The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-01-23
Butte Department.

at the turn things had taken. The
count, too, seemed somewhat embar-
rassed but II was only for an instant.
There is some truth in this article,
he said looking up, land good deal
that is not true. 1t is true that l was
in Bulgaria and was afterwards sent
to Siberia for what / did in the Bull
garian uprising, but that is about all
the truth there is in this whole story.
There is nothing in my whole career
that / am ashamed of. 1 took part In
the great political movement in Bull
garia in 1885, and was chosen pretend
ent of the republic. / was recognized
as such by the French minister at Con-
stantinople and was introduced by him
to the sultan. The Russian govern
ment interfered and had me arrested.
i escaped and left the country. / was
again arrested and again escaped.
was arrested in three different coun-
tries, and the last time was delivered
over TO the Russian government and
tried as a political prisoner. They sent
me TO Siberia for five years. / served
out my term and am at liberty now to
come and go as I please"
When asked to tell of his two es-
capes the count begged to be excused
on the ground that the telling would
take too bong. There was a long story
to each. He would say, however, that
money secured his release. AS to his
life as q prisoner in Siberia he rather
enjoyed IT, He did not have to work
in the mines or labor in any way ex-
cept as he chose. II had about as
much liberty as a prisoner as any vol
unteer settler there" said the count
II could choose my own vocation and
earn money and keep It, OF course 1
was. in a certain degree, under sur
VIGILANCE. and was not allowed to leave
Siberia until my term was up. Since
then l have spent a good part of my
time in Siberia voluntarily, as a railway
contractor, as / have already told you
Regarding my title of count l came
by it honestly. My father was a Rus
sian general and my mother was the
Countess de Toloence Loutrec. She
belonged to the French nobility in the
royalist line. She was the last of her
family, and / inherited her title and
name. / have never claimed to be a
count on my fathers side.
Il am, however, a native of Russia.
was educated largely at St Petersburg
When a young man / studied engineer
Ing at Vienna, and that is where 1
learned German. French / learned at
home, and afterwards lived a good
deal in France. AS to the charge that
i have swindled many people, ii is
hardly worth noticing. If the claims
am making to these gentleman here i'm
respect to my railroad work in Rus
STA are fraudulent, the fact can be
readily ascertained. All they have to
do is to telegraph to Count Hilkoff,
railway minister of the Russian gov
eminent now located at Warsaw. He
is called the Yankee Minister because
of his American ideas and training.
The gentleman spent several years i'm
the United States, studying your rail-
roads and your language. He knows of
my work on the Transsiberian railway,
and will furnish all the information
wanted"
Previous to this, the count had told
of his railway experience and his plans
for the future. lie has travelled over
the whole route surveyed across the
continent, and is familiar with the
character of the work done and to be
done THE government is extending
the line from both ends as rapidly as
IL can with the machinery at hand"
he said, but the fact is that we have
no machinery TO speak of. and COM
paratively slow progress is made in
consequence. What I am here for is to
try to convince some of your railway
contractors that they can make a pile
of money by taking sub-contracts and
using American scrapers, derriclSs and
other improved machinery. / built "A
miles of road on a sub-contract with no
bOolS Dul PICKS ana SnoNelS. FOrtu-
nately, we had no tunneling or bridge
building to do and no heavy grading.
| made 100 per cent. profit on my con-
tract. receiving 100000 roubles for
work which cost me only 100000. With
improved machinery l could have
cleared a great deal more. We have
plenty of good horses there, but no
scrapers. Labor is cheap. Cinnamon
are paid 40 cents a day and Russian
Ia il4DTs nfC hon
a day, and sometimes IA, and must buy
their supplies from us. We can also
employ siberian prisoners, but they
are not trustworthy as a rule. China
men make the best workers the most
contented and the cheapest Good me-
chanics and contracting engineers are
scarce. Where contracts have been let
the work can be obtained under sub
contracts on terms that will leave a
big margin for profits, as in my own
case"
'IIe has letters and documents to
show that, and other letters establish
ing his personal acquaintance with va
rious generals, prime ministers, gov
errors, ruling princes. dukes and others
in high position. With some of them he
was on terms of intimacy. He has pho
tographs of several hundred persons of
more or less prominence In European
society or politics lie could have
bought some of them. but there are
Others in the collection that could not
have been obtained in that way. The
count says the pictures all came from
the people they represent. He has two
photographs of Don Carlos. taken years
ago. He claims a warm personal friend
ship, and also a blood relationship on
hts mothers side with the pretender to
the Spanish throne. Don Carlos is now
living in Italy. Sarah Bernhardt's Is
one OF the pictures which adorn the
walls of his room at the Planters. Ii
was presented to him by the divine
Sarah herself. says the count He
knew her we'll in Paris, and is hopeful
of meeting her in America before re-
turning TO Siberia.
The count confesses a weakness for
the society of talented women. His col
lection Of pictures includes the photos
OF a great many actresses. singers and
society leaders. II includes, also the
pictures of some whose names have