Dear Boss

[TradeName]

Do you, perchance, have Butterworth?

I've thumbed through it at the bookstore.

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Lynn, I seem to remember that Philip Krantz of Berner Street fate was allegedly involved with the assassination of the Tsar.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[lynn cates]

assassination

Hello Trade. Thanks. The NV was responsible for the assassination of the Tsar earlier in the decade.

Do you, perchance, have Butterworth?

Cheers.
LC

[TradeName]

Doing some Googling with the clue you provided, it does look like this was the Leo Hartmann associated with Narodnaya Volya.

When he was in New York in 1881, some doubted his authenticity:

The School Herald, Volume 1, September 1, 1881, Pages 114-115

PSEUDO CRIMINALS

The second would-be-thought criminal who is accused of hypocrisy, is the person claiming to be Leo Hartmann, the Nihilist. Coming to this country some weeks since, this man made open confession of his participation in the blowing up of the Moscow train, and gained considerable notoriety thereby. His description of the way in which the crime was effected was given in full by the press, and the question whether Hartmann could be extradited on the strength of his confession was generally discussed. Now comes a St. Petersburg correspondent and says that "the Moscow railroad mine was not dug from a house, as alleged [in Hartmann's narrative], for there was no house except a signal box and tool house within 100 yards of the line at the point of explosion. The dynamite was in a broken culvert, and was fired by means of a cartridge, exploded by a lever fastened to the rail. All that portion of the New York story respecting the superhuman efforts of Hartmann and his associates in digging from the cellar of their house under a road to the line is, therefore, purely imaginative, and it is the basis of the whole narrative. Either Hartman is not on your side of the water, or he is romancing."

---end

[lynn cates]

NV

Hello Trade. Thanks for this. Wasn't he a Narodnaya Volya chap?

Cheers.
LC

[TradeName]

This is apparently the "confession of Hartmann" the Quarterly Review piece mentioned:

Grey River Argus, Volume XXIII, Issue 3671, 1 June 1880, Page 2

HARTMANN'S CONFFSSION

HIS ATTEMPT TO PLOW [sic] UP THE CZAR—HIS CAREER

[TradeName]

The Hannah Dobbs testimony at oldbaileyonline:

SIWERIN BASTENDORF, Deception > perjury, 24th November 1879

55. SIWERIN BASTENDORF (32) was indicted for wilful and corrupt perjury, committed by him in an affidavit in an action between himself and George Purkiss.

Another case charging Judy with libeling the Central News:

WILLIAM JOHN SINKIN, Breaking Peace > libel, 10th December 1883.

143. WILLIAM JOHN SINKIN , Unlawfully and maliciously printing and publishing a libel on the Central News Company.


The item in question:

Judy, or the London Serio-Comic Journal, Volume 33, October 31, 1883, Page 213

Political Palaver

[lynn cates]

SJ

Hello Trade. Thanks for posting these.

Their early starting time caught my eye. That fact might answer some of the questions I had regarding the "Saucy Jacky" postcard.

Cheers.
LC

[TradeName]

New York Times, March 22, 1880, link

Current Foreign Topics

Paris, March 21.--Prince Orloff has left the city.

La Justice publishes a letter written by Hartmann, denying that he made the statement which was communicated to the Central New Press Association of London, and published by it on the 19th inst., purporting to be his confession of the attempt on the life of the Czar at Moscow.

[TradeName]

A summary of the Bastendorff trial, which involved Hannah Dobbs as a witness:

New York Times, December 22, 1879, link

SECRETS OF A SERVANT GIRL

THE SEQUEL OF THE EUSTON-SQUARE MYSTERY

From the London Standard, Dec. 6

[TradeName]

Quarterly Review, Volumes 150-151, October, 1880, Page 278

The Newspaper Press

The second offshoot of the ' Central Press' is the 'Central News,' in Ludgate Circus, the proprietor of which is Mr. William Saunders. This undertaking is designed simply and solely for the collection and distribution of news, and there can be no question about the energy with which it is worked, though there are, perhaps, some fastidious persons who might desire a little more care in sifting the news before it is sent out. It was, as most newspaper readers will remember, the 'Central News' which gave currency to the report about the loss of the 'Himalaya' troop-ship some nine or ten months ago, and it was on the same authority that the so-called confession of Hartmann was given to the public. Of the part taken by the reporters of this Agency in the miserable affair of Hannah Dobbs and the Euston Square murder, it is not necessary to speak. The matter was tolerably notorious at the time, and did not increase the respect with which intelligence headed 'Central News' was received. One great peculiarity of this office is that it is almost always open. Work begins in it at a little before four in the morning; when the earliest copies of the London papers having been obtained, they are eviscerated by skilled sub-editors, and the results are telegraphed before a quarter-past five to the provincial clients of the concern. An early morning despatch follows, embodying all the news which has been received during the night. Throughout the day at short intervals news is telegraphed to the provinces for publication in the evening papers, and on Sunday mornings a brief summary of Saturday night's news is despatched to subscribers. Parliamentary Reports, Stock Exchange and Commercial News, Court Circular, Markets, the lists of Bankrupts from the Gazette, and sporting intelligence, are all provided by this office, which, furthermore, does not disdain to supply clubs, exchanges, and news-rooms.

---end

There's an account in the following article of testimony by Hannah Dobbs that she was paid by Mr. Moore and Mr. Birley to write a pamphlet.

The Glasgow Herald, November 10, 1879, Page 5

The Euston Square Mystery

The Charge of Perjury

[lynn cates]

thanks

Hello Mr. Evans. Thank you for that.

Cheers.
LC

[Stewart P Evans]

John Moore

Hello Mr. Evans. Thanks for that. Please also convey my thanks to Mr. Skinner.
Do you have any opinions about the Hurlbert chap? Have you, perchance, seen his hand?
Cheers.
LC

In my humble opinion there is absolutely no doubt that 'The Boss' to whom the 'Dear Boss' letter is addressed is John Moore, Chief Editor, and General Manager of the Agency at the time. Hurlbert is an interesting character but he merely bought a controlling number of shares in the CNA from the founder, William Saunders, M.P., when he retired and sold off his shares. At that time Saunders had little or nothing to do with the actual running of the Agency which was under Moore's charge and control from 1884 to 1907.

[Tom_Wescott]

Thanks Stewart and Keith, that's cool.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[lynn cates]

thanks

Hello Mr. Evans. Thanks for that. Please also convey my thanks to Mr. Skinner.

Do you have any opinions about the Hurlbert chap? Have you, perchance, seen his hand?

Cheers.
LC