Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1905)
40 ST. PETERSBURG. Nor. 24. (Spe cial Correspondence of The Sunday Oregonian.) Little by little there havo come from the "remote Jftisslan province of Kazan the complete details of one of the most extraordinary dramas which evon this modern won derland lias ever yielded. Four years ago. Baron Liupianoff, a wealthy Russian nobleman and land owner, endeavored to kidnap a girl namod Olga Ostrelsky. .the daughter of a rich fur merchant named Ivan Os trelsky. In order to make her his wife. Instead of abducting the object of his ardent affections the Baron himself was kidnaped by the girl's father, Ivan Ostrelsky and incarcerated In the mer chant's cellar for four years by way of drastic punishment for his projected outrage. Huron Llupianoff has now been liberated from his imprisonment and, much against his own will, has been compelled to make the story of his remarkable imprisonment public in order to enforce his wn rights of I roper ty. ' The records of this astonishing ro mance arc chronicled In tho oflicial re ports of the District Court, at Kasan bazh. as well as In the higher court of tnc City of Kazan, the capital iof the province of the same name. Rus sian, newspapers have devoted many columns to reports of the case and dis cussions thereon, for it lias been right ly held that It illustratos most graph ically the mediaeval conditions which still prevail in the European provinces of the Russian empire. Dissipated Spendthrift. Buron Cyril LlupVinoff at the time of his adventure was 30 years of age. and rt-slded in his .vn ancestral castle on estates which extended from the northern districts the province of Kazan Into the adjoining province of Vyatka. His possessions covered an area of many thousands of acres and he was the most powerful magnate for many miles around. As a young man he had gone to St. Petersburg to enj.oy life and in the course of a semi-decade of dissipation had succeeded in squan dering u considerable portion of the family fortune. Returning to his es tate situated in one of the remote parts of darkest Russia, he turned over a new leaf and was known far and wide as a confirmed woman hater. The mothers of all the marriageable daughters for scores of miles around who had at first marked the Baron out as a suitable matrimonial prize, grad ually abandoned their efforts to cap ture him and left him to enjoy life in the solitude of his bachelor establish ment. His aversion to the fair sex went so far that he dismissed all the female servants in his household and Mmited his staff of domestics and re tainers to men. Ills pleasures were lirinclpnlly shooting and liuntlng in the primeval forests which covered his estates. lie was tall, stalwart and handsome, with bold and energetic features and muscular limbs. His ec centric habits and his dislike to female soelBty caused him to be regarded among his neighbors as man to be avoided and the stories which were told of his quarrelsome and violent nature gave him a most unfavorable reputa tion through all the country side. Fell In Love "With Olgn. One fateful day Baron Llupianoff sot eyes on Olga Ostrelsky. who at that time had Just passed her 16th birthday and was a girl of striking beauty. She was tall and dark, with flashing" black eyes and jot black hair. Baron Llupia noff woman-hater as he had been for so long was fascinated by her charms and recalling his former conquests In the Russian capital began assiduously to court her in the hope of persuading her to be his wife. He had conic Into contact with the girl through busi ness transactions with her father who still carried on business as a dealer in furs. Ivan Ostrelsky's business estab lishment was situated in tiie Cltv of Kazan, but the merchant resided in the vicinity or Kazanbazh. some 30 miles from the capital of the province. Ho was the possessor of a stable of thor oughbred Russian horses which en abled him to speed along the. deserted roads between his residence and Kazan within three or four hours In tho Sum mer by means of the light carriages peculiar to Russia, and In the Winter by moans of sledges. His wife had died soon after his daughter's birth and Olga Ostrelsky was committed to the care of an English governess. Miss King. Olga Ostrelsky had chanced to be present in her father's store whtft Baron Llupianoff came into the city to purchase his Winter furs. The Baron requested the merchant there and then to presont him to his daughter and the eccentric nobleman took good care to continue the acquaintance thus casual ly begun. Henceforth he carried on his business transactions with the mer cnant. not in the store In the City of Kazan, but at Ostrelskys. private resi dence on the outskirts of ICasanbazh. in order that he might utilize the op portunity of seolng Miss Ostrelsky. His visits became more and more frequent, -at Aral under the pretext of business. y ', JUL ,'Wf m, ' 'taiif and subsequently for the avowed pur pose of paying his attentions to the merchant! daughter. Ivan Ostrelsky. a man of plebeian birth, who had accumu lated his reat riches by his own In dustry and commercial efficiency, was considerably Mattered by the atten tions which the great nobleman paid to his daushtcr and favored Baron LiupianofTs suit. He encouraged the Baron to visit his house, froquotnly in vited him to dinner, and gave him nu merous npportunitles of bolng alone with .his daughter. Hated by the Girl. Miss Ostrelsky. however, did not share her father's partiality for the aristocrat, who made no progress whatever with his suit, but on the contrary became more and more undesirable in the eyes of the heiress of plebeian birth, Olga Ostrelsky, it must be remembered, had been brought up in great seclusion in her country home, and was absolutely unacquainted with the weaknesses and vices of the ladles of high -society in the Russian capital. Baron Llupianoff. however, whose experience of women had hitherto been confined to the "gay dames of the capital, wooed the In nocent country girl In the same dashing style by which he had effected the con quest of so many feminine hearts In St. Petersburg. His audacious advances, however, only frightened the country girl and his conversation, -full of witticisms and veiled allusions which would have suited the taste of St. Petersburg ladles, only shocked Miss Ostrelsky. whose Eng lish governess. Miss King, encouraged her in her dislike of the amorous Baron. At the expiration of the first fortnight. Baron Llupianoff made a formal offer of mar riage to Miss Ostrelsky which was Imme diately and emphatically rejected by the young lady. Baron Llupianoff. howex'er. who be lieved that he liad to deal merely with the whims of a capricious young crea ture, continued his visits and Iris court ship and ignored or affected to ignore Miss Ostrelsky's aversion to his person ality. At the end of the third week he renewed his offer which was again re jected. A third, fourth and fifth offer wore all likewise rejected and on each oc casion Miss Ostrelsky declared her dis like of her persistent suitor In emphatic language. On the last occasion she cried: "I dislike you more than I can express In words. If you were the only man In the world I would not marry you. Your at tentions are dlstastoful to me and your persistence, after 1 have inado my wishes known Is discourteous and brutal. I shall never permit you to see mo again. Shied With His Daughter. Ivan Ostrelsky. who at first openly and afterwards secretly, favored the suit of the great nobleman, veered round and sided with his daughter after her deter mination became apparent to him. After her first and second rejection of the Baron's suit the merchant had shared the aristocrat's 'belief that these refusals were due to a maidenly caprice and Mr. Ostrelsky had encouraged the young man to continue his visits and to persist In his courtship. But after the final scene with the Baron Miss Ostrelsky told her father that she would never see her admirer again and that his visits to the house must be forbidden. Iran Ostrelsky rea soned with his daughter, endeavoring to point out the numerous advantages of so brilliant a. match, but Olga remained obstinate. "I would rather kill myself than be compelled to marry that man." said the girl, and her father, who was well acquainted with her kelf-wllled char acter realized that all further efforts to alter her determination would lie abso lutely futile. Accordingly he wrote a po lite note to the Baron Informing him that his attentions to Miss Ostrelsky were no longer desired and that It would spam embarrassment to all parties concerned If the aristocrat ceased his visits to the villa. Outrageous Conduct. On the following day Baron Llupianoff rode on horseback from his own residence to tie merchant's villa. Entering the grounds he dashed up to the house, opened the door and strode in without further ceremony. Entering the drawing room he found Miss Ostrelsky sitting In the coaapany of her governess, Miss King, THE SUNDAY OREGQyiAN, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 10, 1905, and frightened' the ladies by his sudden appearance. Seizing Miss Ostrelfijfy In his arms he kissed her again and again and declared that he Intended to marry her. The girl's screams .soon brought the serv ants on the scene and they threw them selves on the Baron, with the intention of ejecting him from the house. Taking ad vantage of the diversion Miss Ostrelsky escaped from his grasp, fled from the room and locked herself in her own "chamber. Meanwhile the Baron, who was a man of extraordinary strength, dispersed his assailants with case, bestowing on them black eyes, bleeding noses and other con spicuous marks of his heavy fists. In his rage he demolished some of the furniture of the room and killed Miss Ostrelsky's pot dog. which had flown at his throat, by a blow with the halt end of Ms riding whin. TImk. mounting his horse again. h rode oif and disappeared. Ivan Ostrel sky. who was absent during this Invasion of his premises now realized the danger vhs character of the young aristocrat and took precautions to prevent a repetition of the violent intrusion. The approaches to the grounds' of the villa were hence forth carefully guarded day and ulght by the merchant's retainers and Italf a dozen , armed men were always in the house ready to protect their young mis tress from outrage. Plans to Kidnap. This took place in February. 1502. Henceforth Baron Llupianoff plotted and planned and schemed to kidnap the merchant's beautiful daughter. Finally, an opportunity presented itself on the oc casion of the midnight service held in the cathedral at Kazan on Easter Sunday. The Baron by means of his spies ascer tained that Miss Ostrelsky and her gov ernors intended to drive from the villa to Kazan on the Sunday evening and to meet Iran Ostrelsky at tho Cathedral. The two women 'would accordingly be alone and almost unprotected during the Ion drive of 30 miles and the Baron per ceived that this would be an excellent op portunity of carrying out his plan of kid naping the girl. Notwithstanding the law lessness prevailing In Russia and the license which aristocratic magnates enjoy the project was a dangerous one and the Baron entrusted the secret only to two accomplices, his own groom and bis own personal valet, both sturdy muscular fel lows. On the evening of Easter Sunday the Baron and his two retainers left the castle mounted on powerful steeds and armed with revolvers and daggers, and provided with manacles, gags and other appliances for the projected outrage. At the castle a priest of the Orthodox Greek Church was waiting in readiness to per form the wedding ceremony between the Baron and the girl as soon as he brought her to his home. After arriving at the wayside of the road leading from Kasan-' bazb to Kazan the Baron and his two retainers dismounted and awaited the ar rival of thi carriage containing Miss Os trtleky and her governess. Kidnapers Kidnaped. In spite, however, of the secrecy with which Baron Uu piano ft had planned his coup !Van Ostrelsky had received infor mation regarding the projected seizure i EXTRAORDINARY PL5I5HAVEjT OF A -WHO TR1BD GJRL- his daughter. Baron LiupianofTs personal valet was a married man and In an in cautious moment he had confided the J secret of the scheme to his wife. This j woman, having no particular love for ! her husband and seeing an opportunity i for a liberal reward, betrayed tho secret to Ivan Ostrelsky and received for : her Information. So. Instead of allowing ' his daughter and her governess to drive at nlsht to the cathedral, the merchant 1 placed two of his own strongest retainers ' in the carriage and two others on the box THE SHINING THING DOWN under a high mountain, where it was always dark and cold and al ways the same, there was a Thing. It had no way to tell the flight of time, and per haps It was ages that it had Iain there with It were other things, and some times it would talk with them, like this: "What are you doing?" it would ask. "Doing?" they would say. "What can wc do down here under the mountain, in the dark?" "I am- trying to make myself pure," It would answer. "Why should you make yourself pure?" thy would reply. "So that I may shine." "Shine! What folly! Do j-ou think you can shine down here under the mountain, where there is no light? So we might shine, too, and bright enough, if we ever had the light; hut here is nothing but darkness." But as the ages went on they might have been minutes or centuries the little Thing strove to make Itself pure, and waited for the UghL At last It came. The river that had been running at the side of the mountain wore Its bed deeper and deeper, and now. when there was a great flood, it burst down where the Thing and its compan ions were. The waters, eddying and swirl ing, swept around them and bore off the mud and rocks, and at last bore them away upon a great gravel bar and left them out in the air. "Light at last!" cried the Thing. "Ah. but you do not shine any more than we! So where new is all that purity of yours!" This was true. All alike were dull clods, or cobblestones, and the Thing shone no more than the rest. But still It was glad, and though Its outside was dull, drank the light into its heart and believed that it would shine If the light could only get to it. So the days passed and many of its comrades crumbled up into mod and were washed away in the flood times. At length there caste some children, and one of het said, "What a. queer stone!" "How heavy it 11" said a aether, as he took it vp; "as how hard, tool" he TRUE FABLES, by the Late Horace S. Lyman iMOBUVW TO KFDiMAP A by the side of the coachman. The car riage was thus manned by five faithful servants of the mcrhcant, all of whom were well armed and all fully prepared for an attack. When the Baron and the two retainers heW the carriage up they met with a re ception for which they were entirely un prepared. Ostrelsky's five servants over powered them after a short, sharp strug gle, bound them hand and foot, pitched them Into the carriage and drove them back to the merchant's villa where they cried as he hurled It time and again against the cobblestones. Then they took It home and gave It to the ok! grandfather, who sat In front of the house. He liked It because It was hard and heavy and he could throw It straight at the animals that broke some times Into the garden. He called it his Pig Stone, and said. "Oh. ugh! Bring me my pig sto.ne!" which meant about the same as the pigs arc in the rvrden. "Ah, this is sod." thought the Thing, "only to be thrown at the pigs, when my heart would ahlne." But it waited. Per haps the light woukl come to Its heart some day. At last a man arrived. He came to the old house far on the African plain and talked with the old man and saw what be called the pig stone. "Ah. grandfather," he said, "I fancy that heavy stone: I will give you a pres ent for It; I will give you this fine pipe and tf piece of gold." The old man fancied the presont. and the trade was soon made. "Now." thought the Thing, "we shall see." But the man took It to a great rock and began pounding. "Ah. ah. he Is breaking me to pieces!" thought the Thing. "If It Is pure." said the man, it will not split, but only scale off" and pound, pound, he went. "Ah!" said the Thing, with a last sigh: and its snell scaled off. and Its heart alone was left- How It shone! It almost dazzled the man's eyes. "It Is pure!" he cried. "Ms fortune Is made!" How it shone! It was like another star, and it knew then what it had felt all along, that it was made for the light and Its life was to shine. The Thing was a diamond, and was finally placed In the crown of a great Queen. THE SEED. IT WAS down In the dark" ground and very n;ucb alone. It could not see, for one thing, and all the no!s were muffled. Neither could it feel very far around. But there were some small, hard things about its own size next to itself, and with these It tried to talk. "How long have you been here?" It asked. "Forever and ever, we Imagine," they replied. "Why do you ask?" "L do not know," it answered. ' "I duly wondered." Then it said: "How long will yoa ttayT CDILARt ' arrived' at midnight. The merchant hlm- self wax waiting to receive them and when f the Baron was brought before him he ad ' dressed him as follows: "You arc a dan f gerous character. You are worse than an outlaw for your rank and position give you undesirable power. I see my daugh ter will not be safe from your persecu tions until she Is married, so I intend to keep you prisoner until she has the pro tection of a husband. Your men, must share your Imprisonment. My cellars have been prepared for your reception. Adieu." Imprisoned Four Tears In Cellar. This speech ended, the Baron, and his two companions were dragged down Into the cellar to begin their long period of In carceration. During this they were well fed. well clothed and well attended. The cellar was well warmed In Winter and well ventilated in Summer. The Baron and his companions were reduced to pas sive obedience by chains attached to their ankles with leather straps, which pre vented them from violent movements without otherwise seriously Inconvenienc ing them. Every night they were per mitted to leave the cellar and take one or two hours exercise In the surrounding park. On these occasions they were tied four of the merchant's most faithful ser vants. In the earlier months of their captivity they attempted to break loose and to attract the attention of tho mer chant's household by noisy demonstra tions. These outbreaks, however, were promptly suppressed by applications of the knout, and in time the Baron and his two servants became accustomed to cap tivity and found It more advisable to sub mit passively than to increase the sever ity of their punishment by resistance. Three years and six months passed by before Miss Ostrelsky married, and Baron I Liuptanoti s captivity conunuea tnrougn out this period. On the day of the depart ure of the merchant's daughter on her "Why, forever and ever, wc suppose, unless somebody comes and takc3 us away." "Ah." said the uecd, "I would not want to remain here always, where It is cold and dark." "Is not this good enough? What would you have?" they said. "I do not know," replied the seed; "but not this, forever and forever." "You are not our kind." they all said together,, and went to sleep so soundly that the seed could not awaken them. "I must move somehow." thought the seed, anl began ,feellng down In the dark. It went down far past the sleeping things, and soon met one that wan very much larger than any. This was a pebble. "What are you doing here?" asked the pebble, disturbing rr.e?" "I am feeling to find where I am." "Where you are?" exclaimed the peb ble; "are you not right here?" "But I cannot stay here forever and forever." "You are not my kind." said the pebble. "I Ptay here; where else should I be? Besides, what do you gain by moving? Are you not pulling yourself to pieces? I, at leaat, stay together." But. the seed kept on feeling down in the ground. "You will never live at this rate," the pebbles all said, "and you will only find It the same, or even darker, the farther you go." And so It began to seem. But tho seed said: "If L' cannot feel downward, I will reach upward." So It began to reach up ward. But the ground was hard and cold, and Its strength was often not enough to press It atlde. Then It reached a barrier, hard and cold, against which it pressed in vain; this was frost and Iceu the world above wa? still In Witter. "Ah," said all the eanh things around It. "you had better have stayed with us; you can never reach beyond the barrier of Ice; you must die." This seemed true; for day after day, though the seed did not yet know the days, it held its two little hands up, pressing against the frozen ground above it. But after a white it felt a peculiar thrill. Then came a glow from above, and Instead of the hard frost, warm, re viving water came seep-Ing down. All day the little plant for It was now no lofvger a seed reached upwards and preMetl aside the oozy soil. "I shall see the light at last," it thought. It threw aside the test bit or dirt, but honeymoon journey, the Baron and his two retainers were liberated and let loose In a country to which they had become practically foreigners. The Baron made lp"s way to his home and found that ha and his companions had been formally and legally adjudged dead persons. Their mysterious disappearance had created much curiosity at the time, but as months went. by and no trace of them could be found, they were written off In the Rus sian state records as nonexistlng and their property passed Into the hands of their legal heirs. A distant kinsman had taken possession of Baron LiupianofTs great estates and was enjoying his posi tion. The wives of the two servants had both taken new husbands and were any thing but pleased to see their former partners in matrimony reappear. Benefited Financially. What must bo described as one of th most striking features of this remarkable case has not. however, yet been told. As has already been stated when he returned from St. Petersburg to his estates. Barcn LiupianofTs affairs were in an indifferent condition, owing to his years of dissipa tion in the capital. And though he then made a drastic change In his manner of living. It Is doubtful if he ever would have succeeded in replenishing his depleted cof fers. This, however, and a good deal more, has been accomplished by the kins man who succeeded the Baron in the cus tody of hl3 estates. An energetic, re sourceful man of affairs, in the nearly four years of his proprietorship he has completely transformed the Llupianoff es tate, and made It pay as It never did be fore, with the result that. If its former owner gets it back, he will enter Into a vastly richer domain than that which ho quitted so suddenly. The present possessor of the Llupianoff estates refuses to acknowledge the Iden tity of the man who has reappeared after three and a half years' absence as that of the rightful Baron Llupianoff. The unfortunate prisoner, has, therefore, gono to law to recover possession of his prop erty. His pleadings have already been filed at Kazan and the case will come on in the course of the Winter. After Baron Llupianoff has proved his identity and h's right to possess his own property, proceedings will doubtless be Initiated against Ivan Ostrelsky for his treatment of the Baron and the Baron's servants. It Is significant that Ostrelsky has gone to the South of France for the sake of his health. Baron Llupianoff has emerged from his incarceration greatly aged in appearance and enfeebled in health, so that he has Indeed been severely punished for his wrongdoing. SERGIUS VOLHOVSKY. struck something cold. "What Is this?" it said. "Is this the bright world that I have imagined" I should see?" It was cold and white and took away Its very life. It was a snow bank; the world was still a world of snow. There It stayed two days the world, for It, only snow. But a warm wind blew one evening. It roared In the trees, and cut great holes in the snow, which trickled away In drops, and running on the ground under the drift, made littlo streams. "Now I shall sec the world." thought the plant. And at last the snow disappeared; the little plant could look up. It felt the warm breeze, and the splashing rain. But all was dark- "Alas." it sighed in the wind and to the rain, :'is the world dark?" But presently the rain ceased and the wind fell. Through the darkness above, which seemed to disappear In long, drift ing shadows. It began to see twinkling points of light. It did not k.iow that they were stars, but lifted its head, and spread out its two little hands. And the stara twinkled down to it. and the whole sky was presently clear and full of stars; and on the two little hands there came two little drops of dew. "But this Is a beautiful world of stars," breathed the little plant softly. "It Is well I did not stay In the ground." Then It went to sleep, for all was cold and still; and its head bent, and its two hands dropped, for they were heavy with dew. It aeemed to sleep a long time, drinking dew. But something touched it; It was a sunbeam, and the dewdrops on Its head and In Its hands were changed to dia mond.. But it loved the sun when It saw him shining, and lifted up its bead and spread out its arms. It was praising the sunshine. The Boss Had Good Judsment. "What did you quit that good Job for?" "The boss called rae afool." "But he didn't fire you? You quit just for that?" "Yes, sir." "Then the boss was right." Cleve land Leader. A Business Opportunity. Rachel Here w your ring, Solomon. I can never marry you. for Hove another. Solomon Vere isa de man you lofe? "Heavens! You won't kill hira. will you?" "No, but I vill sell hla de rig shees." Fa hi ill e -J eursaL