Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-03-13


: instaliments of this story she told of
: the hardships of her childhood, the
= brutalities of her married life and
the realization of her wish to be-
come a soldier. She tells of battles
4 won and Of the disorganiAtion IN
! the army following the overthrow OF
the Gar. She leaves the army oe'
cause the soldiers will no longer
fight: goes to Petrograd. where she
I is befriendded by Rodzianko, pres
ident of the Duma. and forms thee
Battalion Of Death, with the consent
Of Kerensky.
AND HERE 1T CONTINUES
One day the sentry reported to the
officer in charge that two women one
famous Englishwoman, came 10 see
me. 7 ordered the battalion at atteh'
sion while I received the two caIlers
who were Emmeline Pankhurst anu
Princess Kikuatova, the latter oi
whom l knew. .,..a .o
Mrs. Pankhurst was introduced 10
me and had the battalion salute tLe
emjnent visitor who had done much
81, u.,rnep and her country" Mrs
Pankhurst became frequenter OF the
battalion, watching it with aosoroilS
interest as it grew into well discl-
,,lined military unit. We became very
4 much attached to each other. MIS-.
Pankhurst invited me to a dinner at
the Astoria, Petrograds leading motel
at which Kerensky was to be present
ana the various Allied representatives
in the capital. ,.
Meanwhile, the battalion was max
ing rapid progress. At first we were
little annoyed. The BolsheVik asi1d'
tors did not think much of the idea
NJ |
ceiyed only about thirty threatening
letters in the beginning. 1t gradually
however, became known that l main
tanned the strictest discipline, COM
: rnanding without committee, and the
propagandists recognized menace IN
me and sought a means for the de-
struction OF my scheme.
On the evening appointed for the
dinner I went to the Astoria. I'here
Kerensky was very cordial TO me. lie
told me that the Bolsheviki were pre-
pairing a demonstration against the
provisional government and that at
first the Petrograd garrison had con-
scented to organize a demonstration IN
favor of the government. However
later the garrison wavered in its decl'
sion. The war minister then asked
me IL I would march with the battalion
for the provisional government.
I gladly accepted the invitation
Kerensky told me that the Women's
Battalion had already eXerted bcnes
1icial influence, that several bodies OF
troops had expressed a Willingness to
leave for the front, that many in
yalids of the war had organized for
Z the purpose of going to the fighting
line, declaring that if women could
fight then they-the Cripples-would
DO so, too. Finally he expressed his
belief that the announcement of the
marching of the Battalion of Death
would stimulate the garrison to follow
suit.
II was a pleasant evening that
spent at the Astoria. Upon leaving,
an acquaintance, who went III the
same direction, offered TO drive me to
the institute I accepted the invita-
ton. geeting off however, within
block of headquarters, as I did not
wish him to drive out of his way. It
was about II o'clock when I ap-
preached our temporary barrack.
There was a small crowd at the gate,
about thirty.five men OF all descrip-
tons, soldiers, hooligans. Migrants
and even some decent.looking fellows.
"who are you? What are you doing
here?" I questioned sharply.
"Natchalnik," cried out the sentry.
"they are waiting for you. They
have been here more than an hour,
breaking, the gate and securing the
grounds and building for you. When
they became convinced that you were
away they decided to wait here for
your return
E s.Now, what do you want" I de-
manded of the group as they sur.
round ME.
NJ "What do we want, eh? We want
YOU to disband the battalion. We
have had enough OF this discipline.
Enough blood has been shed. We
don't want any more armies and
militarism. You are only creating new
troubles for the common people. Dis.
band your battalion and we will leave
YOU alone"
II will not disband!" was my an
swer.
Several of them pulled out revolvers
and threatened to kill me. The sentry
raised an alarm and all the girls
appeared at the windows, many of
them with their rifles ready.
Listen" a couple of them argued
again, you are of the people and we
only want the veal Of the common
man. We want peace not war. And
you are melting war again. We have
fldu enough war tOO iiuSli wal " Y
only now understand the futility OF
war. Surely you don't like to see
the poor people slaughtered for the
sake of a few rich. Come join our side,
and let's all work for peace"
"Scoundrels :" shouted with all my
strength. you are idiots! ] am my.
self for peace but we will never have
peace without driving the Germans
out of Russia. They will make slaves
OF us and ruin our country and our
freedom. You are traitors!"
Suddenly I was kicked violently in
I the back. Some one dealt me second
u blow from the side.
eF'ire!" shouted to my girls at the
windows as I was knocked down,
n knowing that had instructed them
always to shoot in the air first as a
warning.
Several hundred rifles rang out in a
vDl1ey. My assailants quickly dis.
parsed, and was safe. However, they
X returned during the night and stoned
the windows, breaking every pane OF
glass fronting the street.
MY Fight Against Committee Rule
ssTT WAS after midnight when i
j, entered the barracks. The officer in
ckar1e reported to me on the happen
+ inxs OF the evening. 1t appeared that al
7rst one OF the group. a Bolshevik agi
tsfor, had made his way inside by
4 telling the sentry that he had been
|',-.<..< ~ ,,.a Tat aayrt et hing As saOn as