the steps of the palace, dressed in a coloneps uniform, with khaki blouse and with no decorations. With out lifting his eyes from the ground he entered an automobile, accom- panied by Prince Dolgoroukoff and Count Benckendorff, formerly Court Marshal, who thus far have shared the captivity of the fallen ruler. They were followed by Alexandra, who was accompanied by Countess Naryshken. her close friend and formerly Lady of the Court all of the four Grand Duchesses, with their maids of honor and finally by Alexis, formerly heir to the throne, at whose side was the or of Alexis since his birth and his constant companion and playmate.
 Guards Still at Palace.
 In order to keep the start secret as long possible the train was not drawn up to the station platform but was kept on a side track some dis tance away, to which Nicholas and his party went. The public was unaware Of the transfer until late last night. In order to keep up the fiction that Nicholas was still in the palace the guards were retained around the park and special vigilance was shown in keeping the people away.
 Many rumors are current in regard to the motives for the removal of the imperial family and regarding it's destination. The semi official news agency says the demands for Nicho- las transfer were due to fears of the authorities that attempts would be made to liberate him in connection with counter revolutionary move ment. A prevalent theory is that the finding of the letter in which General Gurko, formerly commander on the southwestern front expressed loyalty to the deposed emperor and of plots to effect the escape of Nicholas caused the Council of Deputies to demand his removal to a safer place-either To- bolsk, Siberia, or Kostroma, which was the original seat of the Roman off family. MT. Nekrasoff said, how ever, that all stories to the effect that the removel was connected with the Gurko affair or with attempts to lib- fer having been decided upon last month. Arrangements were made to keep it secret until it had been exe- cuted.