The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-01-29
THE RUSSIAN AVELER
Glimpses of the Home ofGeorge KEENAN,,
the Well-Known Authority.
How He Happened TO Go Abroad to Siberia IN
the First Place and Why He Kept Co.
ing-How He Looks and Works.
washington Letter In Boston Advertiser.

One of the moot interesting homes In Wash
jno.or ia that of that most interesting man.
George Kennan, the noted Russian traveller, who
is writing tor the Century the series OF papers
on the political exles that Is attracting wide at
tenton. What is MIR. Remnants daily businessl
Not one person in one thousand IN this city
could tell, probably He 10, as he has always
been, one Of the men who turn night
int, dav. Go ND into the fourth story Of
the Corcoran building. between P. NJ and
A NJ. and ron will find him sitting among click
ing instruments and great piles of manifold"
az the tissue paper on which several copies of
any matter for publication is known among the
craft. There he is, a slender with black
rnustache and thin black hair just turning
little to gray wiry, but with the spirit of energy
andintense love of work visible in every feature.
His fine head and his eyes the striking
parts of his face. The bump of perceptiveness
over his eyes sticks out until it stares the Wis
itor in the face. His eyes. dark keen, eager
and restless, say when his lips are not moving
low quick they have been IN watching men and
things. The clicking instruments are there of
the Associated Press Office. where Mr.. Ksnnan
has been for nine years. He is one of the bright
managers. with the oversight in CON nectior with
others of all the news sent to the newspapers of
the great news association of the country from
the national capital.
But this is not his home, nor is IL the time to
talk to him. The greedy telegraph instruments
are constantly calling for more news to send
East and West, North and South, and all the
sheets of tissue paper have to be !ccksd over
and arranged. What section Of sh- country
wants another does not The vork Is steady,
and to talk at ease with the who has
slept almost every night for @ whole winter at
N time, rolled MP in fur big, on Siberian
steppe staying sometimes forty eight hours 1t a
ryrna vuifh nrlxy "a hracd INA
10 is far better to sit in his library In his cozy
home oE Massachusetts avenue, with its frescoe
OF antique weapons on the four walls and Mrs
KEENAN, to make a cup OF Russian tea in the
samovar
But it was the clicking telegraph instrument
that first sent George KEENAN, into tho northern
Willis of Asia, taught him Russian, and made
the study of the country fascinating to him.
He entered Siberia in the service of the Western
His zest for exploration, his interest in the cold
land and it's people all the more quiekened
by the circumstances of his boyhood Morses
alphabet was in his brain almost before he was
more than baby.
He was only six years old when he sent his
first message by telegraph He knew the alpha
not read script. His father printed a sentence
for him to send. and he sent it He dropped out
for school, but came back to the instrument a
mere boy, learned the alphabet over again and
went to work as an operator. This was in Gin
einnati. and there he remained during the war.
Almost any Of the operators of position who
to '65 can tell stories of the tremendous and ex-
hausting strain put on the men at the keys in
those days. Mr.. Kennan was no exception He
has seen the time when he sat at his desk.
stopping only to get a glass of water a fresh
pencil from o'clock at night until the next
morning But he has tried his limit before,
when he worked at the key early in the day.
then after few hours restless sleep was at
his books preparing for college. He got himself
fitted. but never entered college. The tele-
graphic work during the war kept him close 1t
told on him, too. He was uneasy at times. aud
tried TO break the routine. When the tele-
graphic service was carried into the field he
wrote General Stager, asking to be sent to the
front The petition WAS returned kindly, for his
chief told him he was more likely, il run down,
to get worse in the South at the front than to
get better.
So he kept ut il. At eighteen he was pale.
thin, almost a shadow. I20 pounds altogether of
him. skin and bones Then il was that the
telegraphic communication to stretch across
northern Asia was proposed. 1t got into the
newspapers, hints of it. and again George Ken
nan wrote to General Stager for a chance to go
out doors and recuperats.
''Csn you get ready to start for Siberia in two
weeksP the question which came to him
over the wires two days after his letter
81 can get ready in two hours, came back
without an instant's delay But there was
hitch at home. Remnants parents looked
askance at the idea of allowing boy of eighteen,
who looked almost ready for a sick bed. to start
for another continent. But a sensible old fami-
ly physician came mp. He said that if the hoy
worked two years longer in a telegraph office
he was sure to die. Tho chances were that if he
got out and about he would build up. So he
started siege of typhoid delayed him six
weeks. but when he did get to San Francisco,
with the appetite of a sea voyage and a coEva-
lescing young man upon him meantime. hs stood
forty pounds heavier hearty, wide awake
There was longer delay in the glorious Califor-
mia climate while the ships were loading, and so
much moro leisure. The tropical scenery of
Nicaragua. was revelation 1t made him
more eager than ever, and no set out westward
gladly.
There he remained over two years. working
at the preparations for the route. Over 600
miles OF the line was blocked up. Stations were
laid. This was slow work and expensive. The
provisions were costly; the distances were so
long. Finally the work was given up. The
Atlantic cable was doing better work than was
thought possible before. IL became clear that
the estimates of completing the work were much
too small The total had been placed at So 000,-
600. 1t could not be done for less than
s2O.000.0O0. When the order came to discon-
tinue, quite 100000 had been spent
The material brought out was abandoned, and
the men returned home. Theyleft behind them
insulators and brackets for the poles The ma
tiyes were quick to take possession. The brack-
cts served frewood, and the insulators as
drinking-cups The San Francisco man, 100.
who goes into eastern Siberia within twenty
years is very apt to find his grandfathers photo
graph there. The telegraph planners got
great batch on the plea they never would be
seen again. They used them to trade with the
natives and the latter treasure them reiigiously.
Young kennau made the trip home the long
way, beginning with grand sleigh-ride on the
boulevard leading to St Petersburg. The road
was good and it n lightning trip with
sledges, 8. 642 miles in twenty odd DAYS. He
was a new man, filed with deep interest in the
wild country. able to talk Russian, with head
full OF points about the looks, habits and homes
of the natives, and some idea of the dongs OF
the Russians. Back across Europe he went and
back to Norwslk, O.. home He had been away
frum home three years and Travelled five thousand
miles Part of his adventures many boy has
dreamed about, after reading Tent Life in
Siberia"
Inhospitable country as he found it, its fasci-
nation was stronger. He could not keep a way.
He has been returning since. Four times
since he frat went to string wires across the |
stepree he has entered them on eledge and in
his fur bag Each time since he has travelled
from sc. Petersburg east instead of west. Once
Mrs. KEENAN, has been with him. not In the
steppes, but in western and civilized Russia
This was, in several ways, the most interest