Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-05-21
T0DEBUSH TELLS
STORY 0F-THE
RUSS C0NDlTl0NS
Chief Accountant for Ameri.
can Embassy in Petrograd
Returns to u. S.

st. Louis, Mo-, May Cit is a
story Of ruin and chaos that Charles
D.. Todebush brings back with him
from, Russia. His also is of the
of the forced departure from Petro-
grad OF Ambassador Francis and his
encourage when the Germans APP
preached that city. Mr.. Todebush,
formerly a broker in st. Louis, was
the chief accountant of the American
ep,hassy and he has just returned to.
the United States to present formal
report of conditions to the state de-
partment at Washington.
To thu friends of Mr.. Francis in st.
Louis. Mr.. Todebush told OF the Sc
sador has been subjected during. the
past year. The American embassy
now is housed at Vologda, about Is
miles east Of Petrograd. The quar-
ters Of the Vologda Social club have
been assigned free of charge to the
Americans but they contain only q
few attributes of a club. he says.
MIR. Francis Uses one Of the
sleeping rooms n his bedroom and
Mr.. Todebush. "The ard room has
been turned into the general embassy.
Office. But when the ambassador or
any Of his aids wishes to battle he
must 60 several doors down the
street to q. Russian bath house. Mr..
Francis for the past eight months has
worked on an average Of eighteen
hours a day yet he IL enjoying splen-
did health and has not aged in the
least.
Published reports Of Mr.. Francis
embassy in P%etrograd are nonsense
No member of the embassy ever had
occasion to draw a weapon. The
great mass of the Russians regard
America as their best friend"
According to Mr.. Todebush, there
were in Petrograd last February, just
before the embassy departed, more.
than $4,000 released German and
Austrian prisoners idling about the.
we're in uniform. While he Would
not advance the opinion officially, he
said the belief prevailed in Russia
that neither Germany nor Austria
wanted these released prisoners back
in their own land because they were
SO i~mpregnated with B%olsheviki prop
uganda that they were considered
Speaking Of the utter demoraliza-
tior Of the country, Mr.: Todebush
says that the nobility and ~aristocracy
VI A4AWDAA
ed. Their fine horses and equipages
have been Communicated by the.
government and most Of the families
have gone to the Crimea.
Food conditions are almost hope
less, he says. because OF paraly2ed
transportation facilities. The Russian
rouble has deprecated in value and
q pair Of shoes now sells for $40, a
suit Of clothes for $50 and he was
offered SOS for a single barrel of -four
which he had brought from the
United States for embassy use. A
$40, 5000 stock Of groceries also ship
ped from America was husbanded for
two months at the embassy, and was
sparinglX dealt out to Americans in
and near Vologda.
MI. Todebush was in Petrograd
during the reign of terror that swept
over the city with the overthrow Of
the Kerensky government. Several
times the rabble fired rifles in the
street, he said, merely to keep their
hands warm on the gun barrel. At
one time he was attending a per-
Torrance of the Imperial Ballet when
the sound of firing was , heard. He
ventured into the street and was told
the warship Aurora was Smelling the
Winter Palace. AS he stood talking a
mar q few feet away was killed by a
shell.