The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-12-12

the peasantry. 1t also reached st.
Petersburg; it was circulated in Mos
COW, Odessa and Warsaw; it was scat
tered through the provinces of the
Steppes and the isolated Amur dis
trict; it found its way into Poland and
even to Koshk in the Trans-Caspian
provinces, and was read by the I'M
happy people of Khios in Central Asia
and of BOkhara.
Education was the constant cry of
the perseverng DR.. Nicholas Russell.
His slogan was taken up by his secret
followers at home, who were wont to
occasionally write him encourag ingly
of the progress of his good work. A
year or SO later found the cause of
Russia's freedom being advocated
strenuously among certain classes in
this country and eventually 1.-The Amer
lean friends Of Russia" as they now
call themselves, and among whom are
Julia Ward Howe, Charles w. Folke
and other notables Of the East and
West, lent their assistance, morally at
least, to the educational cause.
DR.. RusseTs life in San Francisco
had not been prolific Of much profess
sional practice, not that his practice
could have been made more general,
| but because his active interest in the
affairs of Russia made the cause of his
unfortunate countrymen the absorbing
| theme of his mind. His constant con-
tributions of money, in various sums,
! to the people of his race who sought
! his assistance proved a serious drain on
his income. At times he was penniless,
but the fact did not seem to disturb
either him or his wife, for their senti-
ments were one in all questions that
related to the welfare of Russian sub
jects. 1t was not an infrequent ex-
perience for DIR. Russell to give his. last
dollar to a. Russian fugitive. He gave
as he had it and trusted to the NOR
row for assistance for himself and
wife.
In the latter part of the '90s DR..
Russell and his wife removed to Ha-
wall, where he. with the assurance of
a lucrative employment, believed that
his iffe's work could be pursued under
equally if not better conditions than
in this city Settling in modest home
but a few miles from the base of the
volcanic Mauna Loa he frequently, for
a time, corresponded with his old
friends in San Francisco, to whom he
confided many of the details of the
inner workings of his great scheme to
promote revolution in Russia. Finally
his letters ceased, and soon the name
Of Russell became a matter of memory
with those who had been associated
with him in this city.
Early in March, 1901, a steamer from
Honolulu brought the news that Dr.
Russell had been elected a member of
the first Territorial Senate, of which
he had been chosen president. With
his love for agitation he had drlfted
into politics in the islands and had
been persuaded to enter the Senatorial
contest, in which he was successful. AS
president of the first Senate, however
his career was a short one. His posi- |
ton prohibited him from taking an
active part in the debates, as he ca
gerlv desired, and finally, when the
Sena tie was disturbed by a heated con- |
troversv over some matter of state |
the doctor suddenly resigned the presl- |
dency and. taking his place among the |
other members of the legislative body |
he was daily found in the midst of |
the exciting oratory on the floor.
But the doctor still welded to his |
theories, soon tired OF |
Hawaiian politics and retired from the |
Senate and was again lost track OF by |
his former acquaintance in san fran !
cisco. Four months ago his friends IN |
this city were surprised by the receipt |
of a letter from the doctor IN Wnich /
he referred TO the approaching reEo!u-
ton in Russia. and predicted its out
break would mark the closing OF the |
lana nese-Russian war At that time
he was in Japan. endeavoring in every
nossiblv way to communicace with
Russian prisoners of war and arouse
within them the spirit of revolution. II
was impossfble. of course, for lin tG
reach the soI1iers within the Russian
ines. but infection was being accom-
plfshcd among those men from an en-
r-reiy different source
,-siae of DR.. Pussal were sacrar-y en-
y,gaa in that work at various points in
Rusefa. TIL influence was constantly
telling an ~howed its direct effect on
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