Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-12-07

that extraordinary glance he was sup
posed to possess. to which was attrib-
uted his power over people, but | could
not find any trace of il or notice any
thing remarkable about him The eX-
preston of his face was that of a cum
ming mouSik such as one constantly
meets with in our country, perfectly
well aware OF the conditions IN which
he was finding himself placed. and de-
] termined to make the best out of them.
Everything in him, to begin with his
common dress and to end with his long
hair and his dirty nails, bore the char
acter of the uncivilized peasant he was.
He seemed to realize setter, perhaps
| than those who surrounded him, thai
one of his trump cards was precisely
! this uncouthuess. which ougt to have
been repelling, and that il he had put
on different clothes and tried to assim-
Hate the manners of his betters. half
OF the interest which he excited would
have disappeared. I did not stay long
time, and went away thoroughly disap
I pointed. and perhaps even slightly dis
/ guested at the man.
] a few months later. I'll February Of
the present year. 1915. l was asked again
/ to meet Rasputin at Baron Miklos's
house There / found a numerous and
most molly company assembled. There
were two members of the duma Messrs.
Karaouloff and Souratchane; General
l Pohwanoff, a great landowner of the
government of Woronege. y. p. AleXieff:
Madam Swetchine. the Senator s p. Bic
letsky and other people. Ladies were
in a majority. Rasputin remained talk
| ing for long time with the Deputy Kar-
aouloff in another room than the one In
which I found myself. Then he came to
/ join us in the large drawing room, where
/ he kept walking up and down with
young girl on his arm-Allle. D., a singer
| by professionalism was entreatinG him
| to arrange for her an engagement at
/ the Russian opera. (which he promised
her TO do for certain" as he expressed
himself.
Every five or ten minutes Rasputin
went up to a table on which were stand
/ ing several decanters with red wine and
other spirits and he poured himself
I large glass out of one of them. He
swallowed the contents at one gulp,
wiping his mouth afterwards with his
I'sleeve or with the back of his hand.
/ During one of these excursions he came
up to where l was sitting, and stopped
before me. eNclaiming: Il remember
thee Thou art a teaser, who writes.
and writes. and repeats nothing but
caIumnies" I asked the prophet" why
he did not say you" to me. instead of
addressing me with the vulgar appella-
tiou of thou"
Il speak in this way with every
body ne replied. II have got my own
way in talking with people"
/ made him a remark about some
words which he had pronounced badly,
adding: Surely you have learned dur
ing the ten years which you have lived
in the capital that one does not use the
expressions which YOU have employed
And how do you know that l have writ
ten or repeated calumnies. You can
not read yourself. so that everything
YOU hear is from other people. and you
cannot feel sure whether they tell you
the truth"
This does not matter" he replied
Thou hast written that one is stealing,
and thou knowest myself how to do So"
swered. But L have written that one
! IS doing so at present everywhere. This
Il was necessary to do for the public
good
Thou hast done wrong; one must
only write the truth. Truth is every
thing" he said.
The conversation was assuming an
angry and sharp tone. Rasputin be-
came enraged at my telling him that
all he was saying was devoid of common
sense, and he began shouting at me. at
the top of his voice. BE quiet, how
\ darest thou say such things. Be quiet"
did not wish to remain quiet and I
began in my turn to shout at the
Prophet" VINO became absolutely fu
rlous when | assured him / was not
woman whom ne could brighten, that /
wanted nothing from him. and that he
had better leave me alone, or il might
be the worse for him.
He then howled at me, screaming as
loud as he could: 1T is an evil thing
for everybody that thou art here!"
When in the following April it came
ed 10 expel me from the capital, I was
surprised to have Baron Miklos come to
me one day i'm the name of Rasputin,
who had asked him to tell me that
though | was a proud man." he did
not bear me any grudge, and that if l
wished it, he would take steps to have
the order for my expulsion revoked, and
. that at all events he begged me not to
think that he had taken any part in
this whole affair. I categorically re-
fused to avail myself of the help of
Rasputin, and there ended the whole
matter.
I have reproduced this tale because
IL seems 20 me that il helps one
TO understand the personality of
Rasputin. and because il describes to
perfection the manner in which he
used TO treat the people with whom he
dealt. Personally, when l interviewed
convince myself that the impression
which he had produced on Prince Lvoff
was absolutely A correct one. and |
made the same remark which the lat
ter had done I'm regard to the total alb
sence OF this magnetic strength which
Rasputin was supposed to possess over
those With whom he entered into con-
versatiou. The man was a fraud and
nothing else. He had been deified by
the group Of foolish people whom he
had persuaded that he was "A messenger
from Heaven. come to announce to Holy
Russia that a new Christ has arisen.
But his pretended fascination existed
only in the imagination of the persons
who asserted its existence To the
impartial observer he appeared what he
was-an arrogant and insolent peasant,
who. knowing admirably on which side
his bread was buttered, exploited with
considerable ability to his personal adj
vantage the stupidity Of his neighbors.
Continued Next Issue.D