The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-09-12
Diminutive Cossack Commando
er Insists Provisional Cow
eminent Is Policeman
ARMIES FACE TO FACE;
MEN ARE PARLEYING
Movement of Troops North
ward Forms Added Protec-
ton Against Alien Invaders
From the " est

Petrograd. Sept 1I.--Korniloff.
dwarf in stature. giant in power, has
followed up his threats with swift.
staggering acts.
Before Premier Kerensky and the
provisional government had recovered
from the deposed generalissimos de-
fance the latter had sent three strong
columns OF veteran troops against the
capital.
AT this moment they stand in semi
eiFel--se,44th- OF tAe---ea p Il a4r-+At-Aho.
Luga and on the Narva River, 12o.
seventy five and eighty-one miles
away, respectively. Facing them.
ready for battle, stands an army loyal
to Kerensky. consisting largely OF the
Petrograd garrison. Apparently only
complete submission by kerensky can
avoid civil carnage, with the odds
overwhelmingly with the rebel COM
mander.
Late this evening the rumor. Ike
rensky is dead" made the rounds in
this turbulent. half-isolated capital.
No one could confirm it. No one the
correspondent could reach had seen
ehe- Premier since Saturday night. No
one was surprised. Somehow. all had
expected it to hanpen sooner az slatAH~-
It is said the premier was assassi-
mated by "Bolshoviki." But. 1t Is
as yet a run1or.
Kerensky's last offitial order before
this ominoys report set new panic
awhirI among the hungry. freezing
masses. was to tear up all rails be-
tween here and Luga, where korni-
lofts chief column stands,
Up To late this evening no actual
clash between the rebels and goYern-
nAnt forces had been reported. AZ
usual, the soldiers and workmen's
council had taken a hand and In
jectea its compromise tactics into the
situation. Stories reached Petrograd
tonight of considerable dickering
across no-mans land that still sepa-
rated Russians who would shed Rus
sian blood.
Proud OF Being Rebel.
Korniloff makes proud OF being a
rebel To rebel against the pro-
visional government, he declares, Is
+ true patriotism. He accuses il of being
saturated with servility. direct and
indirect, to the kaiser's general staff.
Il am the son OF simple Cossack' =
is his war cry. Il prefer death to
Russia's shame German hirelings in
the Kerensky ministry advocate RUS
sia's defeat Down with these sconn-
drels. On TO Petrograd."
To prove that il is farthest from
/ his own mind to play into the hands
OF the Germans, he launched. stimuli
taneously with the -.ispatch OF troops
against the capital, a violent offensive
gainst the Teuton lines southeast Of
| the Rukowina. His CCssacks are still
attachnk with indomitable tenacity.
Good headwav is reported.
Moreover. the forces he has sent
against Petrograd constitute, by
curious paradox, added protection for
the capital against the foreign foe.
For the Weden Pskoff Petrograd rail-
way. which is their main line of adj
vance, is at the same time the only
rail along which the Teutons can push
! a drive northward, Some 100 miles
separate korniloff's rebel troops from
the Germans. Between them Is
| Klein howskys reorganized twelfth
army, defeated at Riga.
To the people of petrograd, Kornt-
/ loft proclaims himself at once the only
saviour from Fl weak and "treache-
rous' regime--an accusation not
! his ministers-and from capture by
/ the Germans.
| Army Without a Head.
! Technically. the Russian armies are
today without a chief COMMANDER.
] Korniloff is deposed. Lokomsky, his
chief aide. has refused Kerensky's
offer to become generaiissimo, ana.
instead. is now the brains of the Kor-
niloff counter revolution. Klembow-
sky. appointed to succeed Korniloff, ID
cut off from rail connection to army
| headquarters. and. therefore, has not
been comm issoned.
Replies to fervent appeals sent out
t by both sides show the Cossack gem
eral by far the more powerful. For
the provisional government the three
main pillars are the soldiers and
| workmen's council. General Sterbat-
chef. commander of the southwestern
armies. and the Baltic fleet, whose
commander has telegraphed absolute
| loyalty to Kerensky.
| Korniioff Has Powerful Friends.
Korniloff. on the other hand, boasts
| ef the support ef- virtually all the
| forces--miitary and politicaf---tflat
spell power. influence and promise Of
relief from the chaos.
| General Alexief. former chief of
stafr. whose Judgment counts more
with the overwhelming masses Of Mus.
ccvite fighters than that of any other
man. has turned down an offer from
Kcrensky to head the movement -
queii Korniioff's rebellion. General
Kaledine. idol OF the Cossacks. whose
chief commander he. il. has thrAAt@
ened serious trouble unless thA row.
eminent promptly submits TO Korui-
! Ion. Gntchkon. another figure o.
dominating influence. ex- presidsss -