The Forrest City times., 1891-11-06
A NARROW ESCAPE.
G.ors. Kennan Got Into Trouoie "u'
 outwitted the Russians.

on the second day after our arrival in Krasnoyarsk we narrowly escapeo getting into what might have been serious trouble as the result Of an un- expected perquisition in the house oi inc acouaintance with whom Shamarln and Peterson were staying. Ihis ac- ouaintance. it seemed, was under sus- picion. and late in the evening during fin. absence of the two young men from their quarters. the police suddenly ap- neared with orders to make a house. search. The search was duly made but nothing of u suspicious nature was found except the two locked trunks of Shamarin and Peterson. In reply 70 question as to what was In them the proprietor of the house said that ne did not know, that they were the pro pertv of two of his acquaintances who had stopped for a few days with h.in on their way from Irkutsk to St Petersburg. Upon being asked where these acquaintances were, he replied that he did not know, that they usual- ly went out after dinner and returned between eleven and twelve o'clock. After n brief consultation the police officers decided that as they had no orders to search the personal baggage of the house-owner's guests they would not force the locks of the trunks, but would merely cord and seal them so that the contents could not be tam nered with and leave them until morn- ing
 When Shamarin and Peterson return ed to their quarters about midnight they found their trunks corded and sealed so that they could not be open cd. In one of them were many letters from political exiles and convicts in Eastern Siberia to friends and rela- tives in European Russia-letters de- scribing my investigations and the na- ture of the material that l was col lecting and asking the friends and relatives in European n1sJia to CO., operate with me-and a photograph Of myself that l had given to Shamarin with a dedication or inscription on the back that would reveal 10 any intelli- gent police officer the intimate nature of my relations with political coavicts. What was to be done? To break a police seal under such circumstances would be penal oifense. and would probably lead to Imprisonment and an investigation. To leave the letters and photograph in the trunk would be to insure their discovery and eonfisca- tion on the following morning and that might create very embarrassing situation for me as well as for the authors and their friends. The two young men finally concluded to make an attempt to get the trunk open with out removing the cords or breaking the seals, and as the letters and pf O. tograph were near the bottom. and as the lid could rot be raised even if the trunk were unlocked. they decided to take out a part of the bottom and afterward replace it. By working all the rest of the night they succeeded in getting out one of the bottom boards, obtained the dangerous letters and the photograph. put the board back with out disturbing any of the seals. anG when the police came in the morning stood by with unrufiied serenity an6 saw the trunks searched. Of course nothing more dangerous than hair brush, and nothing more discriminating than hotel bill could be found. - Century.