The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-06-02
UNTOLD STORY
OF WAR HERO
Preston's Great Sacrifice in
Hunting Russian Platinum.
NEEDED BY AMERICAN ARMY

|
Courage an Extraordinarily Diff
cult Undertaking Which During
+, 1919 Seemed to BE Highly lmpor'
tant In the Winning Of Final Victory
Completing His Task He Dies
Three Hours After Reaching Home,
This is the story of one Of the un.
known American heroes of the
World war. On the surface there was
no more splendor In his career than
that which attaches to the ordinary
trader, hut actually he carried out
brilliantly and with fine courage an
extraordinarily difficult undertaking
which during 1918 seemed to be high
ly important in the winning of the
final victory. says William l.. Chenery
in the New York Times.
The record of this by-adventure Of
the supreme adventure Of our civi'iza.
ton is buried somewhere in the
archives of the departments at Wash.
ington. The War department knows
something Of it, and the Navy depart
ment and the Department of Com.
merce and the present possessors Of
the papers of the war industries
board all have their share of the Facts.
But the whole story is known also to
two men who are willing to tell 1t.
One Of them is William c. Redfeld,
ex-secretary of commerce, and the
other is B. s. Cutler, who was d.
vision chief under Secretary Redfield
and is now in business in New York
Victory demanded imperiously
many things in addition to untold hu-
man sacrifice. Some of these things
were rare and hard to obtain. Among
them was platinum. This precious
metal was wanted for the contact
points Of airplane engines and of Lib
erty motors, and for certain other
purposes essential in the making of
war. Russia was, and is, the great
source Of platinum, but by the time
the United States was well into the
war Russia's successive revolutions
had begun to lock the doors to out
side commerce.
None the less platinum seemed es.
sential. The United States, through
the Department Of Commerce, made
two distinct efforts to bring the pre-
cious white metal out of Russia. The
first was prelude to the work of tbe
man whose adventures and whose
sacrifices are the occasion of this mar
rative. What happened in the first
instance. however, so closely condi-
toned the attempt which was to fol-
low that it is prerequisite to under
standing the story. #
Starting the Platinum Search.
Mr.. Cutler, to whom was delegated
the duty Of buying platinum for the
War department through an arrange
ment between the then Secretaries
Baker and Redfield, imagined that de-
spite the Bolshevist revolution bank
ers and others in European Russia
had come into the possession of large
quantities Of the metal. 1t was i'm
possible, however, at the time openly
to attempt to buy platinum from such
men because the mere information of
the existence of the metal would have
invited confscation by the Moscow
government. Accordingly, arrange
ments were made with two interna-
tional Adventures and with a we'll
known Russian business man who
was willing to take part in the af-
fair because 1t appeared to offer him
4 way Of escape from Bolshevism.
The Department Of Commerce made
an oral contract with these three men
to buy platinum at sos an ounce, a
price $40 above thu old quotation in
the United States, mt $40 below the
figure which then obtained.
BY sundry methods these men OBJ
tanned 10000 ounces. Then began
long and arduous trip across Euro
pean Russia and through Siberia.
Often the travellers were compelled
to stop for days In out-of-way places
IN Siberia. They knew that If they
appeared to be in hurry they would
be arrested as suspicious characters.
So they moved and rested and moved
N again. Finally they reached Vladi-
vostok, and the platinum. represent
ng fortune Of large size, was shipped
% New York. By the time it arrived
1t the express station in this city. a
Inference Of opinion concerning the
proper price to pay for platinum had
developed In Washington. The War
industries Board ruled that the De-
oartment Of Commerce price was too
high. While the controversy was rag
Ing, the War Department comman-
leered the platinum, and the quarrel
,ver the price was sent to the courts.
Enter Young Preston.
There 1t remained. One important
'esult followed. The former source Of
'upply was cut off. The adventures
ind the spectators in Russia would
10 longer deal with the United States.
The oral contract had been broken
Ind they were no longer interested.
Officials Of the Department of Com
cerce discussed the situation with a
yOunp American. Charles L. Preston