Evening star., 1921-05-02

they said. they would probably keep
in prison and give them trial.
Admiral Glennon saw his chance.
Manifestly these sailors wanted to
please the Americans. They were
little afraid of Kolchak and Smirnoff
i SO they felt obliged to keep them in
prison. but. probably. if kolchak and
Smirnof were to leave Sebastorol
and the region of the Black sea. the
sailors would be satisfied.
So the admiral. smiling down from
his towering height upon the shorter
Russians. made proposal In CT
feet he said:
Release Smrnoff and Koichak and
w" will take them to Petrograd with
us"
Petrograd was far away: moreover.
the authority of PetroErad was still
recognized, so the sailors agreed.
ko'chak and Sminof were taken
from prison and put on board the
train with the Americans.
Visits United States.
For them it was deliverance from
almost certain death. 1t is little Won
der that Kolchak regarded Glcnnon
| with the greatest affection and graft
tude. A few weeks later kolchak
came to the United States at the head
OF RUSSIAN naval mission, and his
renewal of acquaintance with Ad-
miral Glennon was like the meeting
of brothers.
The visit of the Russian naval mis-
SION had for its primary purpose,
bly,. study of how discipline
was maintained in the Navy of re-
public. However. it's officers told us
many interesting things about the
organization and operation of the
Russian navy.
l had a chance to see good deal
OF kolchak while the mission was
tere: II was said of him that he was
al LIZ,
gave some weight to this rumor. He
was of medium height. very dark
with piercing eyes and a determined
; expression. He was famous for his
resolutc purpose in all undertakings.
md his face gave clear evidence Of
patriotic. but broad minded, simnl :
and practical He admired Farra gut
greatly and made a special trip to
ms tomb to place a wreath upon it,
He was also great admirer of our
arctic explorers. probably because of
his own polar service.
Not Man for Leader.
But he was not fitted for the sort of
leadership the Russians required
after the revolution. Ealorpus and
hne though he was. he was too con-
servative and too class-conscious to
inspire the sympathy and confidence
OF millions of Russians who had
vowed they were through forever
with aristocracy and militarism.
moreover, he was lacking in faith.
lacking in optimism and enthusiasm
When l heard he had become leader
OF the counter revolution. l expressed
my belief that it was doomed to fail
ure You cannot win great cam
palgn with a man upon whom melan-
choiy and hopelessness have set their
seal.
remember the dinner Admira
kolchak gave at the Shoreham Hotel
in Washington to the Secretary Of
the Navy and prominent officers of
the Navy Department just before the
parture in 1917.
Beyond all question it was the
gloomiest. most funereal occasion |
experienced in all my eight years in
Washington.
News had just arrived of Ger
man victory over the Russians in the
Baltic. The Kerensky government
was in pcrilous situation. These
facts were reflected in the lugubrious
countenances and solemn words Of
those who sat at that banquet table.
L did my best to cheer kolchak pre-
dieting wonderfu! future for d
democratic Russia when the allies
and America had won the war.
kolchnk Without Hope.
DO you really believe Russia can
again have peace?" he asked me. and
the tone of his question spoke his
own despair.
You have read of the depression
which sometimes wrote itself upon
the face Of Lincoln in his darkest
hours. ] never saw Lincoln, but &C
ceptins the most depressing accounts,
his sadness must have had a ray of
hope in comparison with the utter
hopelessness which sat upon the SOM
Der face of kolchak
L.:
was in his soul.
At the end of October, 1917, he sail