The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-07-13
BANDIT PLOT
IN SIBERIA
IS REVEALED
SEMINOFF'S ONE GREAT WEAK
NESS is DESCRIBED BY AMER
ICAN WOMAN WRITER, FOR
NEWSPAPERS.
BY PEGGY HULL.
Only American Woman Newspaper
Writer Watching the Boishevik
War in Siberia.

bOtSneVtk
War in Siberia.
There are violent and disturbing
evidences Of the coming of a new king
in the vicinity of Siberia He has
all the qualifications of a conqueror
and the enviable record of accom-
plishing everything he has attempted
Even governments have humored mis-
wishes although he is only a Cossack
chief and if he carries out his threat
to establish his own kingdom the bet
| ting is all on his side that he will sue
coed.
Ataman Seminoff, with his little
army of Chinese bandits. Monaghan
outlaws and Cossacks, was the chief
opposition in the beginning against
the Bolsheviks in Siberia He lost no
! battles and from some mysterious for
eign power he enjoyed unlimited fl
nancial and armament support. His
armored train was the envy of the
struggling CZecho- Slovak troops and
whenever Seminoff wanted a village
or strategic point along the rail
way he boarded his private car and
took it.
Seminole objected when Admiral
Kolchak placed himself at the head of
the government in Omsk last No
NeHlDeT. he ndQ personal reasons.
Kolchak looked upon the Cossack as
a good soldier but he was not in SYM
pathy with the latter's ambitions.
Seminoff knew his chances of be-
coming the military chief of the Far
Eastern troops had dwindled to MOTH
ing with Kolchak on the job, SO he
decided to play a high handed game.
Called Traitor, Escapes Arrest
He refused to recognize the new die
tator and with his main forces con-
centrated at Chita he made life mis-
cradle for everyone who had business
on the Trans Siberian railway. Kol-
chalk declared Seminole was a traitor
and sent a couple of generals and a
few soldiers to arrest him, but the
willy Cossack had mined the railway
for several miles on both sides of his
stronghold and they couldn't get near
him. During these feverish days he
kept his train under steam and ready
for action at any second.
Allied diplomats tried to patch up
the disagreement but the process was
long and painful. Seminole held up
all the trains going through Chita. He
Communicated supplies from military
cars and steadfastly refused to be
anything less than the commander of
all the troops.
He eventually dissuaded from !
helping himself to the clothing, food /
and ammunition needed for the SOL
diers at the front but he has held out |
against Kolchak's indictment for over |
six months. His nerve and his fear |
lessness aroused such an admiration /
for him among certain classes that his |
army increased in startling numbers |
and it was then the dreams of a king /
dom aroused the Mongolians.
Seminoff is half Monaghan and half |
Russian. He has long coveted that |
disturbed and unhappy country and |
recently his activities have been so |
pronounced that the Mongolians have |
begged the Japanese to send troops to !,
protect them. None of the allied Off |
Gals will say directly who is backing |
Seminole, but the Japanese might find !
it congenial to have a ruler in Mon |
golia who is tied to them by many |
bonds of obligations.
Peggy Hull Meets Mongol Chief.
1 was on a train with a military |
party when Seminole called on Brit |
ish officer of high rank. He was |
fierce appearing and had a dynamic |
personality that electrified the whole |
car. He was affab1e, suave and a gen
iaI host. Food and wine, and by wine |
1 mean the rarest Of champagnes, |
were served in astonishing quantities. |
Seminoff talked regretfully of Kol- |
chaks misunderstanding and declared |
emphaticalIy he was not a traitor. He |
denied Kolchak's right to put himself |
up as the head of the government and /
then denote where and when he |
pleased. the officers who had been
fighting Bolshevism.
The men on his staff compared him
iastic on the subject that they de-
clared he alone could save the Russian
empire from suicide. Robespierre,
Marat and other people prominent in
the French revolution through
their conversation. They were visual
izing themselves in relative positions
with their own revolution.
Like warriors of old who fought
their battles well Seminole has created
his own code and publicly acknowl-
edged his one great weakness-her
name is Josephine. She is such a gor-
geous creature that it is quite simple
to understand how anybody could be
weak about her. Half gypsy and half
Jewish-a combination that has given
her wild untrammeled emotions and a
beauty so fragrant that any moving
picture director in the United States
wouldn't hesitate a second to let her
name her price on sight.
Josephine is Startling Beautiful.
Josephine is known from one end
of Siberia TO the other Every allied
officer heard of her before he really
knew why he was in Siberia For
Seminoff is a willy lover as well as a
soldier. Josephine never wanders far
from the armored train or the immed-
late neighborhood of the Cossack
chief She is quite too startlingly |
beautiful-and I might say-too hum
an as some of her escapades have
proven-to be left to her own devices,