The San Francisco call., 1904-03-08

load material, going only by daylight.
/ All on board were untiring in their
efforts to make it pleasant for US. We
specially owed much to a flaxen haired
boy who as a sailor had visited New
York, and so had picked up few
English words, which served as the
principal means of communication with
our travelling companions. He was the
servant of the architect who was on
the train inspecting and overseeing the
construction of the stations along the
line. His devotion TO his master and
his untiring patience in finally getting
us started on our way after we left the
railroad are remembered with the keen
4 est interest.
Mr. Pocatellof, whose name appears
/ occasionally in the prominent reviews
Of the leaders of the East, was the
( leading manager Of the Chinese
/ Bank, with its headquarters in Peking.
/ He. too, is a tall, well proportioned
man in middle life, who speaks English
and various other languages readily.
and takes you into his confidence re-
( specting matters in general while con-
Quoting his business with you. The
breaking out Of the Boxer revolution
found him in Peking, where he nobly
took his part with the common laborers
in their defense.
Colonel Ghenche's name may not
often be seen in print, but you may be
assured he is filling a most important
post in the military operations that
are now in progress, for he is the chief
manager of all the teIegraphic lines Of
D nv.
construction OF most of the telegraph
lines Of the empire he has become IA
miliar with everything connected with
Asiatic Russia. At the time we met
him he made his headquarters at Tel
ing. which was then the terminus of
the road. He, like Admiral AleXieff,
is a bachelor, his whole energies being
devoted TO his country's service. We
found him boarding with a Cossack
colonel. whose good wife showed a
motherly care for us while we were
waiting 10 be sent on through the 200
miles Of country in which the railroad
was not constructed. Like all the
other great Russians whom we met,
Colonel Ghenche was perfectly simple
in his manners and manifested great
interest in all general matters outside
of his own special line of work. He
was at the time studying the Chinese
language by using a book written by a
missionary and was reading in English
another book by a missionary describ-
ing the character of the people. He
arranged to send telephone messages
ahead of US, so that the civil engineers
at their various stations would be pre-
rornH n nd lao1
our way We may be sure that tele-
graphic communication between the
different parts OF the Russian army
viii be maintained where Colonel
Ghenche is if it be within the bounds
Of possibility to do so. To illustrate
his energy we would remark that on
one morning when we got up to a
. rather late breakfast we were Won
dering why he delayed so long, when
we found that he had taken a ten-miIe
horseback ride in attendance upon his
duties while we slept.
For nearly a month we were enter
tanned and forwarded on our way by
the civil engineers who were construct
ing the Chinese Eastern Railroad in
Manchuria. They belonged to all the
Russian natiOnalities. Some were Cir
cassians, some were Poles, some were
Little Russians, some were Great Rus
SLAMS. some We're Russian Germans and
Sc me were Russian -Armenians but all
were energetic, able, we'll educated men,
living with their families in temporary
. isolation from the outside world while
hundreds of thousands of Chinese cool
les Were under their direction. making
the cuts and fills of the prospective
railroad. Among the most interesting
and typical of the engineers was A. a.
Ter-Ovakimoff, constructing ZOE miles
of the road south of the Sungari River.
He is an Armenian. of dark complexion.
black hair and black eyes, whose edu-
cation preparatory to the technical
schools had been of the most thorough
classical order He could quote the
Latin and the Greek authors almost
without limit, while French and Ger
man and Russian were as familiar to
him as his native tongue, yet he was
mingling with the Chinese laborers and
/ superintendents on most familiar terms
and was succeeding in prosecuting the
work with great energy A year ago
he wrote me in good French that now
that the railroad was completed he was
remaining pehlnd TO build a steam
gristmill, and wished me to put him
in communication with some American
firm which could supply him with the
requisite machinery. Six months ago
he wrote me again in English, apoIogiz-
ing for his poor style on the ground
! that he had been studying it for only
two months, but the style was almost
faultless. We may be sure again that
the Russians are amply supplied with
able and efficient civil engineers and
railroad superintendents to repair any
temporary damages that may be in
fiicted upon their lines Of railroad com
munication.
/ 1t was our fortune to travel for many
hundred miles with Colonel Dessino. the
Russian military agent in Northern
, China. He was a tall, rather slender
4 man of pleasant personal appearance
able to talk readily in English.
and not afraid to be communicative.
I The Russian system differs from that
I OF most nations in having its military
! representatives in foreign countries
entirely separated from the civil repre-