Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1917-08-28

ne, "but can yOu not use some mod
Grafton and decency In doing sol"
The soldiers turned with ferocious
looks and seized the man.
q sWe are now putting into effect or
der No. 3!'' they cried. you are under
arrestH' They carried the poor fellow
off the train, and there another long
delay while our conductor telegraphed
to an official to get the man released.
At most Of the towns we We're greet
ed with sullen looks and audible insin-
uations against the '.bourgeoisie" from
the inhabitants, but that was. not all.
The feeling seemed to grow as we pro-
ceeded, and calls of Down with the
bourgeois! Wreck the express OF the
capitalists" began to be heard. Fl
nally one afternoon, just as we were
slowing down at a little town, several
rocks sailed through our windows, an
event which decided us to forego the
pleasure Of stopping at that vigorous
village. This happened twice again ut
other towns. but fortunately none of us
was struck by the stones. An officer
told us we were lucky, since most OF
the trains through that district lately
had been shot at.
German Prisoners Freed.
One Of. the most significant things
saw on the trip was the spectacle OF
German prisoners walking about the
platforms Of Russian stations and
fraternizing with the natives. At one
town one Of these prisoners took his
turn at haranguing the usual crowd OF
discontented. The burden of this mans
plea was that he was not being given
enough to eat.
II get only pound Of meat day
from the bourgeois government" he
shrieked. Comrades, think Of that
only one pound?'
Considering you are at perfect lib
erty," one of our Russian travelling
passengers remarked, 1T is doing rath-
er we'll for the government to find you
at dinner time at all. But suppose
you make it easy for them to find you
at those times"
This crowd was good natured, and
they turned the laugh on the German.
At Chita, Siberia, where we arrived
after dark, two soldiers boarded our
train, dashed into compartment oc-
cupied by two ladies, seized two suit
cases, threw them out Of the window
and tried to bolt. The shrieks of the
ladies summoned several men, who
blocked escape at both platforms. The
two robbers then ran into the lava
tory and were trying to squeeze out
through the small window when they
were seized. They were arrested, but
the baggage Of the ladies was never
discovered.
Struggled Opium In o. $. Train.
The last thing I heard Of the Root
train was that at the customs town OF
Manchuria ninety pools of opium were
found in the planking under the cars
occupied by the American party 1t
had been put there, Of course, by SNUG
glers in Petrograd before the Root mis-
sion entered the train. A pood is thir-
ty.slx English pounds:
4 On tho Whole I consider the Trans
siberian trip decidedly dangerous at
present. In addition to having our own
train nearly destroyed, we saw wreck
age which indicated that the riotous
element in Russia had been more sue
.cessful with two other trains on this
line. A few weeks ago it could be said
that the trip was uncomfortable, but
not dangerous. That, however, can be
said no longer. It is now unquestion-
ably dangerous and growing more so
all the time. This is so because Rus
sia's anarchy, which has been fairly
mild, is fast becoming more virulent.
One of the most remarkable features
Of this anarchy is the liberty it gives
German prisoners and other German
agents, who seem to be destined to be-
rOyno fta worry leaders