Arizona republican., 1904-02-18

twelve years he was the official inter preter for the dowager empress and for seven years the private secretary of the late lamented Ii Hung Chang. His mission to this country is for the pur- chase of mining properties for a syndi- cate of wealthy Chinese, including many of high official rank and whose capital is practically unlimited, run ming into hundreds of millions of dol lars: in fact, an amount unknown to any save themselves.
 But the story of Mir Lane can best be told in chronological order. Person ally he is q man of medium build, very dark complexion, slightly curling nous tache and hair, originally black but now just tinged with gray; thorough ly Egyptian type. He is pleasingly ap- proachable and talks without reserve or affected dignity. He speaks beside his native tongue, the Russian, Chi nese. Japanese, Turkish, Greek, Per sian. Arabian and English languages, the latter as fluently as though reared in this country. Though appearing to be not more than 45 years old he says he is 7l years old and one of a family of fifteen children. His father and mother lack but a few months each of being 100 years old, and reside in the family home, near St. Petersburg, Rus sia. The family genealogy has been traced back through Egyptian records for nearly 50e years. His father was for many years a caravan owner. or Nile driver, as they are called iE that country, and acquired wealth in that industry quite early in life. Twenty years ego the family moved its resi- dence permanently to St. Petersburg, where members of it had spent much of their time for many years before. MT. Lane was born in Cairo, and at seven years of age he was sent to Teheran, Persia, where he lived with wealthy aunt for five years. At the end of that time his parents took him to St. Petersburg, where he was edu- cated ir languages and medicine, but having no taste for the latter he never followed its practice after graduation. He graduated from the imperial college at the age of sixteen with a class of 371, and received the only gold medal ever given to a graduate by the Czar Alexander II. He next entered the school of mechanical engineering at the fortress at Kronstadt, which he says is a peculiarly interesting point in that the location was originally what might be best described as a mudhole, the fortress being built on piles driven deep into the ground. The Russians there fore not only built the city but the ground that lies beneath it.
 At the age Of nineteen MT. Lane ent- cred the Russian navy, serving seven years in that capacity. During that period he visited many parts of the world on the Russian vessels and be- gan a life that has been largely devot ed to travel ever since. Quitting the navy he lived two years in China, tiieu returned to St. Petersburg and entered a mining school conducted by the gov ernment, ending his course there with a tcIr participated in by all his class at government expense, lasting for nearly twenty months and embracing the mining regions of Siberia and near ly all mining sections under the domin- ion of that government. He says that a nice feature of the Russian govern ment is that if one is educated by it he con always depend upon official life in some capacity if he wants it. The gov ernment aims to make the education of
 
 expects these students to occupy and completely fill important positions in it's interest.
 At this stage of Mir. Lanes career. and which was about forty-twu years ago, he returned to China, since when mining has been his private business, though it has been interfered with for long periods from time to time by off, ficial positions he has filled under the Chinese government. As mentioned be- fore. twelve years was devoted to the work of official interpreter for the en- press and seven years 10 the important post of private secretary to Iii Hung Chang. In this capacity he also formed the acquaintance of Wu Ting Fang and many other Chinese notables of equa: fame in their own country, but less prominent across the waters.
 During his years of officiel life in China he was sent On many private missions and some public ones. all to- gether enabling him to visit and ex- plore nearly every remote part of that interesting empire. One mission of which he made special mention in a conversation yesterday occurred nine years ago, when the empress seEt him with a military force to the Peiho val ley to banish the foreign missionaries. He accomplished his purpose and with out bloodshed, for he says that all peo- pie in the interior of China whether natives or foreigners, understand that when the government speaks it's edicts must be obeyed, and promptly There were fifty-two missionaries in that val ley, and he says they represented almost as many different lines of travel to the heavenly kingdom. a fact that is very confusing to the Chinese, and accounts largely for the lack of native interest in the offerings of Christianity They assume that their own ideas of the here and the hereafter are good enough when they are practically unit ed and all the rest of the apostles are fighting with each other over the plan of salvation.
 For the last fourteen years Mr. Lane has been connected with the syndicate he now represents, which is really a caDitalistic trust composed of wealthy Chinese that stand behind what Is known in this country as the Six Com panieS," and which group includes