Evening star., 1896-01-04
sTEPNIAk THE, MYSTERIOUS.

ton of their services during the past year.
STEPNIAk THE. MYSTERIOUS.
The NihiIist Who Was Recently Kill
ed by n Locomotive.
From the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph
Sergius Michael Dragomanoff Stepniak, lin
guist, ethnologist, author and Nihilist,
met a death as dramatic as the life ne
had lived. Stepniak, while more prominent
as Nihlist, will probably be remembered
rather as one of the three novelists whom
Little Russia has given to the world. Petroif,
Masoch and Stepniak all called that corner
Of the Russian empire their fatherland.
Stepniak's whole life was shrouded in mys-
terry. and his birthplace and name have
never been authoritatively established. He
is supposed to have been born in 1S41 at
Hadjatsch, in the Ukraine mountains, and
to have come from semi-noble family de-
scended from the Cossacks of Little Russia.
From 1883 to 1863 he was student at kieff.
and he published several works during that
time. which were prohibited by the govern
ment in 1862. In 1870 he became professor at
the University of Kieff but was removed
from his chair by the government three
years later. He was exiled in 1876 on ac-
count of his criticism of the system pursued
by Count Tolstoi, one of the ministers OF
justice and he tEereupen settled in Geneva,
writing various popular works in the Little
Russian dialect. He began to work hard
for the establishment of equal political rights
in Russia, and declared against socialism as
we'll as abSolutsm
On August 16, 1878, Vera Sassulitch,
young woman Nihilist, assassinated Gen.
Trepoff prefect of police in St. Petersburg.
Five months later Trepoff's successor, Gen.
Mezentzeff, was stabbed in the street but
the assassin jumped into a carriage in wait
ing and escaped Two other occupants OF
the carriage, however were captured, and
proved to be Df. Weimer, the court physi-
clan, and his wife. Both were sent to ST.
IBERIA. The suspicion has been persistent
sailant, and that kaZcheffsky was Stepntak.
London was his refuge for many years,
and there he published Free Russia, news
paper devoted to the interests of anarchy.
He came to the United States in December,
1890, on a lecture tour for the purpose of
arousing sentiment against Russian despot-
ism. In London he was constantly watched,
and number of attempts were made to car
ry him off.
Sergius Michael Dragomanof Stepniak-
his pseudonym, in full-the most feared
Nihilist in the world, died carrying the Sc
cret of his identity to the grave. For twen-
ty-five years he was one Of the best-knoWn
men in Europe yet none knew him. He was
the recognized leader of the Nihilists but
rot manager of the bomb-throwinS cam
paign. His efforts were along the line of
moral persuasion and appeal to the intellect.
His whole life, as we have said, was en-
shrouded in mystery, and none, save perhaps
a few, could say whether he ever partici-
pated in physical force plots. although often
suspected. But it is certain that in later
years he looked with less favor upon radical
measures. and frequently spoke against
them. Yet he did not disguise his sympathy
fer the slayer of the late cZar. Stepniak
means, literally, THE Son of the StepDes,"
and he admitted it to be an assumed name.
Apart from Ill questions of right or wrong,
or of expediency, as far as relates to the
cause to which Stepniak had devoted his life,
the personal equation of the man had much
which is remarkable. He had given us, in
his Career of a Nihilist' of 1889, the pecu-
liar traits of those men who have thrown
down their challenge to the cZar. Human
bravery has it's heroic side, and Stepniak had
shown Indifference toflife thousand times,
but in a manner which is special. Sergius
Stepniak, though modest to a degree, was
known among his fellow revoutionistS to
have planned out many method of escape
for condemned prisoner, and by his own
personal prowess end sheer daring erected
rescues. What great dash, what self-con-
troll, it must have taken'to try at least in
crowded Russian city to get to man whose
fate was sealed! Stepniak. who drove a
sledge alongside, would have done his best
to pluck the condemned man right out of the
grip of the armed soldiers, so as to put him
in his own sledge, and so driven him off. This
effort the political prisoner Volkhovsky
tells US, failed, but not from any fault OF Ser
gius Stepniak. If on this occasion an un-
foreseen accident prevented the accomplish
ment of the escape, nevertheless the cool
daring of Stepniak remains as salient as
ever Many a man and woman who live to-
day outside Of Russia are of this world now
because of the strong hand and courage of
this Nihilist.
In appearance he was a man not quite six
feet in height. but his solid build>and massive
form with breadth of shoulders and large.
well-shaped head, made him appear not so
tall as he really was His type Of face was
distinctly Russian, his forehead of great
width, and his eyes intensely black. 1t was
a face showing will AMI control of power
One might speculate long on the ways Of
Stepniak and wonder how with such q
marked face, he was SO long capable of es-
Gaping detection by means Of disguises. for
to change his appearance one might fancy
required marked n obility of expression.
Stepniak spoke English, French and 1tal-
ian perfectly. In conversation in English he
never seemed at a loss for the exact word,
though he retained somewhat of a foreign
accent. His voice was singularly sweet and
we'll modulate and his manner. never slow.
was rather impassive. Thoroughly logical in
describing the condition of his country, the
efforts made to establish some semblance of
liberty in Russia, he was not impassioned
Every argument was quietly, calmly pre-
sented The enthusiasm in the man he kept
latent