Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1893-07-20
A NARROW ESCAPE IN RUSSIA.
How the visilsnt Odlcers Of the CEar
Were Cleverly Outwitted

How the Nisilant Officers Of the Gar
Were CIeverly outwitted.
On the second day Kter our arrival in
Krasuoyarsk we narrowly escaped getting
into what might have been serious trouble
as the result Of an unexpected perquisition
in the house Of the acquaintance with
whom Shamarin and Peterson were stay
ing This acquaintance, it seemed, was
under suspicion, and late in the evening"
during the absence of the two young men
from their quarters, the police suddenly
appeared with orders to make a house
search. The search WAS duly made, but
nothing Of a suspicious nature was found
except the two locked trunks of Shamarin
and Peterson.
In reply TO a question as to what was in
them the proprietor of the house said that
he did not know, that they were the prop
! erty of two of his acquaintances who had
stopped for few days with him on their
way from Irkutsk to st. Petersburg Upon
being asked where these acquaintance
were, he replied that he did not know; that
they usually went ont after dinner and re-
| turned between II and L. o'clock. After 4
| brief consultation the police officers de
/ cided that as they had no orders to search
the personal baggage of the houSeowner'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 tampered with, and leave them until
morning.
When Shamarin and Peterson returned
to their quarters about midnight they
! found their trunks corded and sealed so
that they could not be opened. In one of
them were many letters from political eX-
lies and convicts in eastern Siberia and
friends and relatives in European Russia
letters describing my Investigations and
the nature of the material that was col.
Letting. and asking the friends and rela,
tives in European Russia to co operate with
me-and n photograph of myself that j
had given to Shamarin with dedication
z description on the back that would re-
I'1oli"v intelligent police officer the In.
! ical conyicts. of y i'.' 'u'
! What was to be donei To break police
seal under such circumstances would be a
penal ofensei and would probably less =
Imprisonment and an investigation. To
leave the letters and photograph in the
trunk would be to insure their discovery
and coniiscation on the following morning,
and that might create very embarrassing
situation for me, as well as for the authors
OF the letters and their friends. The two
young men finally concluded to make an
attempt to get the trunk open without re.
moving the cords or breaking the seals, and
as the letters and photograph were near
the bottom, and as the lid could not be
raised even if the trunk were unlocked,
they decided to take out part of the bot.
! tom 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, but the board
back without disturbing any of the seals,
and when the police came in the morning
stood by with unruflled serenity and saw
the trunks searched. OF course nothing
more dangerous than hairbrush and
nothing more discriminating than hotel
bill could be found. George Kennan in
Century