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NIK0LAEV1TCH.
THE MAKING OF AN ANARCHIST. ]
(By Josopli Greenaway.)
-An olcl Uorm;ui baker related to ine
the. following life story. His shop is
situated about 5U0 yards from Sydney
street, off tlie .Mile End Road,, not far
from .the house whore "the-Russian anar
chists barbarously murdered the three
city constables here in -London a short
time back. He gave , me the details
quietly, without any intentional dra
matic effort, and as near as possiblo 1
will give you his exact words.
Nlkolaovitch was born in'Moscow.- His
■parents were ordinary hard-working pea
sants, but, like hundreds of others, tney
had left the hard work of tilting the
land for the alleged glitter and ease of
town life. Also, like hundreds of others,
they had soon found out that' the life
of a big city was far harder than they
had ever .anticipated. So that tlie early
days of Nikolaevitch's life was spent in
heavy poverty.
Words fail to express the sorrow and
degradation of the downright .poor of
Russia. Only those wlio have seen tlie
hovels where the poor live in Moscow
can realise the abject misery, and the
black sadness thatr must be their lot
from day to day. However, young Iviko
laevitch struggled on, and at the age of
18 he left his native country for ring
land.
His parents were then too old to ever
dream of emigrating. But a pretty
black-eyed, quiet little Russian girl by
the name of Ona, who had captured the
simple heart of. Nikolaevitcii, _prayed
for his success, so that they might lie
made man aud wife in a' new, wide hind.
Nikolaovitcli set out to England with
the brave, high hopes of youth. Arriv
ing in London. Jie set .to work desperate
ly, and a few months later lie was'on'
his way to .New York-- -Success cannwto
hint in America. From New York he
went to Chicago, and shortly afterwards
he had saved enough money to purchase
a small wlieat farm out in Dakota. His
thoughts now turned to the little black
eyed sweetheart of his boyhood patiently
waiting for him in Russia. Money was
sent along, and one fine spring morning
Ona started out on the long journey to
her lover in faraway Dakota.
Poor little Ona! What did she know
of the world? Like hundreds of other
simple emigrants 'she was cheated out of
her hard-earned savings, by .the vipers
that'throng around tlie emigration of
fices.^ She was cheated at the Russian
frontier; she was cheated - in France;
she was cheated in London; • but
America she received the hardest blow.
After being detained on Ellis Island for
two weeks she was refused admittance 1
on account of somo slight physical do
fect, •
. She had to sail back to London alone.
When Nikolaevitcii heard of this'lie
sold up his farm, and started for New
York. He went over to:the emigration
offices, hut he could get .no definite in
formation. All he was told was that
Ona had sailed for London.
He called - the : emigration 'officials
hard nameS. Then he purchased a third
class ticket for Europe.
Six months elapsed' before lie found
Ona in London. She was' then lying ill
in St. Thomas'' Hospital that overlooks
the sullen old Thames. He remembered
wandering through the long silent
wards, and hearing the kind, motherly
words of the nurses. Then- a gentl«?lady
all in white touched his arm, and he
'saw the pinched up little face of Ona..
She was dying. He could see that
'plainly. He just held;her frail little
t hands and stdod awkwardly by the bed
side. Words failed him. Then it seemed
that everything swam > round and round
I him,- and he fell at the bedside and
sobbed his heart out like a child. :
-He -left the hospital as in ;V trance. ■
He wandered around the long : silent
streets of-London for three-nights. TJp
and.down by the dark old .river. He was
a changed "man.- The iron-had' entered
his.'soul. .! .
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