The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-06-17
CAPTURE RUSSIAN
 SEA C0MMANO
By WELLINGTON HILLBOUND.
Copyright 1919, By The 1nterna-
 t1ona1 News Bureau, Inc.)

tionaI News Bureau, Inc.) T am a Russian naval officer con- pelled to serve the Reds, or I should starve. Thank heaven the British have released me from my servi- tude."
 The speaker was a little Russian clad in the uniform of Bolshevis seaman, who was discovered hiding with a companion under some taf- paulins and sacks on a captured Bol- shevik vessel.
 The men explained that having been officers in the Imperial Russian Navy, when the Bolshevik came they were compelled to serve as seamen. For a while their story was believed, and the British officers were inclined | to sympathize with the two interest | inG prisoners
 Shall we be sent to England ?" | asked the younger of the two. Tt is quite probable" came the reply, and | the Russian expressed his satisfac-
 ton with the prospects.
 Your Turn Has Come. It is perhaps unfortunate for these | two men that they were taken with their fellow-prisoners Into a Baltic port. They were being marched i through the streets of the port when an Esthonian officer saw them. The Esthonian started, gave a grunt of satisfaction, and then marched up to | the two Russians. who had been kept apart from the other prisoners. Well, Sub-Lieutenant Rasko1ni- l koff, so your turn has come?" he ex- l claimed. Your career is ended" ! and the Esthonian laughed. The
 prisoner went deathly pale. but | marched on with his guards, the Es- nff
 The Esthonian, when British head 1 quarters was reached, demanded to be granted an interview with the of i ficer in command. Tt is important" l he said excitedly. T know who the Russian prisoners, are I know their | history" And to the British officer | the Esthonian related an extraor- l dinary story. He went back to the | days when the Kerensky Government 1 in Russia was overthro1vn, to the | days when sailors from the Baltic | fleet made the streets of Petrograd | run with blood.
 Leader of Murderers. Those sailors" said the Esthonian were led by Sub-Lieutenant Rakol-
 nikoff. I saw him lead them. I knew him well. He is a Bolshevik, and | holds a high office under the BoI- | sheviks."
 The Esthonian's statements were | hardly credited. Prompt inquiries
 were set afoot, with the result that | before many hours had passed the 1 identity of the two Russians was es- | tablished The younger of the two | men when challenged partly admit | ted that he was Sub-Lfeut. Raskolni- ! koff. That was my Lrtle in the old | days, he said proudly, now I am
 Admiral Raskolnikoff. First Sea Lord | of the Russian Admiralty" | The two men were kept apart from | the other captives and brought to London, where they have been kept
 under lock and key in Brixton Prison. Scotsman In-Treated. In the opinion of the authorities | Raskolnikoff is a highly dangerous | man, one who imagines he is perfect l ly justified in putting to death any one who happens to be antiIBol- ! shevist.
 T happen to know that his ideals l concerning Bolshevism have under | gone a very considerable change dur | ing his stay in this country, and he l has now gone back to Russia with a very different conception of the Brit i ish authorities and their methods" | The capture of the Bolshevdk First Sea Lord and his Secretary was a
 fortunate thing for a number of Brit
 ishers who were being brutally ill., | treated by the Leninists in Russia. | During the operations in the White l Sea and in the Baltic the Bolsheviks | captured some two dozen British sub | jects, the majority of them sailors in l the Royal Navy. There was one | young officer. Lieut.. MacBride, of the ! Royal Naval Reserve, a Scotsman. | who had been marked out for es- | pecially brutal treatment. He was | taken prisoner many months ago, and | for long time had been confined in l a dungeon in the St. Peter and St. Paul Prison. where he had been | starved and subjected to the most i degrading forms of punishment by | the Bolsheviks.
 | Offers of Exchange | Immediately negotiation were open
 ed to the Leninites for the exchange | of prisoners. and we offered to hand
 over their First Sea Lord and his
 | companion if they would in return
 hand over Lieut.. MacBride and the
 | 23 other unhappy Britishers.
 There was considerable "haggiing,"
 | and in the end the Bolsheviks flatly
 l refused to pert with a single cap-
 tive.
 Then 1t came to the knowledge of
 | the authorities that Raskolnik off S
 | wife was a woman of some im-
 |