The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-09-12 00:00:00

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RUSSIAN NIHILISTS IN CALIFORNIA.

A Liverpool correspoet der t has received from a
friend in San Francisco VI interesting account of a
Nihilist Colony, Ukraina, about 30 miles due east
from San Francisco. Founded in 1850 by a refugee,
Ivan Duernay, this Colony has been formed by a
succession of escaped Siberian exiles, and their energy
has changed the rugged sides of the canyon into a
fertile garden. For twelve years Duernay dwelt
alone, but in 1862 a compatriot named Kruszavoski
joined him, sharing his cottage, and both living on
the game, which is abundant. Their number gradu-
ally increased, until about ten families were brought
together, and the Colony formed under the name
of Ukraina (cut off). The chief building is
occupied by a revolutionary priest named
Honcharenko. Over the door of this house
is the inscription " Svoboda " (liberty). The
priest is a man of intellect and cultivated
taste. Born at Kief, he was trained for the
diplomatic service, and afterwards was ordained.
But, disgusted with the enormities practised in the
name of religion, he associated with Nicholas Triibner,-
started a paper, in which he exposed the practices of
priestcraft, and made himself many enemies, though
he had amongst his subscribers the Czar himself and
his brother, the Grand Admiral Constantine. This
paper, by its vigorous writing, largely stimulated the
measure of serf emancipation, but it was most
jealously watched, and eventually its editors and
owners were arrested and imprisoned in Constanti-
nople. By the aid of Athenian friends whom he
found there, Honcharenko escaped banishment to
Siberia, and found his way to America. He founded
a Russian church in New York, and later on a GraTo-
Russian church in New Orleans, and now, with an
American woman for his wife, is living a peaceful life
at Ukiaina. Although "cut off" from the world, the
colony has always maintained secret communication
with Russia, and in 1880 a cipher message reached
Duernay from that country, and he thereupon shot
himself. Amongst the colonists is Rogovitch, who
made his escape from Siberia, travelling for 800 miles
of his journey in manacles. The settlement has by
dint of hard labour been brought to a flourishing con-
dition, and fruit trees, vegetables, and plants grow in
abundance. One of the prettiest spots of the canyon
is a grotto and natural spring. From the cool recess
of this spot a fine view of the glorious bay of San
Francisco and the distant blue of the Pacific Ocean is
to be seen. In the cavern on a rocky shelf there is a
small tin box containing a number of smooth thin pine
boards, upon which are inscribed the names of visitors,
and among them are many Russian signatures. Close
at band on the brow of the hill is a rough, white-
washed building, a refuge for the wayfarer. In it are
a taw rough cots, a stove and cooking apparatus, and
a plentiful supply of the Russian drink
Vodkt. The settlers are men of cultivation and
learning, and their rural labours have not rubbed
off their refinement of manner or courtesy,
of speech. How these exiles became aware that such
a settlement existed is a secret, though a small print-
ing press in Honcharenko's house might furnish a
clue, and it is certain they readily found their way
there, and received a hearty welcome on their
arrival. The last man to arrive is an intelligent
young student from St. Petersburg, Max Wienlintsky
by name, who, after arrest, with some friends, was
being conveyed to Siberia, but who managed to escape
en route, finding his way to Saghalien Island, where
he joined an American vessel, and worked his way as
a seaman to San Francisco. Wienlintsky is a man of
great accomplishments, and intends ultimately to
settle at Boston as a teacher of languages