In a short
time the whole of the city was aglow with the glare from the burning
buildings which, in addition to the heavy firing, made the situation
appear far worse than it actually was, and had the effect of clearing
the streets of the more serious-minded and nervous citizens. The mobs
presented a strange, almost grotesque appearance. Soldiers, workmen,
students, hooligans and freed criminals wandered aimlessly about in
detached companies, all armed, but with a strange variety of weapons.
A student with two rifles and a belt of machine-gun bullets round
his waist was walking with another with a bayonet tied to the end
of a stick. A drunken soldier had only the barrel of a rifle remaining,
the stock having been broken off in forcing an entry into some shop.
A steady, quiet-looking business man grasped a large rifle and a formidable
belt of cartridges.
The crowds
commenced to commandeer every automobile in the city, no matter to
whom it might belong. These automobiles they filled with armed men,
with at least two soldiers lying on the mudguards with loaded rifles
and fixed bayonets. These formidable units then rushed all over the
city shooting wildly, but with the chief object of hunting down the
police, especially those in the outlying districts who had not yet
become aware of the true state of affairs in the city.
(2)
Stinton Jones, Russia in Revolution (1917)
One little
boy of about twelve years of age had secured an automatic pistol and,
together with a large number of soldiers, was warming himself at one
of these fires. Suddenly he pulled the trigger and one of the soldiers
fell dead. This so alarmed the boy, who had no idea of the mechanism
of the deadly weapon he held, that he kept the trigger pulled back
and the automatic pistol proceeded to empty itself. It contained seven
bullets, and it was not until they were all discharged that they boy
released his hold of the trigger. The result was that three soldiers
were killed and four seriously injured. This wholesale destruction
was probably an isolated case, but hundreds of people were injured
by the careless use of weapons in unaccustomed hands. Quite a number
of children shot themselves whilst playing with firearms.
