Norwich bulletin., 1918-04-15
i. STORIES OF THE WAR
Terror In Finland.

Correspondence of The Associated Press).
 The terror inspired among the de- fenceless people of Helsingfors by the murders and outrages committed by the. Red Guard in the first days of the revolution in. Finland is graphically described in a diary written on the spot by a Swedish refugee! The ac- count received here mentions that one of the victims of the massacres in the Finnish capital was Virkunen well known Finnish athlete. The diary reads in part:
 Sunday: This afternoon the Red Guard took possession of the Helsin- fors railway station. Soon afterward they seized all printing tablishments, newspaper offices and banks. The re- voiution was carried through with a rapidity and energy which completely overpowered the existing authorities.
 Monday: The morning was compa- ratively quiet. but early in the after noon serious disturbances began. Shots were fired against the Hotel Kaemf, and immediately afterward the Red Guards began bombing GronQuist's s Stone House on the preteXt that shots had been fired from there. The leader of the Red Guards, tall man in oil skins, stood in the market place and directed the firing. Four thousand shots were fired in half an hour, with out reply, the object apparently being to spread terror, in which respect it succeeded completely.
 Tuesday: The new Government was proclaimed today. The ministers, except for three we'll known Reds are perfect nonenities. The Diet has been swept away, and the Soviet formed consisting of 35 members. A procla- nation decrees the seizure of all capi- ] tai. The books of all private banks are taken over, and no person is al- | lowed to draw more than 800 marks week. All deposits over 10 600 marks are confscated. Another proclamation i states that it is prohibited to collect house rent, that anyone found in pos 1 session of arms after twenty -four hours will be shot.
 1 "wednesday: Unoffending persons
 are being murdered by the score. The
 editor of a local newspaper, A. R. | Frenckell, has been murdered in cold blood, as also Virkune, the Finnish | athlete, who was editor of the Finnish Athletic News. The leaders soon found that their followers could not be curb ed. The elite of the Red Guard con-
 sists largely of bandits, escaped con- victs, criminals, thieves and asSassins reinforced by interruptions scum from the Russian fleet. Tn the police sta. tions the control is in the hands O appointed Director of the Postal Ser Irogues. An illiterate postman has beer vice and Russian brakeman is Dire tor General of Railways.
 "An control of the mob is slipping from the hands of the leaders. I'm 1 rVro
 what was formerly the officers casin, I and on all vessels in the port, indicat ing that further massaeress are il
 store.
 Thursday: Two members of tn fl Diet, lawyer named Mikola and |; clergyman named Beck, were shot
 Five other members were taken pri ] soners and probably have been killed
 Four hundred members of the Whit
 Guard have been slain and counties murders have been conTe1tted in tn houses, where people of all ages hav
 been tortured and killed under form impossible to describe.
 Friday: Senator Stahlberg arrest ed and presumably shot. Today wa! ; a day devoted to wholesale robbery, or
 as the Red Guards call it Disposses sion.'
 Among the many purposeless nnur ders, that of the young student Hiel i is worthy of mention. His father hal ) died natural death at Kerava, and h
 went to the little town to bring hi fathers body to Helsingfors for burial At eGerava he was shot, although h explained why he had come. Late
 on, some of the Red Guards realize that they had committed an unusuaIl : shameful deed. and sent a represent
 ative around to apologize to the fam fly. explaining that the young man ha been shot by mistake, and it wa really somebody else who should hay been killed. Again and again the sam
 excuse is made for the murder of un offending persons.
 "On a railway siding noticed ca containing sixteen corpses. These six
 teen persons had taken refuge in stable. The Red Guards had promise them safe conduct if they would giv up their arms. They did so and wer !, shot one by one as they came out c . their hiding place. As the shots faile ' to kill several of them, the wounde ' men were dragged into the waitin eI GhiIdran Erw