THE ATTEMPT TO BLOW UP THE WINTER PALACE.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1921, 21 April 1880, Page 3

THE ATTEMPT TO BLOW UP THE WINTER PALACE.

The St. Petersburg correspondent of tho " Daily Telegraph " writeß : —" I have obtained permission to visit the scene of tho catastrophe in the Winter Palace. Although much has been dono to repair the damage tho signs of destruction still visible bear witness to the terrible force of the explosion. The cellar in which the explosion took place is situated about the centre of that part of the Palace which faces the Admiralty buildings, and to the left of the main entrance known as the Stoltykovsky Porch. This portion of the Palace is of very slight depth, and is traversed in every storey by wide corridors, on either side of which are small apartments. Tho whole of the Palace buildings stand round a large yard some nine hundred, feet across, and upon which the Emperor's private diningroom looks out. Both the cellar in which the dynamite exploded and the floor above, where the guard-room was situated, are vaulted, and of remarkably strong structure, whilst the whole face of the_ build ing looking into tho yard is full of windows of immense height and width. The vaulted ceilings and tho size of the windows undoubtedly saved the whole building from destruction. The forco of the explosion when arrested by the massive masonry expended itself in tho large courtyard, and there is probably not a single whole pane of glass left in the windows of tho three sides which look into it. In the dining-room the parquet flooring is slightly lifted up and damaged, and the shock further caused the plaster of tho ceiling to fall, otherwise this apartment, which was the one aimed at, remains intact. When the explosion took placo the Emperor had just estered an apartment adjoining the dining-room, which it was intended to blow up. The Czar was accompanied by the Duchcs3 of Edinburgh, the Prince of Bulgaria, and Princa Alexander of Hesse. It was whilst tho Imperial party were delaying in the ante-room over the sakoureki—which precedes all Ruesian dinners—that the dynamite was fired. It appears, however, that, even had the Imperial family bften in the dining room they would not have suffered any real danger. The floor was severely shaker, glasses knocked ovei and windows brokon, but that was all. A largo number of arrests have been made, and many innocent people have fallen vintims to tho panic which seized the authorities. One of the cavalry regiments is always under arms, and as soon as the signal of alarm was given by wire from the Palace the men wore turned out in hot haste ; ball cartridges wore hurriedly served out, and, without a moment's loss of time tho mon galloped off. The fastenings of tha cartouche cases are very awkward and hence but few wera properly closed. At the speed of the gallop many cartridges were jerked out and the streets wera strewed with these explosives. As soon as traffic was resumed many of them went off under the wheels of carriages and droskiee, and tho police and bystanders, ignorant of what was really occurring, bogan to arrest tho unlucky occupants of the Vehicles, who -were accused of dia cha ging firearms in tho street. Ono young lady of position wa3 seized at tho instance of a high and well-known official in the Foreign Office, who ir: his panic imagined end de clared that he had seen her fire a revolver at the captain of a firo brigade, who was passing." Portions of a letter from Prince evlex-.mder of Hesse to his wife, dated St. Petersburg the 18th inst., in which the former gives an account of tho explosion in the Winter Palace, have, been published. Tho Princo cays :- " 1 was received at the railway station by all tho sons of tho Emperor, and by the Prince of Bulgaria, and was thence conducted to the Winter Palace The Emperor awaited me at tho staircase. Wo were proceeding through a large corridor to hi,! Majesty's apartments, when suddenly a fearful detonation was heard. The "flooring was raised as by an earthquake, the gas lamps wore extinguished, and we were loft in total darknoas At; the same time a horrible dust and the smell of

gunpowder or dynamite filled the corridor. Some one shouted to us that the chandelier had fallen down in the Baloon where cbo table wa3 laid for the dinner of the Imperial family. I hastened thither with the Czarewitch and the Grand Duke Vladimir, while Count Adelsburg, in doubt as to what might happen next, held back the Emperor. We found all the windows broken and the walls in ruins. There was no longer ai.y doubt that a mine had exploded under the saloon. The dinner hoar had been delayed for half an hour by my arrival, and it was owing to this that the Imperial family had not yet assembled in the dining hall." The " Times" St. Petersburg correspondent tells ub what took place at the funeral of the ten unfortunate soldiers killed by the explosion in the Winter Palace. The Grand Duke Constantino, liia son, and most of the high officials, as well as a large number of troops representing every regiment of the Guards in St. Petersburg, followed in the cortege. The day before the Emperor, with his three sons, attende t mass for the dead soldiers, and took the opportunity of again thanking the officers of tho Finland Guards for the wonderful discipline which their men had shown on the evening of tho 17th. Pointing to tho ten white coffin's on the floor of the church, his Imperial Majesty remarked, with great emotion in his voice, that they reminded him of tho lata campaign. His Majesty then visited the wounded men in the hospital for tho fourth or fifth time einco the explosion, and talked some time with the sufferers. General Gourko issued another order of the day to the Guards announcing the solemn burial of the Finlaid soldiers, and recalling the heroic way in which they stood to their posts through all tho confusion around them. The General further observes that such noble observance of duy will convince tho evil-minde 1 that their attempts to disaffact tho troop? by threats or evt-n by death itself are powerless to shake tho loyalty and obedience of the army.