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

TOW the strategically important
port of Vladivostok on the
Japan sea was saved to the
Allies last July by the timely pres
ence of $4,000 Czecho- -Slovaks on
their way to the western front via
that hotbed of pro-Germanism has
been graphically described to the
writer by the American representa-
tive of a large industrial corporation
who visited Harrisburg the past
week and who has enjoyed the con-
fidence of the various Russian gov
ernments as they succeeded one an
other.
For obvious reasons, the identity
of the representative in question, to-
gether with the name of his en-
ployers, cannot be made public at
this time. 1t is sufficint to state that
he has spent the last three years in
European and Asiatic Russia and
plans to return to Vladivostok in the
immediate future.
His experiences during the time
the notorious Red Guards of the
Bolshevili were in complete control
of the city furnish conclusive evil
dence that the Imperial German gov
ernment bent every effort to place
the so-called Russian patriots in
power and then debauched them
with gold and dazzling promises of
future glory when Germany should
rule the world
The Day Is Saved
The immediate motive back of the
honeyed words of the Kaiser's agents
was TO obtain shipments of copper
ore and other commodities so des- |
perately needed by the Teutonic |
powers. That they failed to do so |
was due to the firmness of the Brit |
ish commander on the scene and the |
loyalty of the Czecho- -Slovaks to the |
Allied cause.
The American representative
reached Vladivostok in September |
1917, as the Kerensky regime was
tottering to its fall at Petrograd |
When the final crash came and the |
frail successor to the late Car Mich |
olas was fleeing for his very life, the |
Bolsheviki were quick to seize their /
opportunity and took over EIadivo- |
stok with comparatively little blood |
shed from the demoralized followers !
Of "Russia's Man of Destiny"
In Vladivostok it became a case of !
The King Is Dead. Long Live the |
King" The chief difficulty lay in the |
fact that the ruling powers as repre- /
sented by the Soviet committee of |
the Bolsheviki were now composed /
of plumbers, butchers and common |
laborers of Jewish extraction. Many /
Of them had learned their trade and |
obtained limited amount of school /
ing in this country and Australia. IN /
both cases they had quite naturally |
affiliated themselves with the l w. |
W. and kindred Socialistic organiza- |
tions which guarantee their faithful
members maximum amount of
money for a minimum amount of
work.
Taken as a whole, an impartial
study of the personnel of the COM
mittee which assumed entire control
of Nladivostok and all it spublic util-
tiles, including the post office, the
telegraph and cable lines and the
banks. was calculated to create grave
anxiety among the large foreign
population Of the city, who, with the
other residents, had no choice but
to obey the orders of their new mas
ters. These were ruthlessly and
promptly enforced by the bayonets
of the Red Guards whose ranks were
speedily augmented by members of
the Home Militia who were quick
to discern the excellent chances of
securing rich plumber at very little
personal risk
AT this time the only forces of
real law and order in the city were
represented by a handful of jap
anese, British and American Marines
whose commanders were inclined TO
regard the Bolsheviki leaders as pa
triots and loyal allies.
In so doing, they completely over