Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-20
RUSSIA'S BLACK SEA FLEET.
Changing Name of Ship That Mu.
tinied-Sailors Are Sullen.
don Express

oeDaStOpoi Cor. LONDON Express.
The Black sea fleet. practically all that
remains Of Russia's navy. is within q throw
OF the much quoted ships biscuit. There
are si1 rnen-o'-war. heavy. oinister. greer.
painted. throwing forth much smoke, which
in the absence Of wind spreads and sprawls
over the most fortified town In the world
like Grape pail. The torpedo nets are out;
the long shouted guns are uncovered, and
where the sun can catch them give the dull
CLINT of scraped lead. There are men in
the fo'c'sles gyrating red ags. Then other
trumpets blare.
a little to the back MS though In disgrace
and freshlyfl fired. hiccoughing the blacklist
smoke, is the Panteleimon. 1t is very likely
that IL you look through a list of Russias
warships you will find no reference to the
Panteleimon. But all the world knows Of
the Potemkin, the ship which mutinIed, sail
ed the Black sea with the &c flag Of revoiu-
ton at the masthead and boubarded Odes-
sa. Tho Panteleinon u tho Po.ankin re-
chr.stcned.
In the rALway Is q 1slkns pontoon. with
feeble cranes tuggtng fneTectualiy-eor all
In the world like fishing lines caught In
snags. An enueavor is being made to bring
to the surface the Bug. When Sebastopol
began to reel with rebellion a year ago and
the forts and ships barked with cannon at
one another, the authorities pulled plug
and sank the Bug. She was laden with
the deadliest explosives intended for mining,
and If shell had got into her every war
ship would haze been manned. The Bug Is
well sunk IN the mud at many rathom3
depth and refuses to shift.
On the low lying dun hills beyond the
TERED earthworks stand great gaunt buid-
ings, barracks, with twenty thousand troops
in occupation. In the multi-eyed fortress.
where the windows are small and meshed
with iron, are ten thousand prisoners, SOL
dierJ and sailors, who, under the sharp
Judgment Of the drum head. have been
found enemies of their lord the car;
From I'D the harbor comes the clang or
.nnumerable hammers IN the repairing
wards. A row of obsolete torpedo boats lie
ON stocks heaved over on their sides. Live
torpedo boats lurch toward the narDor
mouth. Impudent pinnaces. always snrlek-
Ing, curve from point to point. On the fort
ress, on the docks, on the hills, move pa
trolls of soldiery.
Sebastopol is in full preparation for war.
The enemy are Russians-sailors-th
troops are well In hand. OF recent months
the officers have livea closer In touch with
their men. The Russian Tommy in Sebasto-
mol likes his officer, who takes fatheriy
interest in him. When rebellian breaks out,
the 10000 soldiers In the arsenal forts may
be relied upon.
But different story is to be told concern
ing the tars. My Information comes from
Russians who know. The authorities are in
nothing less than a funk concerning the
possibility Of a mutiny. The comma nders
are trying to work discomfort out or the
crews by keeping them constantly BUSY.
The crews scowl, have black looks, and do
their duty with sullenness. Despite watch.
the reddest Of revolutionary pamphlets are
read In the mess. The men sheer at their
officers give salutes grudgingly. ana are
retting out of hand. The officers shut tnelr
eyes to many things. They feel tnat II essg
mutiny, they themselves would be muroer.
cd and the warships run the gauntlet or
the forts while escaping to sea-