The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1930-11-14
HISTORYS /
MYSTERIES /
II uaselvsd Riddles That Still Puzzle
u Asthoritiss Mere and Abroad
What Became of Father
Capon?

1ApOHS
ESPECIALLY In view of the momen-
~ Ntous occurrences which have TAX
en- place in Russia during the past
three deoades-events of more wide
spread importance than he ever
dreamed of-the fate of Father Gapon,
leader Of mob which was shot down
In "Red Sunday" Is matter of in
terest to world which has come to
regard Russia as the leading riddle
of the day.
Father George Gapon was born In
a remote village in the Russian prov
ince of Poltava, his father being
liberated serf. His birthplace was
miserable hovel, yet Father Gapon
was born leader and finally collect
ed around him such following as to
shake the throne Of the Car himself.
For many years he labored among
the peasant classes in his efforts to
effect a betterment Of their conditions
and, in 1904, when there was a great
strike among the workmen, Gapon's
influence became very manifest. The
people loved him, they trusted him
and they followed him wherever he
commanded for they recognized in
him almost their sole hope for the
future.
1t was arranged that on the fatal
Sunday the working men, with their
wives and children, should march to
the imperial palace, not In a. threaten
ing mood, but as righteous supplicants
for justice and that the petition they
had framed should be presented to
the czar. The procession started In an
orderly manner, but the ranks OF the
marchers were swelled by students,
revolutionists and idlers from all Sec
tions of the city. Slowly and inexor-
ably they were drawn into a trap pre-
pared for them by the soldiery and,
when they had been entirely surround
ed, volley after volley was fred into
their defenseless ranks, hundreds fall
ing dead in the snow, while the sur
vivors scattered like panic-stricken
sheep.
escaped and, for time, he was COM
pelled to live in Switzerland and In
various other parts Of Europe, seek
ing In every way to help his unfortu-
nate fellow countrymen. Finally, In
disguise, he ventured back to st. Pet
ersburg but was eventually discovered
and. in April, 1906, only little more
than a year after the attempted inter-
cession with the czar, he entirely dis
appeared.
What became Of him has never be-
come known and many Russians be-
lieve that he is still alive. One report
was to the effect that he had been Sc
cretly hanged on April 10, 1906, oy
four revolutionists who heard him ad-
NIT that he was spying on his former
revolutionary colleagues on behalf of
the police-but no one familiar with
the previous life Of the priest placed
the slightest reliance In this state
ment, believing that 1t was given cur
rency by Russian officials who wished
to undermine even the memory of the
peasant leader Another report stated
that Father Gapon had gone to Valdai,
on the lake of the same name, and
had entered a monastery there, while
the governments statement declared
that he had betrayed the cause of the
people and was acting in conjunction
with the police, giving out no informa-
tion as to his eventful fate.
In May, 1906, 1t was believed that
the mystery surrounding the disap
pearance of the priest had been dis
PEELED by the discovery of a corpse,
identified as the remains of Father
Gapon, hanging in an upper chamber
of q lonely villa In Ozerki, Finland.
Decomposition Of the face made posi-
tive Identification almost impossible,
but the clothing resembled that worn
by the missing labor leader
There was still another story to
the effect that the government had
spirited the priest away and had con-
fined him in prison, while counter
report declared that Father Gapon
had escaped to Constantinople and
that a message had been received
from him by friends in the United
States shortly after the date Of his
supposed death.
Is the Russian leader alive and safe?
II so, why did he not put in an ap
pearance when his country stood in
greatest need of him, when the revo-
lutionists overthrew the czar and the
red mask of revolution stalked un-
challenged from the Volga to the Bal
tic? Did he turn traitor to the cause
which he had championed and finally
die at the hands of the men to whom
he had devoted his life? Or is he still
languishing in Russian fortress, held
prisoner by Soviet chiefs for fear Of
his influence for good?
No one is able satisfactorily to an
swer these questions, for the fate of
Father Gapon Is one of the unsolyed
riddles Of Russia, itself the master
mystery Of the world
(09 by the Wheeler Syndicate.l