THEY FEEL FIGHTING.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 471, 14 May 1890, Page 3

THEY FEEL FIGHTING.

Victims of the Russian Spy System Receive Soldiers With Bullets, Some terrible revelations are made of the late tragic occurrence at Irkutsk by a Siberian correspondent of the ‘ Daily News ’: —Nearly a year ago, towards the end of March, there was a mysterious explosion at Zurich which caused a sensation throughout Europe, and was commented upon in all the papers. It was an accident, and several Russian students were killed. The inquiries made by the Zurich police and by the Russian political police, who take great interest in all explosions, led to the belief that a scheme had been in preparation against the life of the Czar. A couple of bombs—masterpieces of their kind—were seized, and it is believed that a certain number of these infernal engines had already been sent to Russia. The police in Russia commenced a search, and Some Few Bombs Were Found. in St. Petersburg and elsewhere. It is known to you that the Russian police have agents in whatever place Russians assemble in considerable numbers, and, of course, such secret agents are not wanting in Switzerland. One of them, it i 8 understood, was admitted to the confidence of the rather simple Russian revolutionaries, and succeeded in procuring the names of a number of young men and women living* in various parts of Russia who were likely to entertain relations with the Russian revolutionaries abroad. The police forthwith arrested all the young men and women who were the subject of the Zurich agent’s supposition, and Without Trial or Verdict, they were despatched to Irkutsk, the metropolis of Eastern Siberia. There they were to pass the rest of their days. About 30 persons were thus senb away, and arrived at Irkutsk early in the summer. It was then announced to them that they could move freely within the limits of the town, and occupy themselves as they chose in order to gain their livelihood. Now, there is no great friendship between Siberia and European Russia. The Siberians object to the fact that the Central Government for many years has taken away from Siberia all the gold they have been able to find, and has done nothing in return save to send to Siberia hundreds and thousands of The Greatest Criminals exclusive of the many thousands of politically condemned and suspected. The Siberians, therefore, consider the men and women belonging to the latter categories as ‘victims of the system,’ and the suspects are certain to meet with friendship on the part of the Siberian people. It was not long before the above-mentioned 30 suspects found employment, and everything went on satisfactorily. Then one day the Governor of Irkutsk received a telegram from the police department at St. Petersburg. He was told that thousands of seditious proclamations had been distributed in various provinces of European Russia, and that there were good reasons for supposing that these proclamations - Had Been Printed at Irkutsk ! The Governor was in despair ; he at once ordered a search to be made, and the police discovered a small printing office. They found at the same time that the revolutionaries had won over several Cossacks of the Baikal to the ‘holy cause,’ and that it was these soldiers who, forming the escort of the last gold transport from Irkutsk to St. Petersburg, had taken the proclamations with them and delivered them to friends in Moscow. Those who were most compromised among the 30 were immediately arrested, and have since been punished with hard labour in the mines. . The others w r ere summoned to the Governor’s house, and told that they would shortly be sent far away to the most distant and wild districts. The unfortunate men and women begged the Governor bo let them stay at Irkutsk, which is, of course, A Paradise compared with the rough shores of the Polar Sea ; bub they prayed in vain. Then they resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible. They assembled in a house which they barricaded as well as they could, and it seems that friendly Siberians provided them with arms and ammunition. When the Governor and his soldiers arrived they were received with a heavy fire, which killed and wounded several, and, as the exiles most stoutly refused to surrender, a fierce fight began ; bub it did not last long ; most of the besieged were wounded or killed. The young man supposed to be the ringleader, who had been brought to the lazaretto dangerously wounded, was a short time afterwards taken out to be hanged. A St. Petersburg correspondent says that the Russian Government is very disagreeably impressed by the indignation meetings held in England and America.