The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-02-20
xESxAs's LECTURE on RUSSIA

He Describes the Great C1e1e8 q the
White Cxnrss Empire.
.svAgabond Life In Eastern Europe.
vas the subject Of George Kenmn's sec
ond lecture. delivered ~ the First n. Is.
church last night The audience was
thoroughly appreciatiye enc and followed
the lecturer with the keenest attention.
Mr.. KEENAN, 10 very happy In his literary
method and In his delivery. His charac-
terizations are ssarslingiy apTopcs and
often extremely humorous A GOOD part
OF the lecture was delivered without notes
and was almost conversational in style.
inserspeFsed with choice bits from the
Russian language illustrating boating
songs, street cries. and vAgabond repair
tee. The views with which the lecture
was illustrated were exceptionally good
from an artistic point Of view and aided
the audience materially 70 realize the
KEENAN, began with some account Of the
founding Of St Petersburg. Us springing
from the mud At tho command Of the
great czar. Then he passed on to Mos
COW. tho old capital = Tartar city. in
strong contrast to the 'Rrgh. and fin
isfsed with graphic account OF Nixhni
Novgorod. which for ten months OF che
year 10 absolutely deserted. while for the
other two months II II the gayest city ON
the continent Of E,srope-the Mecca Of
Russia's merchants
Mr.. KEENAN, was seen at the hotel last
evening after his lecture and on being
asked what first turned his attention to
Russia as field OF exploration he said:
'fady going to Russia rather to some
other part OF the world was largely scci-
dental had naturally . great love OF
travel and adventure. and at the age Of
II was already seeking an opportunity
to crafty 1t. The failure OF the first
Atlantic cable and the projection of an
overland telegraph line to Europe by
British Columbia. Alaska. Boring straits
and Siberia seemed to offer such an OBJ
portunity and I applied at once to Gen.
Stager. the superintendent OF the Rus
sian-American Telegraph Company, for
Q position in one OF It's exploring parties.
] was then a telegraph operator In Gin
cinnati
Gen. Stager. who was himself an oper-
ator, came to the instrument one night
In Cleveland and asked me If could get
ready to start for Alaska in two weeks,
1 replied that I could get ready In two
hours. I resigned my position In Gin
cinnti that night and soon afterward
sailed for San Francisco by way of Mic
aragua.
Upon my arrival in California I was
assigned to duty In one OF the two Siber-
Ian exploring parties instead of the Alask-
an. and spent nearly three years in trave-
ing on dog sledges. reindeer sledges and
snowshoes owes the great snow wastes
lying between the Okhotsk sea and Ber-
ing strait. When the company, after
sinking about $3,OooDoo finally abandoned
the overland telegraph scheme I came
back to America through Siberia and Eu-
ropean Russia, making a winter Jour-
ney in sledges OF about 5000 miles.
'sIn the course OF this experience
learned the Russian language and be-
came interested in the Russian people and
made the journey through Eastern Rus
s!a which is described In my lecture on
'yagabond Life tonight.
Since my first expedition to Kanl-
chatka and Northeastern Siberia / have
been Ave times to Russia. have three
times crossed Siberia and have visited
almost all parts of the empire. from
Finland to the frontier OF Persia, ard
from Bering Strait to the Baltic sea-
Since the publication OF my articles In
the Century magazine. however. I have
been excluded from the empire by order
OF the minister of the interior. and do
not know whetherI shall ever be permitted
to go there again. 1t will always be
for me. however. the most interesting
country In the world"