Evening star., 1918-03-24
TELLS OF HORRORS ENDURED
IN HER FLIGHT FROM RUSSIA

terrOfS.
Our condition was ameIiorated slight
ly when I was able. by bribing othel
passengers, to secure a place inside o.
| one of the coaches for us. You may
try to imagine now what the remainder
thus crowded like animals in a sham
BILE. for three weeks.
| Two dreadful sensations were almos
| constantly with me. waking me in ter.
ror from my sleep. One was that wa.
| night in Petrograd. and the other wa.
| that 1 had been robbed of our store o1
| money, which carried concealed in the
bosom of my dress. The robbery would
have been easy enough. no doubt
I, Crowded among strangers SO closely
that i could not escape their touch,
often fell into the deep Inconsistencies
! Of utter exhaustion.
Once the train was well into Siberia
I there was a plenty of coarse food
! Black bread could be purchased in any
quantity and at very low price. Stacks
J of 1t stood in the railroad stations. rot
ting, because it could not be trans
ported to the people back in Russia
| who were dying for lack of it, Also
after the first week of our journey
there was coal for fires on the train II
| was plentiful. but it could not be
transported to the places where it was
first cup of hot tea which 1 was able to
sive>my mother saved her life.
Three Weeks in One r. r. Carriage.
When. after three weeks in the one
railroad carriage and more than a
month altogether of travel, we reached
NladivoStok, i found it impossible to
obtain lodgings for US at any price
For three nights we were compelled to
sleep among motley crowd upon the
floor of the railroad station-women
soldiers. children and old men, all in
q
l found bed which we could secure
for three nights for forty rubles 1t
was one of several in a large room,
We were not permitted to remain there
IN the daytime. for others paid for the
privilege of sleeping in it through the
day, being unable to secure any place
to sleep at night. During the day we
remained In the railroad station, and 1
delicate food for my mother, whose i'll
ness had now alarmingly increased.
When 1 was not searching for food /
was haunting the shipping offices to get
news OF some means of leaving vladi-
vostok.
At last l was lucky enough to secure
passage for US on a small badly equip
ped steamer, which was leaving for
Japan. The ship was called the Sim
brisk. 1t had no proper accommoda-
tions for passengers. / paid fifty-six
rubles each for tickets allowing us to
occupy places on the deck. For a day
and half we endured the miseries of
such voyage in rough sea, and then
1t was repaired with much difficulty and
delay, and the ship then put back to-
ward Vladivostok. Five days after our
departure, and when, at many times,
the ship had seemed about to sink, we
arrived again a: vladivostok Now we
were compelled to live in the filthy and
uncomfortable rooms of the steam
ship pier.
Arrives in Japan.
After one more miserable week of
waiting a big ship came and on this
vessel we safely made the voyage to the
town of Suruga, in Japan. l canno, de-
scribe the feeling of joy and relief
which was ours when We landed in this
clean, comfortable, well kept city. 1
gave thanks fervently to God when 1
saw my little mother beginning to re-
gain her strength as a result of the
ministrations of the quiet. friendly peo-
pie with whom we had found shelter.
somewhat recovered. we Travelled by
train. sixteen hours. to Yokohama. Our
tickets for this journey cost $50 rubles.
After ten days in Yokohama we Sc
cured passage on a large steamer for
San Francisco. Only second-cabin tick
cts were to be had and they cost, for
the three of us. five thousand rubles.
Our voyage to America was unevent-
full. We were told that there was dan
ger OF submarines, and the lifeboats
were kept in readiness, but that was,
no doubt, a groundless alarm. Before
a German submarine shall do murder
in the Pacific / hope that I shall again
set foot in our house in Taganrog, with
Russia again at peace and happiness
restored to her people.
Since my arrival in America many
people have asked me to tell about the
Battalion of Death. In these stories ]
have told all-simply and truthfully
and sorrowfully. 1t was a mistaken
but a splendid sacrifice for Russia. 1t
proved that women may have the
hearts and souls of heroes, but nature
has given them weaknesses which dis
qualify them for the work of soldiers.
untruthful statement concerning the
women who so bravely offered their
lives for their country. 1t was at
tributed to a Lieut. Hall, an aviator. 1t
statement born OF the acceptance of
rumor for fact.
Lieut.. Halls Statement Quoted.
This I ind in a newspaper as Lieut..
Halls statement:
Lieut.. Hall said that the revolution
started in Russia only after the
church had given its consent to it.
zone day the word went out from
MOSCOW InaI GOo 01dn love the cz6r
any more, and the revolution started
next day. In Petrograd a new revolu-
ton would start every few minutes"
Lieut.. Hall recounted the career of
the battalion of death"
This battalion went into camp near
Petrograd." he said. "and somebody
dug up some rusty guns for the wom-
en-. Everything went smoothly until a
quarrel among them took place one
night. followed by a free-for-au fight,
in which about thirty or forty of them
were killed. Then their guns were
taken away from them and that was
the end of the battalion of death"
i To you. who have read my story, do
not deem a word of denial of this
statement necessary. Yee it is a
shameful thing that such words as
these should be spoken-and printed
after a tragedy.
Copyright, 1918, by the Bell Syndicate, Ine)
OYSTER VESSELS ARRIVE.
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