Omaha daily bee., 1919-06-08
HUNGAR|ANS
PRAY FOR END
OF RED RULE
OF S0v|ETS
Male Population Of Budapest
FIees Country to Escape
RevoIutionists
Supply Low.
Budapest, May 7.-(Correspond-

Budapest, May 7.-(Correspond-
ence of The Associated Press.)-
What may be the last days of the
red" Soviet republic here are
fraught with such terror, hunger,
mental misery. uprooting of family
ties, heartbreaking partings, flights,
arrest and legal 'lootings that the
majority of Hungarians are praying
that such days may never come
again. They live like people caught
in a burning house with the firemen
squirting benzine on the only escape
ladder:
One way out may possibly be pro-
vided by the Czech and Roumanian
armies. who, though national enc
mics of the Magyars, are now hailed
as saviors. The atmosphere is
charged with fears and alarms
worse than those felt on any battle
front. A contagious fear like that
which prevails when an army is in
rout is spreading even to foreigners
whose persons are comparatively
safe from arrest owing to wishes OF
Bella Kun, the communist leader,
and other ministers to save them
selves from the gallows when the
grand collapse comes.
Males Flee Country.
When fathers and sons flee the
country to ,evade arrest or to join
the counter-revolutionists, their
wives and mothers whisper at the
parting: "Iset ds hope we may meet
in happier times"
When the correspondent of The
Associated Press has had occasion
to explain his nationality the listen
or. whether red guard, peasant or
civilian, has remarked with envy
What a fortunate man you are to
be an American
He would invariably ask whether
L would be possible to reach Amer
lea and whether foreigners. former
enemies, would be permitted to land
on her shores. Peasants, who re-
fuse to furnish food to Budapest OF
their cities because they are hos
tile to communism and want shoes
and clothes more than paper money
of which they have plenty, gladly
enough sold meals and supplies to
the correspondent on the strength
of his American nationality.
The city of Budapest which a te"
weeks ago had a plentiful supply q
eggs-people almost lived upor
them and potatoes--is now wlthou
eggs, because of the obstinacy O
the peasants. A great many OF thu
stores have been closed for lack O.
goods to sell, or because they have
been requisitioned by the Soviet.
Country Stripped Of Wealth.
The most saddening impression
the visitor receives is that of
country in dissolution, being strip
ped day by day, mercilessly and IN
exorabiy, of its riches, to benef.
nobody. The relatively pleasant
orderly and bountiful life that ex
isted in Hungary a few months ago
when its neighhor Austria was starv
ing, is gone for many years to come
"If anyone wants to be convinced
Of the futility Of remaking ~
world in a single day with pc
theories, he should now visit Hun
rary." was the remark made by q.
American naval officer 1t is esti
mated that half million OF Hun
rarv's best citizens have bee'
Obliged to flee from their homes ait
wander across the frontiers Il
strange lands. A.. ::
There are many stories OF thci
,ttempts to save their lives AM
nroperty. some of which read iik
Arabian Nights tales. 1t IS caicu
ia.eJ that some 3,0O0,Oo0,O00 krone,
worth Of bonds, gold coin. Jewelry
plate, paintings and work OF art nav
been saved from the clutches OF IN
Red guards and smuggled across tn
frontiers by blockade runners, afoo'
on b;cycles, autos or peasant carts
Within a few weeks, there ha
grown up a system by which larg
Percentages of the value OF sue
property, often amounting to ~ pc
cent, have been given tor ITS sal
transportation to Vienna or Agran
Not = few communists took advan
tape OF suchmethods OF getting val
uables out of the country. Man
;swsIsrs however, stored thei
stocks under sidewalks or hid thsr
in holes dug in their cellars in pref
erence to trusting them to blockad
runners.