The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1896-11-05

PRINCE IILEOFF.
though, tho prince does not come rs n sn.
cial envoy, cut he Is hero strictly Oh bust
ness.
Prince HllkoG coEics here to study our
wonderful systo:Ha of railway and river
transportation, with n view of applying
some OF tho lessons wo have learned 10 the
vast cXr;lnses of his own great country. lie
wants to take Il comprehensive Ti&uco ~
tho immense stretches of steel rails which
gTidiTon tho stntcs and to study the dill
culties which our railroad builders have
overcome and the methods by which they
slirmounttu them.
1T will bc no dilctt3ptc trip which thn
prince will tako, for ho is II thoroughly
practical man nnd ono ccnincrtly fitted for
the task. At homo he hulls the ollioo of
imperial minister Of WAYS and commune
%cntiun, md 1t Is In this capacity that he
has been dispatched by tho GEAR on his
present GRAND. Perhaps tho various per.
SONS with whom lie will come III contact in
tho course OF lis journey clear across the
continent II in his side trips will lo in
tercsted to know something about the
prince. Flo has had u most romantic and
unusual career.
The railroad magratcs whom he may
meet should rcmcmhor that the prince is
no uniformed official, but Il practical rail
ronuor who has learned tho business from
tho ground up, and who cnn do any part
OF tho work connected with Il great system,
from stoking or handling tho throttle of a
big locomotive to taking entire charge of
tho laying Of ], 900 miles of rails and equip
ping u road with rolling stock. Arc not
those unusual qualifications for IL prince?
1t was not so long ago, and since no has
become y member uf the imperial family of
Russia, that the prince had occasion to
get into the cab of "a locomotive and dem
onstratc his ability in this lire. The train
OH which Inc was riding was behind time,
and the imperial minister Of ways Of com
munication was convinced that it was net
the locomotive, an American built one, by
the way, but the engineer, who was at
fault. Removing his tall hat and uniform
coat, no took the engineers place for an
hour, making up tho lost timo and bring
ing tho train into tho criminal exactly on
tho scheduled minute.
AS n youth no followed for n time tho
usual course taken by the sons of wealthy
mobiles. Flo became n page to tho empress.
and by the tiIno no was l6 was an officer in
the Horse guards of her imperial majesty.
But he found time to become proficient in
almost every modern language and - get
deeply interested in mechanics, especially
III the military railroad problems which
the Crimean war brought forward. In
1897 no made n visit OF IL months dura-
ton to tho United States for the sole pur-
pose OF studying our then unLcyeionrd
railroads. He travelled as far west as the
Rocky mountains and returned with n pro
found admiration for everything Amcri-
can.
Whom in 1861 Alexander II freed the
nrF 1Dpi,,o Ng;,i,,LlT, - -
of his immense fortune, but the democratic
prince only rojoiced. This caused him to
quarrel with his aristocrati- father and
to stnrt out in tho world to mako his own
fortune. Naturally nc came bacl. TO Amcr-
lea, but this time he LETT his title bohind
him, and when hc applied for work mt the
shop OF II Philadelphia Machinist and rail
way contractor it was us plain John Ma.
gill, u name suggested TO him by a wrong
pronunciation of his given nalnc. The
first wages the prince earned hero were 81
q day for making bolt heads.
For months the present imperial minis
ter worked as q conlnon laborer In the
shops, and was finally promoted. Then
he was sent by his employer to tho Argcn-
tine Republic on IA railway construction
job. His wages had been increased to So
n day, and on that sum no lived and sup.
oA'SA las a. thlAh SlliitllCli, lOr IO Hal
married before leaving Russia. Think of
that for an income upon which u prince
and u princess were DEPENDENT But he
rose rapidly, and finally, rs superintend-
ent OF q roundholise, earned 81 n day.
Then his proud father, who had never
lost his love for his eldest son, sent for
him to return to Russia, giving him per.
mission to earn his own living there If he
insisted upon 1t. So the prince and his
family returned, but he was somewhat dis.
appointed to find that the only position
open To him was That of locomotive enai-
neer. But he pluckily entered the cab
again and once moro worked his way up
from the worry foot of the ladder. In 1850
he suggested to u prominent general, a
boyhood friend, n scheme for building a
military railroad in central Asia. The
plan was adopted. Working under the di-
rection of tho famous General Annekofr,
he constructed 600 miles of railroad in ex.
hctly ono year, an. achievement Of which
even on American might DO proud. He