The Cairo bulletin., 1905-01-25
FATHER GAPOE
A BORN LEADER
Has Wonderful Power Over
Lower Classes
THE MOBILES FEAR HIM
FOLLOWERS WORSHIP HIM AND
POPULARITY HAS KEPT FIN
FROM EAlLES FATE
PRODIGY AS a
CHI =.

,on the art ch ic. who spnt man,
years in Russia as a student and CD
server CT the so.iai condition gave
today a graphic picture OF Father
/ Gapon. ne saia.
Though Father George Gap7n bias
inst como before the pBhli~ eye in
The world Of Russia his personalit.
m been felt rs an ever Increasing
force for many years I have seer
him ana heard him speak many iimea
ana ! can say truly never felt a per
sonal influence more singularly mag
netic Than his in all my life.
"The early career 81 tlrs priest II
shrouded more or less in mystery
lie was born in Polaya in 1899 and
is The sou Of poor peasant. family
When he was able 10 tojdc Sout he
was assigned 10 the care Of pics ani
geese. AS a boy he went much among
the peasant people Of his home caun-
! try and before he reached hts teens
his phenomenal mental ability be.
gan 10 show itself ! have heard ana
! I believe il. that whep ha was boy
Of he began to discour @ OH tnc 81
tcr'al condition Of the pcasanuy and
rais iaa soon WIS locked lmon by an
| hs elders with q feeling on awe ARD
everenco 5omehow his rala ives
managed 10 sanl him TO The best
chools in Pcltava,
| AS a youth he exhibited such profo
ise mat friends determined to send
him into the priesthood. All the while
be was studying socialism and con
tinualiy discussing ne social condi
tons of his country While he was
studying for the priesthood at sem
mary he gave voice to such radical
views that he was expelled before be
ing graduated. He finsy.y managed
! doweyer, 10 he admitted 10 the priest
hood uuder he general limitations.
which did not permit him 70 have g
\ general pastorate
when | first saw Father Gapon
lie was O man Of about 80 years Of
age. He had the face of mystic
one of those classic mods az fe2
ture we are led 10 expert as chalec
teris ic of prophets and greai lead
ere Of men. Every feature mad 4 a.,
| tinct line CT force and the heavy, or
81 hanging eyebrows give him fe-
rocity of countenanca that otherwise
suggests extreme moderation an
| genileness. Though he never had
pastoraic re always has worn the o.
hodox beard Of a Russian priest.
once you looked up.n face such
as Father Gapon's it can never leavr
your memory The features are gen
eral. neither sharp nor blunt The"
are large. however, but large in pro
portion with The high, bulky torehea
" The great thinker When J FIR
saw him he was addressing NEE
| ng OF working men. He began IN o
low, mumbling voice, vibran With
bower and force. Before be had com
pleted his FRS phrase you could toei
| the magnetic spark entering your
oul that would holl you until the
last syllable fen from his lipf Thoa.
working men whose causd he mas
made his life's effort AT and lisen
I'd to hin with glowing eyes and beai
ing hearts and heir passions rose
With his. In many ways he is n born
agitator. lie allows his feelings t
attain complete mastery of him, no
matter how violent they may BE-.
Though he is not unusually tail he
! has q commanding figure and grea-
broad shouldero-the most expire
siva shoulders I have even seen on
an orators body When workcd up
% violent pitch these shoulders
roll and shake with his emotions and
by some strange influence the shout
iers Of his hearerr would work like
wise.
His eyes also are the eyes of the
! rrvctic-iaitre. dreamy ana rolline
when he is excited. When he fixes
them upon you you can feel them &c
right through yon Though there can
| be no doubt Of his sincerity OF pur-
pose. | believe he has bsen greedy
OF his popularity since he has begun
TO urge him-cf forward as a friend
and champion of the artisan and
working man.
"His hold over them long has beoi
source of fear and alarm to the no
bles for his hand stretches out over
the entire empire. | have heard him
talk in Moscow and st. Petersburg
and in both places he is followed aud
gorshiped blindly. So great an in
huence has ne obtained over tho Rus
sian people thai none Of those in
power have dared to harm him. And
! their fear of him has increased from
year TO year Were he not a man OF
such dominant viii and such mighty
influence over the minds of his fol
lowers he would have been mem
Der of the Siberian chain gang manv
years ago. Bur they have feared him
and always will fear him.
1T is not at all strange thai he es-
cape1 in yesterday frighiful marsa-
ere. No colder would Willingly fire
upon a priest or upon one who held
in his hand cruoihx or an icon.
Then this man is beginning to haze
an ever Increasing influence over the
soidiery and this is tie greatest fear
/