The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-05-01

|
 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 1 final appeal, and spoke to the sailors on the meaning of democracy. He paid generous tribute to their ships He spoke of Russia's bravery and urged the sail ors to stand Loyalty by the cause for which the allies were fighting He re- ferred feelingly to the cordial relations which had always existed between Rus sia and the United States and mads much of the argument for their contn- ued friendship and cooperation, which l lay in the fact that they now the | two biggest republics in the world. But not a word did he say of the deposed | officers.
 Admiral Glennon is a big man, with commanding appearance, but with a kind ly and genial bearing. His speech made a most favorable impression on the sail ors. 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 and other officers were boarding their train again at Sebastopol on the return jour ney to Petrograd. representatives of the sailors came on board and told Admiral Glennon that they had voted to restore the arms to all the deposed officers ex- cept Kolchak and Smirnoff These two they said, they would probably keep in prison and give them trial. l Admiral Glennon saw his chance Man | ifestly these sailors wanted to please the | a slfr 0f Kolchak and Smirnoff, so they felt ob- obliged to keep them in prison, but, prob ably, if Kolchak and Smirnoff were to leave Sebastopol and the region of the Black sea, the sailors would be satisfied So the admiral, smiling down from his l towering height upon the shorter Rus sians, made proposal. In effect he said :: | Release Smirnoff and Kolchak and we will take them to Petrograd with us." | Petrograd was far away; moreover, the authority of Petrograd was still recog- nized. so the sailors agreed. Kolchak and Smirnoff were taken from prison and put on board the train with the Americans
 VISITS UNITED STATES For them it was deliverance from al- most certain death. It is little wonder that Kolohak regarded Glennon with the greatest affection and gratitude. few weeks later Kolchak came to the United States at the head of a Russian naval mission. and his renewal of &C., quaintance with Admiral Glennon was like the meeting of brothers.
 The viAit of the Russian naval mis- sion had for It's primary purpose, prob ably. study of how discipline was maintained in the navy of a republic. However. its officers told us many in teresting things about the organiza- ton and operation of the Russian navy.
 l had chance to see a good deal of kolohak while the mission was here. It was said of him that he was of Tartar descent, and his appearance gave some weight to this rumor. He was of medium height. very dark. with piercing eyes and determined ex- pression. He was famous for his reso- lute purpose in all undertakings, and his face gave clear evidence of it. He was intensely Russian and patriotic, but broad-rninded. simple and practical. He admired Farragut greatly, and made special trip to his tomb to place a wreath upon 1t. He was also great admirer of our arctic explorers, prob ably 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. Valorous and fine though he was. he was too conservative and too class-c luscious to inspire the sympathy and confidence of millions of Russians who had vowed they were through forever with aristoclacy and militarism,
 Moreover, he was lacking m faith, lacking in optimism and enthusiasm. When I heard he had become leader of Isthe counter revolution, 1 expressed my belief that 1t was doomed to failure. You cannot win great campaign with man upon whom melancholy and hopelessness have set their seal. I remember the dinner Admiral Kol- chak gave at the Shoreham hotel in Washington to the Secretary of the Navy and prominent officers of the navy department Just before the Rus sian naval mission took its departure in 1917.
 Beyond all question. 1t was the gloomiest most funereal occasion I ex- perienced in all my eight years in Washington.
 Newu had just arrived of a German victory over the Russians in the Baltic The Kerensky government was in a perilous situation. These facts were reflected in the lugubrious counten- ances ond solemn words of those who sat at that banquet table. I did my best to cheer Kolchak, predicting wonderful future for a democratic Russia when the allies and America had won the war
 KOLCHAK 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. I never saw Lincoln, but accepting the most depressing accounts. his sadness must have had a ray of hope in com- parison with the utter hopelessness which sat upon the somber face of Kolchak.
 think the premonftion of tragedy was in his soul.
 At the end of October. 1917. he sailed from San Francisco for Japan. intend- ing to return to European Russia by Siberia When he reached Japan, he found the bolsheviki had seized power. and Kerensky was fugitive. The bolshevik government offered him and hio officarz ga "a iouruou tr