Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-01-07
GREAT MISERY
IN %VLAD|vOSTOk
Gateway of Terror Gives Fore
taste of Interiors Woe, Says
Peggy Hull
BY PEGGY HULL
Woman War Correspondent Now
Covering Russia and Siberia for
the Newspaper Enterprise


Association.
vLADIvOSTOK, Siberia. - The
gateway to the Terror.
That's Vladivostok.
I came to this forsaken corner Of
the earth to penetrate the blackness
that surrounds Russia.
I find that blackness rushing here
to meet meas it meets all travellers
from America who seek to enter Rus
STA by Its frozen back door, Siberia.
Savagery and civilization rub elbows
hree.
Filth reeks amid wealth.
Order and decency are nearly over
whelmed in a back-to-the-wall battle
with
And these conditions are only a be-
ginning to the misery that rules in the
interior-or so they tell me here.
Human wrecks huddle on stone
floors among vermin-infested rags
Others, drowsy, stare with vacant
eyes
Beings hardly a step removed from
extreme savagery drag their way
through the Crowds
its wIorse than this in The inter
ior,' a voice shouted in my ear. Think
of those who couldn't get away!'
Even before the gangplank was
dropped, we could see from tht boat
that abject misery gripped many in
V1adivostok.
Hold your breath" an officer from
American headquarters remarked as
we passed through the custom house.
/ tried to, but one accidental Whit
sent me reeling toward the door.
A dirty wharf and a collection of
| human beings not half SO well kept
or clean as the average village dog
| back home-that was my welcome to
| Siberia. I began to realize that i
hadn't been altogether misinformed
about this part of Russia.
Our machine slid in and out of long
ines of crudely made wagons drawn
by blind, stumbling wrecks OF horse
flesh. They might have been just in
valided home from the western front.
Other machines passed us, rocking
and humping in high speed owe the
cobblestones l am sur not n was
going less than 40 miles an hour.
British. Russian, Japanese and Czech
flags waved from the radiators, and
The moment we got out OF the con-
gested traffic our chauffeur stepped
on the accelerator with what appeared
to me to be a fiendish determination
TO outspeed our allies.
1 found Major General William S
Graves, commander Of the American
forces, and his staff Quartered in an
imposing Russian home on the main
avenue-Svetlantskaye is one way OF
spelling 1t, and there are a dozen ways
of pronouncing 1t.
From a window in the chief Of
staff's office I had q good view of thS
street below. In less han ifteer
minute l counted thirteen distinct
n~ationalities in the passing throng-
their clothing as varied in style a;
their countries n distances.
They bumped nto strangers and
glared at them. Many pedestrians
took the street, but were chased back
almost Immediately by a speeding ma
chine.
1 stood there and fearfully watch.
ed the crowds, momentarily expect
Ing an accident. / couldn't believe
automobiles could ravel so adlmy ond
recklessly through a traffic laden
street and not hit somebody or some
thing.
1 mentioned & to one of the Rea-
erals aids. lie had only been hera
a month but his a'tswcr was as blase
as q native Siberian:
"Oh, they SET :. drosky driver now
and then, o. n coolta."
French, British and Canadian off,
GERS. handsome. wei Crossed. dist;n-
guished .igucos, rubbed elbows with
the half-savage creatures who 1llod
the street below. Italians In mart
gray uniforms followed in their wake.
Czecho-Slovak officers move their
grand physiques with erectness and
military precision through the strange
possession.
Two Chinese officers, glittering
forms in gold, red and blue. raced
through the street in an automobile
almost as magnificent as themselves.
And If this is only the beginning of
Russias anarchy, what must it be
like in the interior-where / am go
ing. Just as fast and as far rs allied
protection or my Unborn American
nerve. defying terrorism. will take
me?