Evening star., 1923-12-23

was extremely trying for the
whole of the Russian nation.
The war had taken Russias 8
best men, leaving all home work
upon women. slackers and those
utterly unfit for military service.
fhe transportation system of the
country. never admirable, was
strained to Its utmost by the pressure
OF the times. The administration Of
the government was overworked ow-
ing to the urgency of war and could
not meet its responsibilities toward
the population. Prices were soaring
and the discomfort grew more and
more pronounced.
Such a state Of public mind was all
ideal soil for the seed of German
propaganda. and If you add to this
the financial support given to the
Russian revolutionists by the British
embassy. YOU have a conception of
the state in which Russia found her
self in the spring Of 1917.
On the morning of February 2S,
1917. In one Of the big houses in
Petrogram. our family was assembled
ror breakfast. The atmosphere was
tense and all attempts at CONVEX
touch upon the topic which was
u?permost in all minds The faces
of the servants were sad, graver eren
than usual. and harmonized well with
the whole picture. At intervals un-
usual sounds came from the street
an occasional shot and the murmur
OF an angry crowd.
Suddenly the doorbell rang and we
r6 he tror 80
fa the hall, as group Of half
drunken men tumbled into the din
iEE room. They were led by a tall
rrf5an. whose cadaverous face wa.
fllTi 9th malignant intelligence. At
his side there walked a very little
man. plump and rosy. his whole face
lit up by a kindly smile. The con-
trast between those two was more
than ridiculous.
The rest OF the group consisted
OF about half a dozen soldiers and
workmen armed to the teeth and dis
gustingly drunk.
The leader turned to the table. ask
ing which one present was citizen
'B." My father answered that he was
the man in question. On hearing this
the whole group OF intruders covered
him with their guns and the leader
advised him to say good-by to his
family, as there was very little
chance Of his seeing us again. At
the time this was a novel expert
ence to us, and 1t was hard to keep
UP the appearance Of composure and
Indifference.
My father was led away, and as we
said good-by to him. in spite of our
disturbed thoughts we could not but
be amused at the absurd appearance
OF the captors, the little man point
ing a very big revolver up at my
father and the big one pointing down
at US with his baby Browning"
kx r
THAT day, with a heavy heart, I
took up my self-imposed duties.
AS the telephone system had not been
in operation since the beginning of
the disturbances, used to make
daily rounds Of all the friends Of our
family, who had no means OF COM
munication with each other. Their
experiences were very similar to
ours and was able to find many
little ways Of being useful to them.
My age proved helpful In these err
dS HooOuy tooh oSSouhS VI a
child In the general confusion. and
I passed freely where no one else Of
my class could have gone withou:
danger. Thus the whole street life
of Petrograd passed before me and.
although I was very young. many
scenes have photographed themselves
80 clearly In my mind that the flight
of time and the new experiences I
have had since then were unable to
dim them. shall try to set them |
on paper.
On the day Of my fathers arrest |
! went into the street dressed as |
shabbily as I could be and mixed with |
the crowd. 1t was a lovely day. The !
air was full of the first touch Of |
spring. the trickle OF water from |
thawing snow making a pleasant |
undertone. 1t was quite mild. the !
crowds were gayly dressed, no one |
understood what happened. but |
everybody seemed happy and full Of |
fun.
At one corner I saw an old woman |
tearing her red petticoat into ribbons |
and giving them right and left. |
went up to her and asked why she |
was doing this. She told me. with !
tears in her eyes, that at last she |
was able to do something for our |
father, the emperor And there were |
many like her. Orators had dimmed |
their brains with a lot of meaning |
less foreign words and high-fiown |
phrases and entangled them so deeply |
in the meshes OF their eloquence that
no one knew what he wanted or
whether he wanted 1t at all.
The only ones who stayed heroic
ally loyal through the whole Of the |
revolution were the police. and by
their admirable courage they gained
the undying hatred of the mob.
witnessed striking example of
this on that spring day. In the |
course Of my wanderings I went
down to the most beautiful part of
the quay and saw a highly excited
group Of workmen experimenting on
the efficiency OF their heels as
death dealing agency. The victims
were two policemen, their faces
beaten in, a gruesome sight. II 1t |
had not been for their uniform 1t !
would have been dificult to say that |
they were human beings.
A little girl pushed herself |
through the crowd and laid herself |
on the body OF victim. trying to |
protect him. That seemed to para
lyse the crowd. But their leader was |
q man of resource. He took out his |
revolver and shot the girl. The mob |
returned to the interrupted amuse- |
laent.
~EEpI,Y disRuatad went IA caJ ,