The Cordova daily times., 1918-08-20

other way to b" carried away by the
methods OF L"ninc and TroXky.
More dangerous was the work Of
| German agents who, under the mask
OF intcrnationolism found their way
into the S0victs. In every Soviet
| there was a German who exercised a
great influence over all its members.
soon there came the news that the
German and Magyar prisoners of war
were organizing in Siberia and were
being armed by the Bolsheviki under
the pretense that they were going to
fight against world imperialism We
have proved now that the Germans
We're planning to provoke our conflict
with the Bolsheviki and to destroy us
piecemeal with the aid OF the armed
prisoners of war.
Under such circumstances we be
gan our pilgrimage east was in the
first train ether" were eighty trains
Of u.s.. which was to prepare the way.
W" were determined to leave Russia
without conflict notwithstanding
the fact that We kept our word, that
We surrendered all arms with the ex-
ccption OF the few necessary, our prog
rcsS was hindercd and amending ne.
gOtiations had to be repeated in every
seat of a local Soviet. w" were threat
Icned by machine guns, by cannon, but
we patiently stood ii all, although the
Bolshevik Red Guard could have been
disbanded by a few of our volunteers.
After fifty.scven days OF such tire
some travel our first train arrived IN
Nladivostok. where We were enthuSi-
iastically received by the allied units
stationed there.
when the Germans saw that We,
Notwithstanding all their intrigue,
we're nearing Vladiyostok. they exer,
IC;sed direct pressure on Lenine and
.Trotzky: for the things that were lat
or committed by the Soviets. cannot
any further be explained away by ig-
nOrance The trains were stopped
at different stations so that they final
" were separated by a distance ot
over 80 miles from one another. Pro-
yoking incidents of all kinds were the
order OF the day. The arming of the
Germans and Magyar prisoners was
begun on "A large scale. One of the
orders of TChitcherin, the BOlsheyik
foreign minister, reads: dispatch all
German and Magyar prisoners out OF
Siberia stop the CZeChO-Slovaks.'
Three members of our National Coun-
.cil who were sent to Moscow for an
explanation of the stopping OF our
trains. were arrested At the same
time our trains were attacked in diff
fcrent stations by the Soviet troops,
formed mostly of German and Magyar
prisoners.
Il will recall the Irkutsk incident.
Our train about 400 men, armed with
ten rifles and twenty hand grenades-
was surrounded by few thousand
Red Guards armed with machine guns
and cannon. Their commander gave
/ our men ten minutes to surrender
their arms. or be shot According to
their habit, ours began negotiations.
Suddenly there was heard the Ger
man command, 'SChiessen!' and the
Red Guards began firing at the train.
Our men jumped on the train. and in
five minutes all the machine guns
were in their possession. the Russian
I Bolshevki disarmed and all the Ger
The Siberian government which re-
sides in Irkutsk and which, as it ap-
peared later. ordered this attack, can
thank only the Intervention of the
i American and French consuls that 1t
vas not destroyed by our rightly ON.
FILTERED volunteers.
ITO what extremes our loyalty was
carried, Is shown by the fact that al
; though perhdiously attacked, and al
though we disarmcd the Red Guard
in Irkutsk we still began new negot-
i&tions. with the result that we sur
rendered all our arms, on the condi
. ton that all the German and Magyar
, prisoners would be disarmed and dis
; banded. and that we would be allowed
to proceed unmolcsted The Siberian
. government guaranteed us unmoleStec
passage. and, taught by bitter expar
e fence that 1t was dangerous to attach
t even unarmed Czecho.SlOvaks let III
/ proceed to NladiNostok. True, Thu
a concerned only the trains in the Vicin
n ity OF lrkutsk; the trains west o
l. Irkutsk were-under the orders from
& MOscow-attacked in the same man
It Ecr, but always with the same result
Ii everywhere the BolsheViki were dis