The knowledge he thus acquired stood him in valuable stead when he returned to Russia, where the development of various means of communication throughout the empire was in a state of transition. On account of his wide and varied experience he was appointed to the directorship and control of various railways, and soon brought them to a high state of efficiency. He achieved the topmost rung of the ladder when he was appointed minister of all the roads, canals, rivers and railways of the empire. The Trans-Siberian road thus came under his control, and he set to work energetically upon the completion of this tremendous enterprise. His influence was demonstrated on every hand. Lackadaisical methods made way for strict business routine, and in a short time the whole organisation was running with the precision of a clock. His subordinates when in a quandary never hesitated from seeking his advice and assistance, which were granted always with sympathetic interest; and when the obstacle assumed more than normal proportions he did not attempt its negotiation from an arm-chair thousands of miles away, but hurried to the spot to study it at first-hand, and to recommend and assist himself in the breaking down of the difficulty. He had become so saturated with American railway methods that he travelled up and down the line continuously; no detail, no matter how slight, missed his eye. At the time the Circum-Baikal line was in progress he scarcely ever left the railhead, as it was just one of those complex and exasperating fights with Nature in which he revelled. At seventy-five he was as active and as keen as ever, and it was a distinct misfortune for Russia that he was struck down by a paralytic stroke from which he never recovered. Still, he left a host of recommendations for the improvement of the Trans-Siberian and other railways, including the double tracking of the great trans-continental steel way, which are now being fulfilled. When Lake Baikal was crossed, the engineers experienced a grim struggle for supremacy through every foot of the way. There is an up-hill pull from the shore of the lake over the Yablonovoi range, where the railway attains its highest point on the continent, viz. 3,412 feet above sea-level, and then makes a descent to gain the valley of the Amur. The country traversed is of a varied character, and was found to be tightly in the grip of frost, for the winter is terribly severe. The land, in fact, may be described as eternally frozen, for in summer, although the temperature rises to about 62 degrees, it does not thaw the ground to a depth of more than 7 feet below the surface. In the forested parts where the branches shut out the genial rays of the sun, ice is found at about 20 inches below the surface in midsummer.