The daily morning Alaskan. (Skagway, Alaska) 1899-1904, 1903-03-06
A TOUCH
. OF RUSSIA

on my GLOBE circling trip I found an
American who had Just arrived that
morning. a man from stamford. Conn.
named Joshua II. Bldwen He was the
inventor OF the wire clothesline and.
hayue patented Il IN England. France.
Germany and other foreign countries
had arrived IN Russia with the same
objcc, Ca view lie was a thorough
YauGcc -rym top to bottom.
hgG scarcely shaken hands with
him wica De Informed me that the po-
lice already had a spy on his track
aud added.
"Tm here on straight business. I
AN. Um here 10 patent and sell the
right To- manufacture the only galyan-
led wire cl1thcsline ever invented. n
The police lct me alone. I Shan't hurt
anybody. but 10 they tackle me they'll
wake up o. lar1rul Of bumblebees."
10 was Nr BIJwelTs Intentions AFT.
OF Grocs.u- about Tor two or three
DAYS. .1 visit the American legation
and solicit advice on how 20 proceed to
o. OH, patent We set out 20 81. Pc
tcr,lur- .u company. 10 was the cause
of o.r coming 20 gr.Cf The spy who
bad been following him appeared 70 be
moro air. than before. but fearing
that EGW.u would DO something rash.
7 did uo. mention the fact Of our being
doe-.. If. jiJ not catch on until the
afternoon 90 tuc second day. We then
v,lc buo.sug about on foot and were
u ll. re.onai aquarium when be
wsl..I ,.r.. .l, up TO the spy, tapped
L.u ua ..t shoulder and said:
"La.s b.rc Mister Man. have you
ans business Co transact With usF'
IIc er... loo English. and the Rus
sian could not understand word OF Il
lie evidently got the drift OF things
however. and seemed greatly surprised
aud annoyed 40 being addressed In that
VClaud fashion.
We went out. turned into Warsaw
place aaJ entered a wineshop. Bidwell
presently went TO the door to see II the
SPY was around and almost bumped
lu.u Dian.
"Nov. 'l0u. you mean looking son OF
O SUN. ua- ibis Is a little too steep" ex'
claimed tlr Yankee. Il gave you fair
warning. aal now
he ...z.J tlc fellow by the shoulders
nuI slammed him about 10 a terrific
manner. DUt 10 wasn't more than a
m.au.e before I've or six policemen
were at hand and both OF Us were IN
der arrest aud being hurried away.
We were first taken 90 a police sta
ton aU0u. four blocks distant There
We were searched stripped OF every
article chat our clothing might be over
h.u.,I and held Tor about an hour. We
were rot questioned at ALL and II the
Official iu charge understood anything
we ss.I he did not beTay the fact. Bid
we'll was sp provoked by the situation
chat lc Gs,J whole brOadside Of Con
u.cucut orat0ry into the Official. ending
MP by threatening a suit Tor 100000
damages, but be might as well have
saved h.s breath. By and by we were
taken to headquarters under a strong
escort and there ushcred into the pres
eucc OF the chief OF police. We were
tlGeu iu s.ug,y. My turn came FIRST
The chief consulted a memorandum
and began.
"Y0l arrived In St Petersburg on the
C,l. You claimed TO be an American
tourist You received a letter from Par
Is ON tbg 10th and one from Hamburg
on the ll,h You have spoken disre-
speetuUy %, tbc police 20 the proprie-
Ter OF tle Park hotel You were very
jlsrcspcetrUl toward the officer who
was ordered TO follow you about Do
YOU wish rl leave 81. Petersburg by the
evening .-ut'
Ir.ru.J ,.at had come 10 visit the
city a- o. .lrsIst and had planned to re
main Cor gt least a month.
The chief touched a bell. and two
police officers appeared. Out Of my own
money they bought me a ticket Tor the
German frontier and both rode with
ue Cor tlc dTsJ 500 miles.
What lauTened 20 B!dwell I learned
long lrerward from his own mouth
and through the American press. He
though, 10 beneath the dignity OF free
Dor. american citizen 20 bend the knee
90 the au,ocrat Of St Petersburg The
clar-e AGAINST him was more serious.
III, b1-eaec ut the hotel bad been
oycriau.cL. and bis samples OF wire
c'otle,Hrcs were at once spotted as
O. menace against the peace OF the
ear Ike also had laid violent bands
on Che sacred toly OF a police spy, and
that proved b.m q desperate man II
not O. coa.p.rator lie was defiant
when put on exam. nation. and the up
shot was that DE was taken 70 the
fortress OF S. Peter 10 be held FOR
fm,lcr INVESTIGATION. That simply
meant to De- hc.d at the pleasure Of
the chief of police No papers were
ever served o- him nor was DO ever
taken into ,orl,. he was put into a
dark. damp ce,l cogiucd TO prison fare
and treated usc a criminal II was
,lrre .o.. leiOre be saw any other
face than tac jailer's. Then a police
official came 20 ask him II be would
ggree 90 leave Russia and never return
Ga ca1r o. release