The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1920-08-06
.RAGDAY CAUSE TROUBLE
RUSSIAN VESSEL CHANGES
HANDS VERY RAPIDLY
State Department Must Now
Decide Who Owns Ill-Fated
Craft

~-CETUE-
Associated Press Dispatch.l

=
San Francisco, Cal, Aug. 5-Ihe
Rogday. transport Of the Russian
volunteer fleet, which arrived In san
Francisco harbor from New YORK
via Manzanillo, for bunkers on jan
uary "a, has become the central ng-
ure in a international situation In
yolving two extinct Russian govern
ments, Kerensky and Kolchak regime,
and the United States. The history
of the Rogday includes service on
the Great Lakes, as we'll as duty as
a freight carrier and transport for
the Russian government In the Rus
sian volunteer feet. She served on
the Great Lakes as the Nevada, and
was constructed by the Manitowoc
Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
at Chicago.
The Rogday Is a steel screw pro-
peller steamer with net tonnage of
1O78 tons or a gross tonnage Of 2212
tons. She Is electrically lighted.
equipped with wireless telegraph and
has three decks. Duluth, Mimi,
was the home port Of the Rogday
while under American registry. Her
registry was changed to Russian
at the time Of her sale to Russia.
Following litigation in federal
courts here, the Rogday was ordered
handed over to Commander M.
Gordeney, representative OF the Kol-
chalk government, who was the Rog.
days captain when she put into port
at San Francisco. On the morning
of Saturday, July "a, q boarding
party under the leader ship Of Lieu
tenant Commander Benklevsky, D.
c., went aboard the Rogday, which
was moored in China Basin. and
seized the TRANSPORT.
Captain Mily Gordeney, deposed
commander of the Rogday, in a stat
ement following the seizure Of the
transport, said he was commission
ed by the Kolchak government, known
as the old Russian government, In
October, 1919, and was to proceed
from New York via the Panama Can
al to San Francisco, thence to Vlad-
ivostok. Arriving at San Francisco
in January 1920 was told to discharge
my cargo and sent it to Seattle. My
cargo was worth $2,000,000 and my
ship 100000 but had no control
over the cargo, hence ! did as I was
ordered to do on advice from the en-
bassy.
"But in February the embassy
wired me that Admiral Kolchak was
dead and that the old Russian gov
eminent had fallen, adding that
was to give up my ship. This l re-
fused to do, as l considered that the
ship belonged to the Russian people
and not to any party which CHANGED
to be In power. Later this year
Benklevsky came aboard several
times trying to urge me to leave my
ship. but I refused, He is an assist
ant naval attache of the Russian en-
bassy at Washington.
America Will Decide
"He came aboard Friday, July %,
the day before the seizure and told
me at that time he was going to Del
Francisco, on a pleasure trip. He
said that Romanosky, the Russian
consul at San Francisco, was also
going out of the city, He did this
to throw ne off the track, as the next
morning he came aboard at seven
o'clock armed"
United States naval officers at
Mare Island, CAL, following the
seizure of the Rogday by Benlevsky
and his followers, declared that the
status Of the transport should be de-
termined by the American state de-
partment because of the international
question concerned, insofar as Cap
tain Benlevsky claimed to be repre-
sentative of the Kerensky regime,
is only Russian government recog-
nized by the United States.
Although each faction involved in
the controversy has charged the 9TH
er with being in some manner con-
nected with the bolshevist govern
ment in Russia, each In turn vigor-
ously denied that 1t sought posses
sion of the Rogday in behalf Of the