THE TERROR STRICKEN CZARINA

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 154, 20 June 1908, Page 4

THE TERROR STRICKEN CZARINA

| (Sail lu'anoisco Examiner.) \ The unhappy Czarina of llussii -u-' cording to information received in 'lier- '■ 'l'" 1 ." i, ' cr cairoiK'an capitals from iuissia, is losing her mind in consequence id ihe ceaseless attempts of terrorism, upon the life of herself, her husband, and Jie r children. The last occurrence which has unhinged the Czarina's tottering reason is the assassination of the King of Portugal and his son. Following immediately' upon the almost successful attempt to kill the C/.ar. in the bosom of his family, this Clime made the Czarina feel tluit any atrocity might be committed bv the Terrorists and Anarchists who are'seeking the extirpation'of all the JJoval l-'a miiies of Knrope.

I Ihe Czarina has always hoped ti. the liussiiiu Terrorists would refrai n \ mi t-lu* tor while she and hi children, were in his company. She ha been encouraged in this belie'" 1 ■/ th laut that I' hey had in nearly t -as killed memlx-i's of the Imperial t'amil and high Jtussiun oilicials when the 1 were apart from their wives and ehi! d' en. J he Urand Duke Sergius, the mos iiated uncle of the Czar, who had beei marked for death by the Nihilists oi i errorists, was spared for veal's Ik* cause he always went in public with hi; j wife, who was a sister of the Czarina and greatly beloved by the people. Ther at last one day he ventured alone iu hicaniage in the streets of Moscow and was promptly blown to atoms by a bomb. " •* More than a hundred high oilicials have been removed within the last two years by the bomb, knife, and oth;-r tonus of violence, and in nearly every case the assassins took a scrupulous caie not tu destroy their wives and children. There have been many signs lately that the Terrorists, exasperated by their inability to make any headway against the Czar aad his reactionary oilicials, have abandoned these merciful scruple.-;' Considered in connection with the iiajiin ]!iissia ? the outrage in Portugal culminated in unbalancing the Czarina's mind. • j

Hie Portuguese assassins apparently! tended to destroy the whole Koyal j Family at once. They tired into the] carriage which contained tin? King and Queen and tlieir two sons, the Crown ' Prince and Prince Manuel, a'mere boy. It was only by an accident that the Queen escaped, for the bullets flew all about her. ller husband was struck by three or more bullets, and her second sou was stniPK twice, although lie was not dangerously injured. When the news ot this terrible, outrage reached the Czarina she became delirious with terror. "Ah! the wretches," she cried. 'Thev will kill us all. Oh, the children! The children! The children!" Since then the poor Czarina has remained in seclusion, information conj cerning her condition has been received abroad through ladies of the court who have relations in foreign countries and , through the wives of diplomatists. It is stated that she has been driven practically mad by her terrors. Sin? re- , fuses ti) leave hep room or to take the exercise necessary for her health. She has lo>t all interest in her personal appearance. to which she formerly gave' \ the most extraordinary care and attention. The fleshiness to which she was always disposed ha s increased to an uu- , sightly degree, and her face ,has assumed a strange and ghastly pallor. She has become a mere wreck of the health* ] fill golden-haired woman that she was . a few years ;igo. •' j She imagines that she sees the hand of , the assassin in every movement of tindraperies of lier room, and every word she hears is the beginning 0 f the e\- j plosion that .will destroy her and her family. She wakes up in the nighr and shrieks with terror at imaginary noises. Cuuseijuently she has been forced to keep an attendant with her and to have a lighted room, and now she is unable I Io go tof sleep at all. Information his been received that her medical attend- J ants have declared that she is tillering j from melancholia. There is little doubt , that she shuws symptoms of grave mental disease. (

A long series <n' tfl'ril'_vinj>' episodes previous In tlio-e already mi-iitioucil conlriljntcil (11 lli!> Czarina's mental colOne of these was especially nervi wrecking. It occurred when the Czar mid Czarina were sitting down one morn- s | ing in I lie former's sillily or 'cabinet lie travail.' where they an' accustomed to take their breakfast. Here tlie Czar j ( freijueiitly reads important documents anil letters from his family. It is hardly necessary to say Unit all letters anil ~ cniiimunicatioiis addressed to the Czar. w are examined carefully before they are submitted to him. The great majority never reach liini. Only letters written ~ by nieiuliers of his own family and by ollicials of till' highest rank and importa lice are sent to him unopened. These J precautions am taken partly to save " him trouble and also to save him from the ell'ocls of explosives, which, it is ' well known, may be concealed in letters. ' oil the nuirning ill question one of the Imperial servants brought in to the Czar a few of these coiilldeillial communications. On top of them was a I' large, square, thick, important-looking ' envelope. It purported to come from 1 the (lovcrnor-Ocneral of Moscow. cine of the most important ollicials in the ■' Empire, and one from the Czar at that moment, was particularly desiring a re- ' port. It bore the name of tile (lovernor's ollico printed upon the front, and ' was ilulv 'sealed on ilie back with the (lovcrnoV's heavy green oflieial seal. 1 The C/.ar picked up a paper knife and ll was about to open the envelope in his I customary whv, when the Czarina stop- 1 ped him and .said: , ••Wait! It is not addressed in the j The customary manner in which olli j J cials address the Czar in writing is " His ' Imperial Majesty the Czar." This envelope was «rturi;s»eil to " His Majesty. 1 the Czar of Russia." a trilling difference,. but silinificaiit. when tlie formal ] ' habits of Imperial ollicials are consider- > ed. ••Oh," said the Czar. 'I know the : envelope anil paper well. It looks like ; the. Oovernor's handwriting. 1 alii sure it is all right." ' "No," cried the Czarina, "1 am sure there is something wrong. The (ioverlior could not address you in that way. I feel certain this is a plot of your enemies. 1 beg you not to open il." The Czarina poized the envelope and then the Czar consented to send it lo the bucait charged with the examination ' of suspicions packages and letters. There it wus opened by a mechanical device, the opening being made in an entirely different place from where a person would ordinarily open an en ] vdnpe. I 11 \va> at once seen lo be an explosive I ingenious construction. The envelope was of thick linen,'so that il would be dillicult to open it without breaking tin- seal. The llap on the envelope bearing the seal formed ~ii,.-li:-;f of a friction-piece, the other ' hall' of which was attached to the body of the envelope. 11 waking the seal would ignite the friction-piece, which m ' turn would set off a. quantity of com--1 pressed gun-cotton hidden in the iettei. , siiHieienl til kill a man. The gun-cotton was ill a cuke ill the centre ot the envelope, with paper beyond it to simu- " lale a bulky document. The man'who brought the envelope " to the Czar was sent to Siberia, but ' whether lie or the ollicial who handed \ him the batch of envelopes is really I guilt v reiiiiiius uncertain. It was not more than two weeks be- ' 'i i'ore that mi extraordinary plot to de'■'.|rnv the entire Imperial Family was '■ i ,|i>covereil. The details concerning this 11|ot have been received by a prominent, I'.ussian family living in (iencva. Switzerland. The plot was discovered by a mere servant girl. It had escaped flic vi"ilance (if the thousands of soldiers, police, anil ollicials whose nole duty is to protect the fives of the reigning fanuII ]y >'• "The servant found a strange metallic case concealed in the curtains at the 1,1 head of the bed of the Czarevitch, the u onlv son of the Czar and Czarina. Sin picked il up. but found she could liol ™ carrv it away, for il was attached b> a wire to the wall. She then called foi " s IHi>, and a chamberlain, who came run ning up lo see what was the matte, imiiiediaii'ly saw that it was a bon.c n '' mid an investiji'ation. 11 VVS U then ♦'•mud llial a venial- no! work of lioinbs liail been installed iu tli "»• a|iartiueiils of tlie. Czar. Czarina, an .... 1 heir son, There were seventeen <d tliei V" a 11 oii'et her in the palace, and any on h "' of liiem would have been sulhcionl irk ' blow all the occupants of the room I =•<•< They were art fully omrniU behind beds, •under chairs, ami bellii ■urtains at the windows. TTiev we lust (lie places where the occupants ihe room would be most likely to 1 M! (hi' boinli- vvre coniii".|.ed l.v eh trie wirin-r with a batterv on the lie l.elow. "this apparatus was conceal , , behind the wainscoHing in a dark pr '' in (t,e corridor. II was so arranged II I be uri'ssing a button an assassin cm discharge all the seventeen bombs

once and ensure the annihilation of the Imperial Family, s The only reason why the plot had not been carried out was that the bombs had only been placed in position that day. had they nut (been, discovered during the day, they would have been discharged that night, and probably the Czar and his family would have been blown to enternity. Evidently the bombs lrad been installed by an electrician who had been admitted to the palace the day before to make some repairs to the electric wiring, but it is supposed that one or more servants were among his accomplices.