St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1892-03-17
A TRUE STORY FROM SIBERIA.

In this day the newspaper drag
net is closely woven and diligently
drawn, but a good story sometimes
escapes This story, or IA Their hint
of story, from the far and desolate
regions of Siberia seems to me the |
most unique instance in some time.
Several weeks ago a New York |
daily printed in an obscure place a
paragraph about a startling happen
ing in eastern Siberia. Although [
read it attentively, as it interested
me and required to me again and
again, have not been able to find
it since A few days ago, however,
there was another paragraph, print
ed in the same obscure way, which
makes the loss of the first no cOnSe-
quence Here it is:
ST. PETERSBURG, June 1S.-The Rus
sian government appears to nave
abandoned all hope of discovering the
fate of Alexandra MaximOvltch Osersky,
who in 1890 left Irkootsk, Siberia, in
command of a military guard which was
escorting to st. Petersburg a transport
train laden with gold ore of the value of
several million rubles. Since then abso-
lutely nothing has been heard of officers,
men or train.
Such an indefinite and imaginary
view of Siberia's unexplored vast
ness is current that many people will
at first glance see nothing startling
in this. 1t is true that strange, I'M
conventional things do happen in
Siberia But this is startling enough
to have aroused the establishment of
even the Russians themselves.
The facts in the above despatch
may be supplemented by some which
were set forth in the first despa tch.
The guard consisted Of about seventy
five men, all of whom were thorough
Iv familiar with the parts of Siberia
to be traversed. The caravan set
out late in January, 1890, and was
last seen a few days later about two
hundred miles to the west of Irkootsk,
at one of the post-houses at which
it stopped for the night. A week af-
ter the disappearance had been
definitely settled, the Russian gov
eminent set about tracing 1t in the
most elaborate manner. The car
issued an ukase commanding all
Siberian subjects to aid in the search.
Couriers were sent to the Tartar
tribes along the route both north
and south. Scouting parties went
over the entire territory so far as
was practicable. Traders across the
great Chinese desert to the south
were questioned and the machinery
of the Chinese government called IN
aid. So for year and four months
the search was kept up. The result
has been told already. Not bag Of
gold, not a recognizable skeleton
gun, or bit of uniform was found
and the mystery has been left tic
time and chance for unravelling.
The road from Irkootsk, three
thousand miles and more acros:
mountains and plains to the frontier
of Russia, where the railroad from
St. Petersburg ends, is a military
highway much travelled, and dotted
at distances of twenty miles witt
post-hOuses. 1t is not as smooth
and easy as the Riverside drive, Blu
it is a perfectly plain road, from
which former perifs were thought t.
have been banished entirely. We
somewhere between two pOst-hOuse
in the mountainous part of the rOa'
which lies between Lake BaIkal am
the level plain to the west, this con
siderable caravan vanished away
leaving not trace behind.
A happening like this in countr
so beset with bitterest weather, S
full of unknown places and people,
most suggestive. What terrible
what unheard-of fate can have over
taken these seventy-hve human be
ings and these several hundred horse
and these great bags of gold ore?
This caravan was journeying
the midst of Siberian winter. The1
were SHOWS of incredible depth, thel
were swift and cutting winds. Tt
road lay through mountains SCARE
and scanned by the attack of tt
sharpest elements from an immen:
antiquity Old and untrodden fores
of boundless extent were all about.
In the winter-time packs of fier'
wolves sweep through these fores
in great numbers. They are frenzit
with hunger, and often rabid fro
the bites of mad wolves. They e;
one another, and attack any part
of travellers that may be abrOa
1t may be that some pack, of 81
not known before. fell upon this car
van, which was driven or had wan
cred from the main road into Il
forest Then the wolves, after a lor
fight, conquered, and men and beas