Evening star., 1921-05-02
KOLCF1AK SAVED FROM DEATH
BY AMERICAN ADMIRAL'S WIT
Tragic Experiences of Russian Admiral
Ending Fruitless Struggle for His
Country Facing Firing Squad.

as they realized what had been done,
but there was not a man among them
who did not honor him the more
for it.
Turning upon his heel sharply. the
former commander in chief came
uown from the quarterback. climbed
over the side of the flagship into a
waiting boat. and was taken to
Scbastopol. where >he was put in
prison along with Smirnoff and other
officers.
What might have been the fate of
kolchak We cannot tell. although it
is not unreasonable to think he
would. in time. have suffered the fate
of the commander-in-c chief of the
Baltic fleet. Execution by order OF
the sailors soviet is quite as deadly
as assassination.
American Mission Arrives.
But 1t happened that while these
things were going on in the Black
sea other things had been happen
ing in Petrograd. The Root diplo-
| matte mission. appointed by Presi-
dent Wilson and headed by Elihu
Root. reached NladivOStOk June )
and went straight to PetroGrad on a
special train provided by the kerensky
government.
The naval member of this mission
was Admiral Glennon. who. after
reaching Petro2rad. with little delay,
set out for Seba StopOl to visit kol-
chak and the Black sea fleet. wholly
unaware of the serious situation which
had developed.
With Admiral Glennon went AL
miral McCully. who is a master of the
Russian tongue, and a great admlrer
of the Russian people, whose anec-
tion and confidence he has held
through all events
The first intmation the American
n ,irc 1s /, ,a1 hoy VI q a
face unusual circumstances was when.
on reaching the station in Sebastopol,
they found a reception committee
awaiting them composed wholly Of work
men and sailors.
There were no officers. kolchak
was not there. nor had he sent any
members of his staff to greet them.
GIennOn Talks to sailors.
But Glennon and McCully were quick
enough to catch something of the sig
nificance of this unexpected welcome and
to accommodate themselves to its Pc
culiar character.
They wore no swords" said Admiral
Glennon to me in making his report. so
the American officers left their swords in
the train"
The American officers were taken to
the flagship. from which kolchak had
been deposed the day before.
Admiral Glennon stood on the quarter
deck. where kolchak had stood in his
final appeal, and spoke to the sailors on
the meaning of democracy. He paid a
generous tribute to their ships He spoke
of Russia s bravery and urged the sailors
to stand Loyalty by the cause for which
the allies were fighting. He referred feel
Ingly to the cordial rela tions which had
always existed between Russia and the
United States and made much of the
argument for their continued friendship
and cooperation. which lay in the fact
that they were now the two biggest re-
publics in the word. But not word did
he say of the deposed officers.
Admiral Glennon is big man. with
commanding appearance. but with a
kindly and genial bearing. His speech
made most favorable impression on the
sailors. Evidently they talked over the
things he had said and decided to SHOW
their appreciation in some way.
Obtains kolchak's Release.
So when the American admirals an"
other officers were boarding their
train again at NSebasfopol. on the
return journey TO Petrograd. repre-
seHtatives of the sailors came on
board and told Admiral Glennon that
they had voted to restore the arms
to all the deposed officers except
kolchak and Smrnoff. These two.