Year: 1878

The AaBaSsin Of the It. PeteFaburg


Chitf al POl1ce Child of the Gear


Nicholas.


St. Petersburg Letter to the San Francisco


Chronicle,


At the beginning of last month
the readers Of the Chronicle prob
ably found in the telegraphic col
umns brief notice of the death of
the prefect of st. Petersburg, who
was shot by a woman. The affair
created great excitement here,
though very few meager details were
sent abroad. Nikolai Nikolaieyitch
Trepoff, the unfortunate victim Of
this affair, was quite advanced in
years, and had large family, with
whom he lived on the happiest Of
terms. His we'll known character
and manner Of life made it impos-
sible even for his most malignant
enemies to ascribe the catastrophe
to some low or immoral intrigue,
but only few besides the official in
yestigators have any idea of the
romantic chain of incidents which
finally prompted the young woman
to the desperate decd.


More than a quarter Of a century
ago man by the name of Niko-
laeff, who had been in the employ
Of the secret police for some time,
was assigned to the responsible duty
of private guard over the person of
his majesty, the Emperor Nicholas.
There was quite a number Of these
guards, but not one of them knew
the other, each communicating with
the chief, who manipulated the
movements of all. This arrange
ment made the whole private force
more efficient, as each guard had to
rely wholly upon himself and no.
body else for the strict performance
of his duties. The Emperor Mich
olas bore the name of a man Of
strict morals, and he certainly had
a right to this reputatiOn--as far
as any public scandal was con-
cerned.


Monarehs who occupy SO exalted
and exclusive a position as the
czars Of Russia can not well be
measured by the common social
standard. Being entirely precluded
from pleasing themselves in their
social and marital relations, the
scions of the Romanoff family may
be pardoned to certain extent for
being possessed of human passions,
instincts and fancies, at least SO
long as they cause no public scan
dal. Few Of this proAigate family
have been thus scrupulous, but
Nicholas Pavl0yich was one Of these
few. His amours were not numer-
GUS, but well concealed, and in ore
instance the stern monarch kept
his secret SO well that he came near
falling a victim to the men employ
ed to guard over his person.


All through his reign the police
were kept busy ferreting out real
and imaginary Polish conspiratorS,
and it was through the dauntles8
bravery displayed by AikOlaief on
one of these occasions that be OBJ
tanned his appointment as private
guard. In the latter part Of the
year 1850 he discovered that certain
parties had secret meetings in a
house situated on Vassili 0stroff,
one of the island quarters Of st.
Petersburg.


The person in charge Of the house
was a Polish woman, and this fact
was enough to create suspicion, and
on communicating with his chief,
Nikolaieff was told to keep strict
watch, and on a certain night he
would have assistance to arrest the
persons meeting there. When the
appointed evening came the in
structions we're to arrest anybody
who attempted to leave the house,
to cut down any man who should
offer resistance, but not to harm
any woman.


The house, which is still in ex.
istence, stands on the Bolshai Pros
pect and Ninth street, and is sur
rounded by a garden, Nikolaieff
posted several men where they
could command all exits from the
place, and then knocked at the door,