Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-08-30
A HUMANE GOVERNOR.
Why . Russian Colonel I'm Siberia Did Not
Answer the Generals Letter.

Sey ~ IN wv y
Answer the Generals Letter.
regret 10 have 10 say that he was
virtually driven out of Siberia by the
worst and most corrupt class of Rus
sian bureaucratic officials. He vas
called weak" and sentimental" he
was accused OF being a socialist" he
was said TO be in sympathy with the
views of the political convicts; and
the ispravnik Of Nerchinsk openly
boosted, in the official club Of that
city. that he would yet ''send Col.
kononovich 10 the province of va
kutsk with a yellow diamond on his
back" How ready even high officers
of the Siberian administration were TO
entertain the most trivial charges
against him may be inferred from the
following anecdote;
During the last year Of his service
at Kara there came To the mines a po-
litical convict hardly out Of his teens,
named Bibikof (Bee-bee-kofu. As a
consequence of long continued suffer
ing and i'll treatment on the road, this
young man was as Wild, suspicious
and savage as a trapped wolf. He
seemed To regard all the world as his
enemies, and glareI at every officer as
4 ne expected "A blow, was half afraid
OF il, but was prepared TO die fight
irg. Col. kononovich received him
~euurteously and kindly; sent the wife
OF one OF the political exiles To him
with fresh underclothing; attended
generally to his physical needs, and
finally said 10 him, Remember that
nobody here will insult you or i'll treat
you"
The young convict VAS greatly sur
prisea by such a reception, and in a
letter that he wrote 10 u friend in Eu-
ropean Russia he said. Il am glad to
know from the little acquaintance |
have had with kononoyich that a
Russian colonel is not necessarily a
beast" This letter fell into the hands
of the police in European Russia. was
forwarded through the minister Of the
interior TO Gen. Ilyasaevich Qll-yah
shay vltchl, the goverIo or Of the Trans
Baikal, and vas sem by that officer
10 Col. kononovich with a request for
an ''explanaion." Il seemed TO be re-
garded as document Try evidence that
the governor of thu Kara prisons was
on suspiciously friendly terms with
the political congIcts. Kononovich
paid no attention 10 the communica-
ton.
Some months later he happened TO
visit Chita on business and Governor
llyashevich, in the purse of a con
versation about other matters, said TO
him, BY the way, Col. kononovich,
you have never answered a letter that
wrote you asking for an explanation
Of something said about you in a let
ter from one Of the political convicts
I n your command. Did you receive
it,
Yes" replied Konorovich, Il re-
ceived it; but what kind Of an answer
did you look fort What explanation
could | givei Did you expect me to
-xcuse myself because somebody re-
garded me as a human being and not
a beastl Was | 10 say that the writer
OF the letter was mistaken in supposing
me to be a human being-that in real
ity | was a beast, and that | had
never given him or anybody else rea
son 10 suppose that a Russian colonel
could be a human beingf'
This presentation of the case rather
confused the governor, who said that
the demand for an explanation had
been written by his assistant, that it
had been stupidity expressed, and that
after all the matter was not of much
consequence. He then dropped the
subject. - George KEENAN, IN Cen
tury,