Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-20

pools of nlottcd blood filling the bullet
holes "a the brim," showing what must
have been spilled there.
conrsrs CHOPPED. PACKEp IN BARRELS.
The very night of the murder the
corpses were taken to neighboIing
wood. there hacked in pieces and packed
~ barrels Some of the local inhabitants
saw that these barrels were burned,
others that they were buried, Others
again that they were thrown into an
adjacent lake
When Fkatcrinhurg was taken from
tho BolShcvikl the commission ICON
sisting uf representatives of the govern
mcnt. the army and Of lawyers and
doctorsl appointed TO investigate the
last days and the death of Nicholas
Rnmanoff and his family, arrested sew
cral people supposed to bc witnesses
of the tragedy, but their evidence re-
garding the disposal of the bodies was
contradictory.
Strange tn saw when the ashes OF
tho fire in which, many testified, the
bodies of the Iiomanofls had been burned
were carefully rsked over, women 8
shoe buckles. corset stocG, shreds ot
cloth hing. Cross of the Altar Order ot
Malta of which The Car was Hereditary
Grand Master and some of the third
largest diamonds IN the world (Which
the Gamma usually kept sewn IN her
bodiccl we're found, but no bones. Yet
the ashes, had been undisturbed up to
the time of the investigation.
MYSTERY sHRoUps TRAGEDY's SEQUEL.
Tho dieuscd shaft of a coal mine near
hy flooded hy the waters of neighbor-
mr akc was then pumped ont, but no
,ori,-c~ could be found there either
Mystery therefore shrouds the sequel
a. ths CHASTITY tragedy, and the con
nirtinr stories of the very witnesses OF
nd lq-t sad scene once again illustrate
ih, uurcnhhly OF human testimony.
We only Know that, though the bodies
have mot Vet been traced, II Is practically
crrtan that the cN-cmpcrur and hIs
itmih ended thclr lives IN the cruel
torfup'~ described
ljut the murdCrcrs were not content
with thcu terrible vengeance On the
same night that thcN dispatched the
~ cltl with has wife and children the
gang proceeded 10 Alapaicvsk, where
a., following members nf tho former I'M
pcrM family had been taken three DAYS
lclorc tN-Irand Duke Serge, who at
7 flt Ah'EihiltlE ~ Alit Wal Ntae Is ''''-
mand W the artillery and who until
hl- murder had lived m comparative
fpedom ~ Fkatcrlnhurg, Cx-C'rand
| Duchess Elizabeth sister of the cx-
,mi,rcSs. who became a nun after theE
murder ~ hcr husband the Grand Duke
serge. al Moscow IN laul; CN-lu luke J"hn
Gahricl and Igor, the cN-C1ars second
cousins. Prime, palCi and others. ms
lttlr rroup ~ innocent people the mnr-
d,rrr- nov resolved II destroy hN throw
lnr them into 4 dccp pit n thc Aipaieysk
mincs Ihcv wcrc dragged TO the Cdgc
I'll tho ahvss silence fell on the COM
many while IN careless accents man
gave tho dreadful order.
crANp pucHrss wAs pnNDForDFn.
They arc an 20 he thrown in
IA, of thc murdcrrrs IN whom spark
n humanity remained roughly blind
folded th, urmcr Grand Duchess tllla-
l~h NN thc othrrs WCrr thrown ~ At
random
As ~rrcc was hcing pushed toward
the shaft ~ grapplcd with ono q the
.s-a<SinS and almost succeeded n draw
mi thc man over the edge with him
Another ~ the gang then stepped M
and shot the cN-graud duke ami ms
cart,sc was thrown over
1o DESTROY al evidence Of their crime
Nv murdcrcrs next threw dynamite
ana nanl rruadc~ INTO the plt expecting
thar tE. explosions st the latter would
ignlt, III, dynamite and cover All traces
III tho dastardly deed Rut for some rea-
-on thr grcnadcs- failed 10 explode prop
rrl, and the pt remained open
Thrcr months later, IN October, when
the S,hcrian troops occupied tho region
ui AlapaIcv~k they took out al the
,v,rpscs and after rhotoCraphing them
lurlrd them under the local church.
sICHAEL KoMANnFF VANIsHEs
The murdcrcrs apparently completed
tb, serics Of thslr crimes in Perm. whittier
thev proceeded from Alapalevsk Ex-
i Grand Duke MIchacl vanished soor
after their arrival
Thus the last Of the Romanoffs wa
/ hunted down hy men who styled them
selves iu charge of the Public Instruc
ton of Ekatcrlnhurg, the People
Il Justice and the Soviet Republic.