AN ENGLISHMAN IN THE REVOLUTION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3126, 3 July 1917, Page 6

AN ENGLISHMAN IN THE REVOLUTION

TELLS 'HIS STORYTHE FIRST TERRIFIC DAYS REVENGE ON THE POLICE. Mr. Stinton Jones, of the firm of Morretfand Jones, consulting.engineers, of Petrogracl, was tho first Englishman to arrive from Pohograd and describe the revolution as an eye-witness. Towards the end of January, ho says, news of what the police were doing- leaked out through certain friends of his connected with the old revolutionary party. Some were being trained in the use of machine-suns, many of which nad been erected on churches and tall buildings throughout tho city. Through t/ie police most of the foodstuffs were "cornered," and huge supplies stored in various quar(ov.s, with the result that although tho city was full of food all prices rose to ton or fifteen times thn normal.

Tho people became hungry and mutinous. Butter, which before the revolution was la. 8&? per lb., had now soared to 7s. 6d., cheese and ham increased from Is. 3d. to Bs., and sugar and white flour were practically' unobtainable. The old ganu were"'working energetically for a separate peace) meanwhile the lower classes were being urged by the -police to clamour for food,- and if they could not get it to break out into open revolt.

Police Arsenals. . On February 27 the machine-guns on tho churches and public buildings were supplied'with ammunition. » When the people asked why , they were told that these were precautions against expected raids from _new long-distance Zej>pelinp All the police offices were stocked with small arms and ammunition. On March I! striking began; on the 7th all the textile workers were out; and on the 9th the strikers swarmed through the streets crying "Give us bread" Among the crowds moved agents of the police disguised as workmen urging the strikers to make further disturbance. There were violent scenes outside the Kazan Cathedral and wild speeches were made.

Ordinarily, the speakers would have been instantly arrested, l>nt now the police stood by and langhed encouragement. Tho Novsky Prospekt was swarming with demonstrators who were more hilarious than' threatening. An' order was given to the Cossacks to ride through them, and break them up. The Cossacks came out at the gallop, but steered'their wonderful horses in and out of the crowd, and instead of using their whips on the revolutionaries waved them in the air—and the crowds cheered enthusiastically.. The next day wrs fairly quiet, apart from a few window-smashing crusades ami souie shooting on the part of the 'police. An order was given, 'that no wounded people were to be taken to any of the hospitals and no dead to the mortuaries.

Cossaoks Turn! On Sunday, March. 11, great processions streamed through the city, and thousands inarched toward the Winter Palace. The demonstrations, beginning good-huinour-edly, ended in. bloodshed. At noon the police fired eoveral volleys into the crowd on the Nevsky Prospekt and in the thoroughfares crossing it. Again and again the Coseacks rode through the press, manuging their horses with great delicacy anil injuring nobody. Detachments of other soldiers were called out and ordered to fire on the crowds. Poiutblank they refused; but the police were in a very savage mood, and there was a good deal of indiscriminate slaughter. There is not the slightest doubt that the ringleaders of 'the demonstrators were police in disguise. By midnight the crowds had dispersed, all tho main avenues and bridges were closely guarded, and a feeling of general unrest and anxiety was rife everywhere. On Monday, March 12, the storm burst. Enrly in the morning huge crowds gathered in all districts, and marched to the bridges. Here they woro stopped by the police and the soldiery, and nobody without a special pass was allowed to enter the/city. Still, in the city itself thousands of. residents and those who had remained throughout the night formed into processions and made their way by various routes to the Small Arms Factory and Arseual.

As early as ten o'clock machine-guns perched on. high buildings and in attics opened fii'o : upon the crowds. The police freely used their rifles and revolvers, but yie soldiers, who were ordered to join in, flatly refused. They threw in their lot with the crowd, and, mingling among them; assisted them in attacking the Small Arms Factory, smashed through the police cordon, and , broke- into the arsenal. In a few minutes they had a tremendous store of arms—machine-guns, rifles, revolver's, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. The soldier-revolution-aries formed themselves into -machine-, gun detaclrme.nts, issuing out into the streets 'with belts of ammunition hanging round their necks. Every policeman they saw they shot 'down. Their own officers' they arrested, depriving them of their arms; If they showed signs of resistance they were shot. ..

. Burning the Archives. The crowds were howling for revenge on the police. Hordes of young men, grotesquely. armed, dashed through the throngs, shooting and hacking. Some had new swords slung at their waists, some brandished them; others carried bayonets fixed on poles or walkingsticks; others again, with a revolver in each hand, fired roundabout or in tho air, until their cartridges u-ere exhausted.

The arsenal having been cleared and set fire to, the mob turned to'.the Courts of Justice and the detention prison adjoining. It was full both of victims of the reactionaries and of criminals awaiting trial. Tho prison guards ivere killed, the great doors smashed open, and the wondering prisoners released. Tlie building itself was set on fire, and the prisoners, given arms, were ordered to join the mob. They required no second bidding. , Among them was one old political prisoner. Waving a revolver in the air, he led the crowds to tho Courts of Justice, bidding them set fire to the section that, contained the records of himself and his fellow-revolutionaries. But the burning did" not stop here. Tho flames spread, the place was gutted, and the archives were destroyed. Huge piles of books and documents were set ablaze; for three days tho cellars were a glowing furnace, for masses of papers, packed as these were, burn slowly. Even on tlio third day people crowded round the scorched and framelcss windows, .warming their hands at the glow.

; Hapless Police Disguises. Meanwhile smaller crowds—detached from the inaiu party set forth on organised raids on their own account, leiPby the soldiers whom they now hailed as "brothers" and "comrades." Every policeman they saw was shot or struck down with sword or bayonet. Every police station was stormed, swept of its contents, every document was burnt, all tlie stores of ammunition were taken, the hoarded food supplies commandeered, and the building burnt. Police hunting was the order of the day; these unhappy conspirators sought escape disguised as women, workmen, nursomaids, and even as soldiers. But few escaped.

In tho streets now the crowds were waving red flags, singing revolutionary so r iigs, smashing windows, and, as was natural, in part, getting out of hand. Fighting was still going on; some streets were strewn with the dead and the dying. All vo'STcuiar traffic 'had been stopped; but tho lenders of the mob commandeered every motor-car they could get, armed it with a machine-gun and a gun crew and set it careering through tho streets firing in some cases indiscriminately. Motor lorries were used for the same purpose. . The churches, hospitals, , and other public buildings were opened for the reception of tjie dead and wounded; but strict orders were given that policemen, killed or wounded, were to lie where they fell. The same order applied to dead and wounded officers.

All through" the night the city aglow with fires and discordant with

cries. By midnight practically the whole mass of official documouts had been destroyed. At street~cornere people -warmed themselves at the bonfires. Eveutlie chemists' shops had been looted for can do Cologne, methylated spirit, and other fiery stuff. There were wild orgies in some quarters.

■--• British in a Hot Spot. The Astoria Hotel—the "Wai- Hotel," as it is known—tras among the buildings attacked. This hotel was reserved for officers—native and foreign. Everybody; was ordered-to come out and surrender. There was a bloody, fight in the hall. Tho foreign officers wore unharmed, and about 20 British stayed until the very last to shield the women. They did not leave until the mob threatened to raze the place to the ground. Finally the furniture was smashed and the winecellars rifled. The Russian officers were placed under arrest, (disarmed, and brought out into.tho street, where somewere shot. righting was still proceeding on Wednesday, but the organisation of the revolutionary committee was already beginning to make itself felt. Notices were posted all over the city asking the people to be quiet and to refrain from looting; a number of ; the criminals who had been released were reinterued, and arrangements were made for the issue of. a daily paper. The large quantities of food hoarded up by the police were distributed at rational prices, and on tnday the banks opened for a couple-of hours. This had a very calming effect. A bitters blizzard on. .Saturday drove everybody out of the streets, and on bunday the city had practically resumed.ite normal state.

Workers' Wages Doubled. '- When the mills and the factories reopened, the revolution.was the workmen's opportunity. Instantly they toot it. They all demanded a universal eighthour day and an increase of wages-run- ' ning up from half as mnch again to thrice the former pay. They insisted upon the discharge of all the old toremen and masters of departments, electing their own nominees in their places, They further insisted'upon, all the masters having the same food as the men and receiving only a certain percentage of the profits. On this new 'revolu- v tionary" scale the daily wages in one textile,factory (British) were more than doubled. Domestic servants, chauffeurs, bank clerks, and others held ma6s meetings in the kinema halls had presented ultimatums to .their employers. The domestic servants insisted upon an eighthour day and a minimum wage of SA a month (£1 to £Y 10s.. is the usual wage). The servants also insisted upon, being allowed one day a month brine set apart in the house for the entertain-, raent of their friends.