davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

fication for such a post as that of the
Governor of Kashgar. No Governor
who cannot get on with the Russian
consul is now appointed to that place.
Paul Lessar. the Minister at Pekin
is the strongest exponent of this sys-
tenn of UNFOLDING Russian prestige who
has ever been in China. and his intlu-
ence Denetrates to-day to every nook
and corner of the empire"
Lessar's rise to one of the most i'm
portant positions in the Russian serv-
ice is in the nature of a romance. He
was not we'll born. and possessed no
influential official friends. Less than
thirty years ago, when he was first
heard of. he was young man of
twenty-four attached in a quite subor-
dinate capacity to the Ministry of
Ways of Communication. as a survey
or. He had entered the service as a
clerk. and worked his way up to that
position by slow degrees. educating
himself in the evenings after his office
work was done.
A Builder of Railways.
Russia's advance through Central
Asia gave him his chance. He was
| sent to the Trans-Caspian territory,
few years after the Russo Turkish
| War. to help make the surveys for
| the railways planned by Gen. Amen
| koff, at that time Director of Military
| Railways. He distinguished himself
in this line of work. but became better
known by reason of his remarkable
| talent for picking up the languages of
the Central Asian tribes and under
| standing their habits, customs and
tribal politics. He was the Strickland
of Central Asia. After he had lived
in that territory for two or three
| years. he knew almost as much about
the various tribes as they knew about
| themselves.
At last he attracted the attention of
the famous Gen. Skobeleff, who was
| then campaigning against the Turco-
| mans, by telling him that a Turcoman
interpreter and guide was interpreting
| falsely and trying to lead his forces
into an ambush. He proved his state
| ment, and Skobeleff concluded that he
| was too good a man to be wasted as
mere railway surveyor, so he made
him the head of the numerous secret
| agents then working for Russia
| among the tribes in Turkestan and
Afghanistan.
| Explored Central Asia.
In this capacity, Lessar explored
large untraveled tracts of Central
Asia and published the results of his
| explorations through the Russian Geo
graphical Society, which awarded him
it's gold medal. He was the Sven
Hadin of his day, but there was an
Interior motive in all his explorations.
| He made surveys for military and
| railroad construction purposes and
f. he intrigued with the chiefs of the
/. tribes he visited on behalf of the
J Gear.
1! Throughout Central Asia his name
| became a synonym for courage! He
! visited tribes bitterly inimical to all
/ Europeans, and especially to the Rus
slams; tribes whom no other secret
agent had dared to approach, such as
| the inhabitants of Kafiristan so vivid
| ly described by Kipling in THE Man
/ Who Would Be King" His skill in
! the art of disguise, his knowledge of
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

Canal Company will not be repeated,
but it Is not conceivable that the 18TH
mus can ever be made as healthy "A
country as Cuba has been.
Conditions Beyond Remedy.
There exist natural conditions preju-
dicial to health which are beyond the
power of any doctor or engineer to
remedy. People who live on the 18TH
mus for years. slowly soaking the mi
asmatic and malarial poisons into their
blood, will fall victims to disease even
after the American cleaning up.
But epidemics will be stamped out.
or not allowed to originate; and there
will he no repetition of the terrible
sacrifice of life which has been inSep-
arabic from former isthmian enter
prise. Whole shiploads az laborers
died off like flies in a few weeks after
landing, and many hundreds of men
never did a stroke of work because
they fell Ill almost Immediately they
reached isthmian soil. American OK
perience will surely prove that there
was no need for such a frightful heca-
tomb OF lives.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

advance to the frontiers Of Afghan
lstan, which threatened India, war
with Russia seemed certain. The
Russian government did not want war;
neither did it want to recede, to any
material extent, from the advanced
positions it had occupied in Central
Asia. In this dilemma it decided to
try to influence public opinion in Eng
land and allay the Russo-phobe ex-
citement which was forcing the British
government toward war.
Became Press Agent.
There had been a kind of Russian
press bureau in London for many
years, managed by that very remark
able woman. Madame Olga Novikoff.
whose pro- Russian articles over the
signature 20. k, have been notable
features in the English and French.
newspapers and reviews for the past
twenty or thirty years.
Lessar was recalled from Central
Asia and sent to London to assist this
bureau. 1t was widely different work
from that which he had been doing,
but he was well qualified for it by his
former contributions to the best Eu-
ropean magazines concerning his trav-
els and various scientific subjects. His
name was familiar to English editors
as that of a famous explorer of Cen
trail Asia, but nobody knew that he
was an agent of the Russian govern
ment.
Mr.. William T. Stead. always a
strong pro- Russian, welcomed Lessar
warmly when he was introduced by
Madame Novikof as a DISTINGUISHED
scientific man who happened to know
the real facts about the extent of the
Russian advance in Central Asia. Mr.
Stead threw the columns of the Pail
Mall Gazette, which he was then edit
ing, open to Lessar.
His PrO-Russian Writings.
His articles attracted much atten-
ton, and. of course. put the actions
and motives of the Russian govern
ment in the most pacific and harmless
light. He wrote on the subject for
many other leading publications. and
aided powerfully in calming the Brit
ish mind. But he did not rely upon
writing only. He became acquainted
with many members of Parliament
including some of the Cabinet Minis
ters, and did his best to convince them
that the Russian advance could not
properly be regarded as threatening
India.
After the danger of war had passed
away, Lessar went to st. Petersburg
and was personally thanked and dec
GRATED by the Gar who ordered that
his talents should in future be en-
ployed in the regular diplomatic serv-
ice. Since then he has held several
important positions in Persia and 9TH
err Aslatic countries. His appointment
as Minister to Pekin Is not to be re-
garded as the crown of his career, for
he is not much over fifty and has still
the best part of a diplomatist's life be-
fore him. Those who know him most
intimately believe that he is destined
to rise to the greatest offices in the
Russian Empire.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24
LESSAR, RUSSIA'S CHINESE tanner
Cars Minister at Pekn
Autocrat

THE Chinese officials at Shanghai
-,orted to drive the Russian gunboat
,,ordtur away from their port, the
otber day, to be destroyed by a Japa-
,ase cruiser which was waiting out
edo for her. The Russians protested,
nagotiations followed. and eventually
49, Mandiur was allowed to remain,
~ her armament had been re-
moved.
These facts are known to the world,
hut the inside story of why the Mand-
sur stayed at Shanghai is told in a let
tAr lust received from an American
residing in Pekin.
Diplomatic circles here have been
vary much stirred up over the ques-
zion Of the Mandjur," says this letter.
land we are all admiring Paul Lessar,
,bs Russian minister. He knows how
70 handle these Chinese officials better
nan any other foreigner here. Direct
". he heard that the Shanghai people
wsre going to turn the Mandjur out,
he went straight to the Tsung-li- va
IAN (the Board of Foreign Affairs)
nod insisted on an immediate audi
ence. 49,.
and make representations through the
tedious. formal diplomatic channels.
Ne knew that the Mandjur would be
surk long before those letters were
answered, so he just 'butted in and
fold the officials that If they permitted
the boat to be driven out he would
have the Cossacks in Pekin within a
month, and what happened in Man
churia in 1900 wouldn't be circum-
stance to what would happen to them
He got them thoroughly scared, and
the Mandjur stayed"
His ApDearance in PeIxin.
Paul Lessar is Russia's Chinese
tanner. He was sent to Pekin in
The early part of 1902, after the COM
nIetion of the loop line connecting
Pekin with the Manchurian Railway 1,
and was rushed to his post in record
time over the Trans-Siberian line,
with the idea of impressing the
Chinese. See how quickly we can
get our minister to your capital now"
the Russian government desired to
hint. and reflect on how long it
would take us to get an army of Cos
sacks there"
Lessar's instructions were to put
I'D a bold front at Pekin, and make
the Chinese government understand
that Russian interests and Russian
wishes had to be considered before
anything else. He has done his work
so we'll that Russian prestige never
stood higher at Pekin than it did
just before the war. Instead of sub
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

moved, to this dreadful doom, and
then quietly remarked:
IF you do that you and all your
nation will be repaid for it a hun
dredfold when my master, the Great
White Car, hears the news"
The governor laughed, and said
scornfully that his fate would never
be known.
"They know in Merv that I have
come here" said the Russian, land If
/ do not return within the allotted
time they will know that l have been
murdered, and will demand my blood
at your hands,"
BAH They will think you perish
ed in crossing the mountains"
"They will know every detail of
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

birth to his death, and seldom does he
change it.
Natives Object to bathing.
Unlike the majority of tropical peo-
pies. the Isthmians have rooted OBJ
lection to bathing. and in consequence
they suffer from many loathsome skin
diseases. AS a number of natives will
doubtless be employed along the canal
works in various capacities, if not ac-
tually as laborerS, regulations for per-
sonal cleanliness will have to be rig
/ idly enforced by military discipline.
Practically speaking. the streets of
Panama and Colon are only cleaned
! by the torrential storms of the rainy
4 season. Colon is intensely hot ana
sickly in the dry season, locally termed
| "the healthy season." and, in the words
of local DOCTOR is death dealing and
! pestiferous" in the wet season, which
lasts for nearly eight months out of
the twelve.
From q commercial point of view the
town Is built upon an excellent site;
from a sanitary point of view, on the
very worst possible site. The center
of the place is practically a lagoon.
Houses are built all around. the
swampy ground, and in some cases &C
tually upon it. There is scarcely any
outlet for the foul, fermenting wa
ter which naturally breeds disease all
the year around.
This disgraceful state of affairs will,
of course. be remedied without delay
by the American doctors and engineers
as soon as they take charge of the
sanitation of the town. Proper drain
age will be provided the swamp re-
claimed, and the health of the town
will be improved more than a hundred
pa1. nent nv that ono work alone.
Decaying Vegetation.
Vegetable growth is extremely rapid
on the isthmus on account of the heat
and intense humidity of the climate,
and those same causes make vegetable
decomposition equally rapid. Where
ever you go upon the isthmus, you
see vast masses OF rotting vegetation,
occasionally you may come across al
most whole forest which is In de-
cay. The air is consequently laden
with miasmatic poison, especially in
the vicinity of rivers and lagoons,
where this vegetable decomposition is
naturally at it's worst. Some Of the
smaller streams are almost choked by
rotten vegetable matter. 1t will be
necessary for the American sanitar-
ians to clean them out. and burn the
decomposing vegetation all along the
canal zone, so far as 1t is possible to
do so.
The mingling of the salt and fresh
water in the lagoons and rivers pre-
sents problem apparently impossible
OF solution. According to DIR. Nelson
who may, perhaps, be regarded as
the best and most experienced au-
thority on the sanitation of the 18TH
mus-this admixture of water "is con-
sidered to be of great Importance in
creating intense forms of malarial
poison, particularly on tidal coasts like
that of the Pacific"
Suburbs Are Filthy.
The worst sanitary feature about
Panama is its suburbs.
"They are common and unclean,"
said DR.. Nelson, "and in many places
grossly offensive to the eye and SMELL
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

Asiatic languages and customs, and
his ability to bluff carried him safe
ly through many Embarrassing adven-
lures, and IL is said that his disguise
was only once penetrated
That was when he tried to journey
to Cabul shortly after the late Ameer
Abdur Rahman had been placed on
the throne of Afghanistan by the
British. He wanted to visit the Ameer
and try to detach him from his firm
alliance with the Anglo-Indian gov
eminent. He travelled disguised as
Turcoman trader, with caravan of
camels, but he was recognized while
passing through the city of Balkh by
an Afghan who had worked in one of
his railway gangs a few years before.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24
Romance in the stoIsehoId.


A pretty English girl was the belle
of a p and o. liner on a voyage out
to Bombay. One day. as they were
sailing through the Mediterranean, she
went to the captain in deep distress
and offered to pay the passage money
for a certain one of the firemen IL the
captain would transfer him from the
stokehold to the first saloon. Astonish-
ed beyond measure, the captain re-
fused, saying it would be contrary to
all discipline.
Then the girl confessed that he was
a former lover. a man of good family,
but poor. They had been engaged to
be married. but the engagement was
broken off because, in a lovers tiff,
she said to him:
You live on your father now. and
you want to live on me after we are
married.
The young man thereupon set out
to earn his own living, and "roughed
it, for a couple of years. Then he be-
came fireman on the very ship in
which his former sweetheart was a
passenger. She saw him on deck one
evening, when he had come up for a
breath of fresh air after his exhaust
ing work in the bowels of the vessel.
After this explanation, the captain
agreed to have him brought to the sa-
loon; but the young man declined to
leave his stocking and persisted in treat
ing his former sweetheart with the die
tant respect which stokers are sup
posed to show toward passengers. The
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

my death as speedily as the news can
be carried to them. You have pene-
trated my disguise, but there are
other Russian agents in your city OF
whom you know nothing They are
even here in your palace. among the
men you trust"
BIuffed the Afghans.
AS a matter of fact, there were none;
but the bluff worked. The governor
suspended sentence and referred the
case to the Ameer of Cabul, who or
dered that Lessar should be sent back
to the Russian frontier under escort,
but in no way harmed.
When England was stirred up by
the Penjdeh incident and the Russian
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

and whom he had caused to be logged
for theft. The man denounced him
as a Russian spy, and he was arrested
and taken before the local governor
for Judgment.
Threatened with Torture.
The Governor abused him and told
him that he would be put to death by
a form of torture popular among the
Afghans. He would be buried up
right, with his head above ground,
and food and water would be placed
just out of reach OF his lips, so that
he might perish slowly of hunger and
thirst by torments worse than those
of Tantalus.
Lessar listened apparently I'M
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

thrown into prison by the Chinese and
barbarously treated. In 1890 and 1884,
when I again visited Kashgar, Rus
sian influence was growing rapidly
And at the present time, stimulated
by the domineering attitude which
Lessar assumes at Pekin, the Russian
consul is practically the autocrat of
Kashgar His will is incontestable.
And so it is in most parts of China
nowadays.
Insisted on Treaty Observance.
Year by year the Russian Consul
lates have insisted, on every little point,
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24
BY THOMAS R. SMITH.

hitting meekly to the exasperating
delays of the Chinese officials, like
other foreign diplomats, he calmly
summoned those officials before him
to hear the words of the Geat White
Garland they came, listened, and
obeyed.
Russian Domination of Chinese.
THE steady and persistent efforts
to dominate the Chinese, which the
Russians have been making for years,
have reached the summit of their sue
cess under Lessar," said an Anglo
Indian official whose sphere of work
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

Army, a young London newspaper
man who was out for eXperience-and
got 1t; lawyer who had been dis
barred, and several other men who
were obviously of good birth and edu-
cation, but would tell nothing about
their antecedents. AS a rule, the en-
gineers don't like such a crew. They
drink worse than the ordinary hands,
they cannot work so hard, and they
won't knuckle under to discipline.
Years ago, when 1 served on a
liner plying to the Far East, there
was a young Englishman with me as
trimmer. We went several voyages
. together to the same port-the princi
pal town of an important British COL
ony. He was plainly a gentleman,
but he stuck to his work well and
never went on a spree. He liked to
look around foreign towns, but L no
ticed that whenever we lay in that
particular British port he never went
ashore. He would not even go on
deck, unless he was obliged to do so,
preferring to stay in his bunk all day.
This was such unusual conduct for
a trimmer that 1 asked him what his
motive was. He muttered that he had
his reasons, so I left him alone, sup
posing that he had committed some
crime in that town and was afraid he
would be arrested If he went ashore.
Next time we visited that port, the
Governor of the colony and his wife
came aboard to bid goodbye to their
daughter, who was sailing with US to
England to finish her education.
"The second engineer sent the
young Englishman on to the wharf
with a message to the dock superin-
tendent. Going down the gangway,
he met the Governor and his party.
That distinguished old gentleman-a
famous British generaEturned pale
and started at him as if he were a
ghost. Then he gripped that grimy
trimmer by the hand and cried, BY
God, it's Harry The women hung
around him and began to cry, and be-
fore I could grasp what was happen
ing they had hustled him into a car
riage and driven him off to Govern
nnent House.
1.-THE Governor talked to our skip
per, and fixed things up so that the
young fellow didn't return to the
stokehold. But on our next voyage
he Travelled with us as a first-class
passenger. After dinner one evening
be met me on the deck and told me
that he was the Governors only son.
He had been sent to Sandhurst to
train for the British Army, but was
expelled for throwing an obnoxious
tutor into a horse pond. He dared
not face his father, who was a fine old
soldier, with stern ideas of discipline,
so he tried his luck for himself, and
ultimately drifted into our stokehold.
Now all was forgiven, and he was go
ing to England to bother the Colonial
Office for a commission in some Colo
NAL police force. He is now the adj
ministrator in charge of one of the
smaller British colonies in the Pa
cific."
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

and Chinese Turkestan. For years
1 have watched the work of their
consul in Chinese Turkestan, and
marked the gradual spread of his in
fluence.
When 1 first arrived in Kashgar, in
1887, he had only recently been es-
tablished there, and Russian influence
was small. Even a few years later a
Russian merchant, whom l had met
in a distant part of Turkestan, WAS
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

that their treaty rights should be OBJ
served to the letter, and the Chinese
officials have been taught by many a
sharp experience that whatever else
they do. they must fully respect the
rights of a Russian subject. So i'm
portant, indeed. have the Chinese
learned to regard this consideration
that they look upon an ability to pre-
serve friendly relations with the Rus
sian representative as the chief quail
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

There are some things" said the
philosopher, that money cannot buy"
II suppose So" answered Senator Sor-
ghum. But that doesn't alter the fact
that there is an almighty lot of things
that 1t will buy" Washington Star.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24
MOZLEY'S
LEMON ELIXIR
MADE OF LEMoNR

MADE OF LEMoNs

Thou shalt not grow old" is an un-
written law which every sensible man
and woman aims to observe. And how
do they accomplish it?--simply by
keeping the system in perfect trim
through the use of tonic medicine
like Green's August Flower They
keep their blood pure. their digestion
good, their liver active, they vitality
normal and their spirits buoyant by
the regular and judicious use Of Au-
gust F'lower-and thus keep youthful
and happy. Trial bottle, 25c. Big
bottle, 75c. At all druggists. knights
Pharmacy.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

Copyright. 1904, by William Thorp.)
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24
The Governor,s g

davs5y men who have "seen better
Of tbo are TO be found in the republic
big Atilennoer,' said a trimmer on
crSn, 'e ~ !. liner, once sailing with
inolpSoSV I nremen and trinmers which
ueo an ex-captain Of the British
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

Copyright. 1904. by William Thorp.
Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1904-08-12

you want and to get the good out of what
you eat. MAJORS NEURAL PILLS
absolutely CURE all forms of Stomach
troubles. No matter how long standing
such as, Gastritis, Neuralgia, Heart
burn and Chronic Dyspepsia. Why not
give them triall They cost soc per box
and are guaranteed to cure by your local
on receipt of price by the Alma Chemical
Co., Alma, Mich.
Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1904-08-12

e,
Hat wmle CLOSE tnu f
frmnrdr unpn S1T d Mason ar Rice f dG Las uan INQUIRER oyIN
Wrh hh l u department Store N know " out eyurpe emom uld
mgenud t nnmp ny hn gcm neo uin n1annrr
aim V Civ hf m l hf
Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1904-08-12
WHY HE PUSHES 1T.
Chas. Rhodes ReCo amends
and Pushes Mi-O-na, the
Dyspepsia Remedy.

'It's pleasure to sell a medicie when
my customers come in afterwards ana
tell me how much good it has done
them, said Chas Rhodes the popular
druggist 10 an Alma man, land that Is
why l like TO sell and recommend
Milo ma, the dyspepsia remedy.
Il have so much faith III this article
that am going 10 guarantee II IN the
future, and will return the money TO
any purchaser of Mi-o-na whom IL does
not cure. That may seem rash, but my
customers have said 30 many good words
in its favor that | do not expect to have
many packages returned.
Anyone who has dyspepsia, whose
food does not digest well, who has TO
take thought Is to what he can eat, and
when, can leave 80 cents deposit at his
store and take home "a box of Mona,
and If the remedy does not regulate his
digestion and cure his dyspepsia, he can
withdraw his money on returning the
empty box.
This shows great faith in the merit OF
Mi-o-na 1t is really a most unusual
medicine and the rapid increase in sales
since Chas. Rhodes introduced 1t III
Alma, shows that it does all that 1t
claims TO do, cures dyspepsia, regulates
digestion and enable those who use IL TO
eat just what they want and when they
want with no fear Of trouble.