The Washington times., 1917-04-05
RUSSIAN GENERAL
ENDS LONG EXILE
Ivan the CobbIer" Returns to
Lead His Cossack
Regiment.

NEW YORK, April "a little old
man sat on a little old trunk on the
deck of a departing liner and wept,
turning his faded eyes away when
any one approached, like a child who
is ashamed OF his tears.
On the pier below and along the
rail where his companions gathered,
the flag of the newest republic
snapped in the wet wind. The men
along the rail shouted, Long live
RussiaI Long live our dear land!
Russia, the new republic! Freedom
above everything"
They were going home, twenty of
them. Political exiles, cast forth from
their nation, they were returning to
her in her new born glory.
That was why the little old man
sat and wept apart and looked out
across the broad sea path. which led
to the Narrows, with eyes blurred and
very wistful. "Old ivan the Cobbler"
was going back to lead his adoring
Cossacks once more. The dream of
twenty-five years was coming true.
Twenty-Five Years in Exile.
Already the old yellow wooden
trunk seemed his charger. Behind
him he could hear in the beating rain
the clatter OF lances who rode for
Russia. After twenty-five years of
exile, Gen. Peter Alexis Korvanov was
returning to his own
"Ivan the Cobbler OF Hester Street"
L. fhnnQand
fighting men he would be. But now
he was only an old man, who cried
lest his heart should break for happi-
ness.
While the voices of his repatriated
companions still shouted the name OF
the newborn land, he told the story
of one who had welded the sword
for his Gar and had been repaid.
'Yes, 1 am really a Russian gen
eral, although my friends here know
me much better as old Ivan the Cob
bier For the last fifteen years 1
have mended all the shoes on Hester
street during the day, and nightly
prayed to the blessed virgin that /
might some day return to lead my
Cossack regiment to victory.
THAT day has come at last, and I
am going home. I doubt II you can
appreciate my emotions, as you
Americans have not the love of coun-
try Unborn, as we Russians have"
Was Sent to Siberia.
He paused, wiped his eyes, and then
continued, slipping into French,
which he speaks more fiuently than
English.
He was educated at the University
of Moscow and the Polytechnique in
Petrograd, but before he entered coll
lege he had led his Cossacks in quell-
ing several uprisings. "Our regiment
feared neither God nor the devil" he
said half proudly, half regretfully.
Six years after he left the Poly
technique, ability, plus family con-
nections and friends at court, had
raised him over the heads of older
men to, the distinction of being the
youngest general of division in the
army. At court his personality was
found so pleasing that he was made
chief OF police in Moscow. The iron
rule he established there gave him
the post of governor of Kiev.
Those who had envied his success
found an opportunity to take it from
him. They charged him with extor-
tion. He was tried in Petrograd, con-
victed, and sent to Siberia
For three years he was held a pris-
oner in the bleak prison land OF Rus
sis, and then came his chance for es-
cape.
Made Escape From Prison.
Russia was building a railway, and |
he. because OF his technical training.
was placed at the head of a party of |
prospectors who were to explore the
interior. On the night before their
return he mounted his horse and fled
Eventually he reached Shanghai, sixty
pounds lighter than when he had
started-ill, but free
AT Shanghai i boarded a freiEhter
bound for America, and agreed TO
work my passage as cooks assistant" :"
he continued I'VE stopped at Yoka-
homa to take on cargo, but while /
there the crew mutinied. / took the |
part OF the officers, and in the gen
eral melee received this cut from a |
Delaying pin" General Krovanov
pointed to long. jagged scar reach
ing from his left eye almost to his
ear.
After five months in a hospital I
n6ohh S'uBhl 10 take passage to
and after a voyage lasting
nearly two months and a half arrived
AZ San Francisco.
FeareS Secret Service.
Even though. living in a republic, I
was in constant fear Of the Russian
secret service and the long tentacles
which might any-moment carry me back
% that weary Siberia. / decided that I
must keep under cover at all costs, and
% that end ultimately took up the
rade Of cobbler. In Russia every boy
s taught trade. no matter what his
station in life may be. and l had
earned in youth TO peg shoes. As a
'obbler ! had more time TO myself-
more time for reading, thinking, and
Planning always to return.
That was my obsessiOn.
Hearing that there were many DO
itical exiles in the Eastern States, I
lecided TO come to New York and seek
ny compatriots. had changed nv
Iame to Ivan Korostony-my mothers
maiden name-and as Old Ivan ] have ,
'egged shoes and sold candies to the
hildren Of the east side during the ,
lay and met with a few cronies in the
'ack room Of my little basement shop ,
1 night
Last night we had a celebration-l
he first one in twenty-five years We
ad o,,- /