Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-11-16

! Guards and Home Militia in full uni
form visited a large hotel in the city
at midnight, forced all the guests to
vacate their rooms and looted their
belongings while the proprietor and
his staff stood helplessly by. Later
the women were subject to horrible
indignities at the hands of soldier
bandits.
This particular raid, which was
only one of many, netted the Red
Guards over a half-million in rubles
beside many articles of jewelry and
other valuables. The bandits made
the trip to the hotel in large motor
truck, the driver of which was dis
covered the next day seated in his
car with a bullet through his head.
This typical act of the Red Guard
officers proved a sufficient warning
to the men and women robbed the
night before and none of them could
be found who were willing to appear
against the offenders.
Members of the Soviet committee
were blardly apologetic when ap-
preached by the various foreign con-
suls on the outrage.
We cannot punish the GRIM
inals," they explained, "if your peo-
pie cannot identify them"
bcd Guards Murder
This state of affairs existed until
well into April, 1918, when the Red
Guards murdered one prominent
Japanese merchant in his office and
cut out the tongues of two of his as
sociates.
These crimes proved the straw
that broke the camel's back so far as
Japan was concerned. Toxic was
asked for additional armed protec-
tion which soon arrived in the form
of sturdy Japanese marines.
Other Allied governments were
advised of the growing seriousness
of the situation and the day of reck-
oning for the Bolsheviki grew ap-
preciably nearer.
The climax arrived swiftly when
| the Soviet committee attempted to
ship twelve cars of high-grade cop
per ore to European Russia and
from there to be forwarded by Trot-
sky and Lenine TO their imperial
| master, Wilhelm of Germany. This
astounding piece of treachery arous-
ed the British officials to instant ac-
ton.
You will not ship any copper to
Russia while 1 am here" the British
commander told the members Of the
Soviet in their own council cham
| bers. His attitude, while admirable,
was really a daring bluff as the AL
lied reinforcements sent for had not
yet arrived. This fact was well
known to the Bolsheviki leaders
and they went ahead with their
preparations to ship the copper, and
the British commander found him
self in the same position as a man
| caught blutfing in a no-limit poker
game.
The Bolsheviki chieftains, how
ever, had made a fatal mistake after
all, for in letting $4,000 Czacho-S o.
yak troops reach Vladivostok on
their way to the western front where
they were to fight for France and
Democracy they inadvertently placed
a powerful weapon in the hands of
the Allies in Vladivostok. That there
were not many thousand more
Czecho-Slovaks in the city, was due
to the fact that following their sale
to the kaiser, the Soviet committee
prohibited the forwarding of any
more OF the Austro- Hungarian
troops through the port. This action
! held up $4,000 men en- route to the
western front where they were to
! fight for France and Democracy. All
| OF the troops in question had been
| forced into the Austrian armies at
| the outbreak of the great war but
! had surrendered to the Russians at
the first opportunity. They were be-
ing transported from the prison
camps to fight their former hated
masters by the French government.
The $4,000 Czecho-Slovaks avail
able, together with the small force
! of Allied marines on the ground
proveda later however, to be more
than enough to overthrow the Boil
! sheviki.
/ The end came on July IS, 1918,
when the Bolsheviki officials were
taken into custody at their posts by
Czecho-Slovak troops assisted by