The Hawaiian gazette., 1912-04-23
INTERPRETER FOR RUSSIANS
FAILS TO TALK LANGUAGE
Thirty.Six Cossack immigrants Held Month";
Because No One Could Understand Their
Complaints Costly Mistake.

Thirty-six Russians sat, impatient for
a month or more because man who
thought be could talk Russian and
whom the immigration authorities be-
lieved could talk Russian was not fitted
to act as interpreter. During that time
the local representatives of the federal
government were paying the expenses of
these thirty-six people at the immigra-
ton station, paying the salaries of sew
eral men to deal with them and cabling
to Washington in their dilemma. This
is the story which the immigrants told
yesterday through an interpreter who
could speak their language and under
stand their complaints.
There is certain limit to even Rus
sian patience and there are certain fea-
lures of western immigration methods
which do not appeal strongly to the
little colony of newcomers from Siberia
who were recently released from the
federal immigration STATION. These peo-
pie have decided that so far as ex-
pressing indignation, wrath and sorrow
in Honolulu is concerned Russian is
about as useful as Hittite. The story
they tell of their trials IN making them
selves understood, in telling how they
came here and why they came, explains
their evaporation.
1t seems that the man who was as
signed the work of interpreting the
fluent Russian of these Cossacks, who
had already suffered much en- route,
was Pole who had understood Russian
at some remote period, who believed
that he still had grip on the intri-
cacies of the sister language and who
decided to have shot at it anyway.
OF course the immigration people did
not know whether be was talking
Polish, Slavok, Lithuanian, Russian or
Servian. 1t all sounds alike and it all
sounds equally bad, but the poor Rus
slams soon learned that whatever he was
talking it was not Russian. In some
fashion they understood his questions,
but they soon saw that he did not un-
derstand their answers. This brave
boy went through with it just the same
and said the things that sounded likely
and fitting.
SAD MISUNDERSTANDING.
1t was believed that the thirty-six
people who came over here on the Nile
after skipping out of Russia without
bidding an official farewell, were as
sisted or contract laborers and while
they were being Investigated the whole
party just had to sit about and wonder
what it was all about, for it was not
until yesterday that they understood
why they had been held and what was
wanted of them. The so-ealled interpre-
ter had never been able to tell them
and they are by no means stupid
party. Now that they are in the ter
ritorial hands and have had an oppor-
tunity to hear and speak their own Ian
guage their trouble are evaporating
and the whole party win be off to Maui
or Hawaii within a week.
According to their account of their
journey and the trials en- voyage, the
whole party had to leave the Gar Is
empire without passports, because no
more are being issued, and every man
woman and child of them is liable to
five years imprisonment IT they return.
One lad was a soldier and deserted to
join the party, several of the boys are
liable for military service and would
be dealt with in summary fashion If
they returned. They are all just a
trife nervous about their status here
and are not quite sure that the big pd~
of the Russian bear cannot reach them
in Hawaii
Looted as Well.
Arrangements were made to bring