The Washington herald., 1919-05-02

i
was q panic. Some Of the Ef1s
seized their rifes and fired into fhe
9ir. The noise attracted the Attention
Of my instructors and many other
SOLDIERS, among whom there were
numerous decent fellows. The situa~..
ton was saved by the latter. 81
But what was 20 be done? Life for
the battalion became absolutely un-
bearsble. at least at this part Of the z
front II was dificuit 10 understand
the change undergone by the men m
several months. How long ago wss<
II that they almost worshiped ne.<
and ] loved them2 Now they seemed
TO have turned wild.
The ofiScer advised me to disbanE
the battalion. But that would amount
to an acknowledgement Of failure and
the hooelessness OF my country's con
dition. i was not ready to acknowItf
my unit i would fght 20 the end
The visitor could not see n this way.
Wasn't j at the end OF the rope n the
soldiers had turned machine guns On
the battalion? would't / have been
lynched II not for the desperate strur-
gle Of my girls and soldier friendsr
1 resolved to go 10 Petrograd ana
ask kerensky to transfer me to q
hshting sector. I went TO see my
girls before leaving for the capital
IL was pathetic meeting. They wers
glad to learn OF my planned trim
They could not stand IL much longer
where they were. They were prepared
TO night the Germans, to be tortured
by them. to die at their hands or "a.
prison camps. But they were not, :.
prepared for the torments and humf-
iation that they were made to suffer
by our owns boys That never en-
tered into our calculations at the time =
the battalion was formed -
I took my documents along ana left /.
the same evening. telling my soldier.
that ] would not stay away longer
than week, which was the limit
that they set for their endurance -
Upon my arrival in Petrograd I went !.
to the quarters occupied by the hatfai-. 4.
ion while in training II took a very
casual eye TO observe that an op--
pressive atmosphere weighed heavily
on the Russian capital. The Soy.
Smiles ana jubilation were gone from ~
the streets OF the city. There was
gloom in the air and in everybody's =
eyes. Food was very scarce. Red =
Guards were plentiful Bolshevism
walked the streets openly and def-
antly. as II its day had already come i !
MY friends. who had taken an
interest in the battalion were horrf- =.
ned TO learn or conditions at the 'front.'
Their accounts Of the state OF affairs
at the capital detected me greatly
| kerensky, after his fight with n
\ K9rnilov, cut himself OF Completely
| from his friends and acquaintances y.
OF the upper classes. I went TO Gen Il
AnCsov. telling him OF my mission Z
But he would not accompany me any =
where. although he placed his antoine =
bile at my disposal I drove TO thes
| commander of the military district =
then Gen. Vasilkovsty, a Cossack
who looked impressive and strong.
but was actually a weakling. He re-
ceived me cordially and asked for the
purpose OF my visit TO the city. HsT
had heard of the beating I got ana "
expressed his sympathy -
| But" he added, no one Is sure I,
these days. j, myself. expect TO be Is
cast out at any time. II is a matter
Of days, OF hours. for the government
Another revolution is ripening and Is
at hand. Bolshevism is everywhere
in the factories and in the military
barracks. And how is il at the
'front.'" snpi
The same thing, even worse t.
answered, and proceeded to tell him
of all my trials and troubles. and the
thelp 1 expected to obtain from him =
and the war minister 80
Nothing can help you now he
said. The authorities are poweriexs
Orders are not worth the paper on
which they are issued. I am going
now to Nerkhovsky, the new wsr
minister. Would you like to Eor
along?'
On the way we discussed verkhoz.-,
sky's appointment He was the san.ns
man who. as commander of the Mos
COW military district. had rescued rese
| from the mob at Moscow some wee}rf~
before. He was a very popular leader
and exerted great influence on tho
soldiers.
Perhaps il he had been sppointe6.
some months ago he might have
saved the army. But it is too Law
now" said Vasf1kovsky.
/ When we arrived at the war rniufs--
try. we found that Kerensky was ~,
Nerkhovsky's study. We were an-s
nounced. and was asked TO come In :
/ first. As 1 opened the door / saw
Immediately that all was lost The
prime minister and the war minister
were both standing. They presenteS. !
such a pathetic. heartbreaking sightfm
herensky looked like a corpse. litera3-s
ly. There was not a vestige OF color
in his face. His eyes were red a.
il he had not slept for nights. Verk-7
hovsky seemed to me like a man who's
was drowning reaching for help N.Y.
heart sank War had made me cafss
lous. and was seldom shocked. But
| this time 1 was nearly crushed hy
the two agonized figures. II was the =
agony of Russia that was portrayed ;
in their helpless faces.
They made an effort TO smile. but
/ it was a smile that pained morA 1.
than a wall. The war minister then
4 inquired how things were at the front.
We heard you were badly mauled."
he said
/ I gave a detailed account Of every1
thing that I witnessed and expert
onced myself. ] told in detail about
the lynching OF Col Belonogov. Of the
officer who tried 10 defend me. OF the
Z bayonetinS OF my girl. OF the machine
guns that were turned on me be-
Cause wounded one OF the enemy.
Kerensky seized his head in his
hands and cried out:
''Oh. horror, horror, We perish.
We DROWN
There was a tense. painful pause.
I concluded my recital with the sug-
gestion that action was urgently
needed or all>would be wrecked
Yes. action is needed. but what
action? What is TO be done now
What would you do IL you were To
he given the authority over the army,
You are a common soldier, tell me