Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, March 4, 1923, Page 26

ne EEE For Jn OSC Who Read ad Reas CHEKISTS LEAVE NO CRIME UNDONE AGAINST VICTIMS *322%02,,. (Continued from last Sunday.) N February, 1920, an interpella- I tion was addressed to the repre- ntative of the Provincial Ex- traordi: ‘y Commission at a meeting of the ture 0! et concerning tor- ers by the agents of the ne interpellated agent ad- t ti ad actually been but at the county {at that time not yet abol- n Saratov Province, which was ne), regional trans- ‘Iway Chokas, b + had deen denied, uch an in Ison at- or A stabi hambers cf and the old, rges used a places of confin was at that time the Czaritsyn county Cheka in Saratov Province) guarded their ghastly se- crets somberly and clos’ Or was it that he knew that all the (favorite ment of what evidence had been buried in the ground of that rayine which had proved so terrible to the people of Saratov (on the outskirts of the city, near the monastery suburb)? A re vine that had proved equally terrible to the bourgeoisie, to workers and peasants, to intellectuals and all polit 1 parties, the Socialists included? A ravine whose soil has covered such members of the Socialist olution= ist party as Boris Alexandrovich Aver- ley, whose mother had been a mem- ber of the old * "3 Will” party and one of the “ (Revolutionists who had a famous trial by a Czarist tribu: -Translator's note.) And she did not long survive her only son, having been denied permission to see him before his execution and herself threatened with arrest by Kraychenko, president of the Saratov Cheka. And Zinaida Murashkina, Alexander Gus- sev and Gusseva? The Ravine Swallows Its Victims; ‘Spurlos Versunkt, These Ships As soon as the snow melts relatives and friends of the victims, in groups and singly, glancing around furtively, may be seen wandering to this ravin At first people used to be arrested on the spot for such pilgrimages, but there were so many of them coming —in spite of all arrests. Spring floods, washing aw: the soil, have dis terred the victims of the Commurist terror. Below the little bridge which spans the ravine corpses may be seen Piled up in heaps for a height of forty to fifty fathoms. How many are there? ‘There is hardly a person who could tell that. Even the Cheka itself does not know it. During 1918 and 1919 there were shot, according to lists and without any lists, about 1,500 persons. But the victims used to be taken to this ravine in summer and fall only, ethers belng shvt elsewhere during the winte: It is a harrowing and ghastly thing to look at the bottom of this dreadful ravine! And yet the people who come here do not shrink from looking at it, Peering intently, seeking at loast some token by which the corpse of a beloved one might be identified, Here are two girls coming down the slope. It seemed to them if they had recognized the remains a brother. A third sister stands above with tear dimmed eyes, “Don't, don't, don’t touch him, I can’t bear it she cries out to the other from above. At the opposite bank a peasant who has walked over from the adjoining field leans ove the precipice. “Relatiy you are looking for? Or friends?” “Brother was sho “And, do you know, misses, I spent that night out here, under the wagon. I was hurrying to finish n strip of Jand, so I remained in the field. It must have been around olclock in the night when automobiles with lan- terns drove up he They stopped yonder, on that side. Then they un- loaded ‘them. Then they stripped their clothes off. And they led them acro: this bridge over here. Well, and here they stood them up on the brink of this gully shot them. They kept rolling Gown here all the time. Then these people, I mean those who did the shooting, went down to the bot- tom of the gully and kept moving about with th nterns, and shoot ing again. them off hear, too. found at that time eyeglasses. They must body in the right ey He ain, is another group, also ef women. “Mama, mama,” a little girl ts asking of her sobbing mot “Auntie was not buried here, ¥ She hasn't died darling, yes, she saying en finishing Oh, and I r some broken e hit some- as she?" But you time auntie was has Gled the prison! . . . Aunt Zina is Shot the little eps whispering, clinging close » mother, And each « week this and more by tt foes on swal victims. Aft of the over 1 more ov. Te ow nd mor But eve 3 e water un the lat st victims of the execution, th are secrets this sinister * keeps buried at its bottom, and this the Saratoy Cheka agent relied upon when he den! tice of torture dinary vinclal To be sure, 1, nor will one peed, in unearthin e has y member of the Constituent Assembly, had been tortured. He was dragged out to execution from the hold of a barge with a broken arm and leg and with one of his eyes knocked out. He was shot in 1918. On October 20, 1919, at the examiaa- tion of the arrested members of the Soclalist-Revolutionist party, M. and, V., women, having refused to betray their party comrades, were told by the investigators that they would be forced to tell what they knew and that the Cheka would compel them. The Cheka agent, Ozolin, then gave an order in their presence to bring the wagon and the lanterns and to make preparations for stripping the prisoners. Both then realized that something would be done to them and waited for their fate. While awaiting the things that had been ordered the Cheka agents occu- d themselves with target practic h loaded revolvers, over V.'s head. later the wagon “Well, henchman asked he replied, Day nig was to be done An hour and a halt end the lanterns were brought. we goir a The that was gon the t and under cover of darkness could not be hing done in broad daylight. Two da later, in the common cell of the Pro- vinclal Extraordinary Commission, both women saw with their own eyes ung Woman and her sister (Sophia and Ida U——n) who d not been spared the ordeal which and V. had been fortunate to e! thanks to dawning daylight. © two sisters were carried to that tly ravine, stripped naked and, ened with revolvers on the very of that yawning chasm, they threa brink were ordered to reveal the hiding place of a relative. But knowledge whatever of it they were actually unable to tell. Their subse- quent fate has not been learned. ‘All Highest’ Fate Determiners Dress in Swell Clothes, Act as Lords After that unfinished examination” M. and V. were turned over from Cheka Agent Ozolin to the agent of the Saratov Provincial Ex- traordinary Commission, Lobov, and his assistant. Flashy, well groomed, dressed in the extreme of fashion, with the airs of lords who are free to dispose of the life and death of their captives, thelr manners were correct in the highest degree. “Your case is as they had no “preliminary very serious,” they said. “We will not conc that from you. But you have a chance to save your lives. Tell us all about your comrad What! You will not? Oh, well, you are-done for, anyhow. See these proclama- tions? The Red Army soldiers read them and refuse to fight, and the peasants refuse to bring us grain (thes by were the proclamations issued the Central Committee of the So- clalist-Revolutionist party “To All"), You are going to be shot!” V. was examined separately, It could not be learned just what it was that they had proposed and demanded of her. But no sooner had she been transferred to solitary confinement at the provincial prison, where she found ® kerosene Jamp in her cell, than she poured {ts contents over herself and vet fire to the oil, However, there was not enough kerosene in that lamp and she After she had re- cuperated she announc that she had left tho party, apparently crushed by rn y moral burden, What was that the Cheka agents had extorted fr And HOW had they done it? is something that Lobov ought to know. During a visit V. told us that they had threatened to shoot it her father, the sole bread winner of the family; and V., far from being a coward, yielded. In the same prison or member of the Russian Soclal-Democratic Labor party, set herself aflre and died in frightful agony, In Prison No. 8 (the death house) a certain Malt: frantic with fear because of the examinations, com- mitted suicide by hanging himself in his cell. At the same place a drug- gist, Paul by name, burned himself. The prison administration was headed by the “ex-workingman” (as he called himself), Drozhnikoy, who was never sober and always swearing obscenely. During the hunger strike of the an- archists and Socialists in March, 1920, one of the demands of the hunger strikers had been that Drozhnikoy be compelled to keep away. from the cells of the women. Drozhnikoy had the half burned sufferer Paul thrown into the dungeon. When they dragged him from the cell he cried: “Don't torture me! Kill me at one Crimes Charged to Innocent; No Suspects Included in List During November, December and fanuary there were many executions, both in large and small groups, The lists were always signed by Lobov, who later became a member of the Saratoy Soviet Executive Committee. These ists, when published in the Soviet pape were often accom- panied either by commendatory or apologetic articles by Vardin-Mgel- adse, member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The nse of the executed person was tioned in these lists, Here, ve a list of per- Sons shot in retaliation for the explo- sion in Leontievskt Lane (in Moscow, where bombs had been thrown into a session of the Communist party.— Translator’s note.), the work of the so called “underground anarchists.” But who figure in this lst? Members ot the organization responsible for that explosion? Accomplices? Sus- pects? No, nothing of the kind. This list, which has come to be Known as the Ust of the “blood levy,” contains mostly names of local public spirited citizens who have been living quite above board and even working in Soviet institutions I. I, Gilgenberg, a former member Will of the People” Party, had long time Czarist exile, of having be member of the il; Brinardelll, of being an engi by profession and ® member of t of pent gull town ¢ One Year in Czarist Prison Equal to But Month in Bolshevist One, Say Socialist Prisoners Constituent Assembly, &ce. were they shot? In accordance with a telegram from Moscow, Saratoy’s quota of the “All Russian blood levy” was to be sixty notgble representatives of the bour- geoisie, or persons with distinguished names and reputations, ‘This blood levy was executed with precision and thoroughness. The Saratov Cheka, in levying. this “assessment,” shot per- sons who had previously been sen- tenced by this same Cheka to only a few months of forced labor. These people were peacefully at work pre- paring firewood for the city in a nearby forest. Peacefully they re- turned from work to their tents in the evening. And in the night they were taken out and shot down. IL Four Men Seized and Next Day Ordered to Prepare for Deportation Here are extracts from two docu- ments published in the Berlin Russian daily, Dne, a nonpartisan Democratic newspaper: To the Executive Board of All-Russian Central Executive Committee: On the 20th of September, 1922, three of the political prisoners con- fined in the Yaroslay penal servitude institution, namely, L. Goldin (Social- ist Revolutionist), Zackheim (Non- partisan), and Sheenson (Nonpartle san), and Comrade Makushina, re- ceived the decree of the Colliqium vernment Tribunal for Political Af- fairs—exiled to remote places in Rus- sla for periods of from two to three years. The very next day all the four were ordered to make ready for de- portation “within twenty-four hours. ‘The haste with which the function- aries of the Government Tribunal for Political Affairs carried out this very “just” decree could not but amaze, not only our comrades directly affected by it, but every one confined in the po- litical “isolator. As all those to be exiled were arrested in Moscow in summer time, being either ambushed or taken on the street, none of them had time to take along to Yaroslav, not only the warm clothes indispens- able for residence in the severe cli- mate of Northern Russia (Comrade Zackhelm, for instance, was to be exiled to the {cebound deserts of the Petchersk region, which is right close to the Polar Circle), but any personal property whatsoever (the same Zach- heim, for instance, had neither clothes nor shoes nor blankets). Viewing the question of our four exiled comrades as a general question concerning everyone sentenced to be exiled and the newly introduced exil- ing institution in its proper Hght, the Social Revolutionists confined in the political ‘4solator,” as well as the minority of the Party of Social Revo- lutionists, the Social Democrats, and the nonpartisans arrested in connec- tion with the “trial” of the Social Reyolutionists, considered it incumb- ent upon them to protest, through thelr representative (in a statement addressed to the G. T. P. A, Court on the 29th of September) against the act of senseless cruelty permitted by the G. T. P, A. toward their exiled comrades, and to demand a guarantee that every exiled prisoner would be permitted to enjoy such rights as the official representatives of the central authorities of the G. T. P. A. had so widely proclaimed, In regard to this protest and de- mand, an utterly unreasoned refusal was received. After such a very “con- siderate” attitude of the ruling func- tionaries toward the legitimate wants of political prisoners, there was noth- ing left for the latter to do but to announce that, until their demands are granted—demands which are based on the practices observed in exiling prisoners from the Moscow, Kissel and Tagansk prisons—they would support the stand of ther comrades refusing, under such circumstances, to go into voluntary exile. In response to this announcement an armed squad of Chekists, under the personal direction of the head of the Yaroslay division of the G. T. P. A., was marched into solitary confinement wing of the prison. While all direct threats of firing failed to produce the desired effect upon the prisoners hard- ened in revolutionary struggle, the Chekists, charging defenseless prison- ers, spared neither old men nor women, In bringing the above to the knowl- edge of the All Russian Central Ex- ecutive Committee, we, the Socialist Revolutionist prisoners of the Yaro- slav prison, the minority of the party of Social Reyolutionists, Social Fevo- lutionists, Social Democrats and Non- partisans, make known our etrong protest against the violence, abuse and mockery to which we prisoners are subjected, and declare that we will not resign ourselves to the inhuman regime being maintained in Bolshevist prisons, and that we will under no circumstances consent to the abolition of representative rights, the right ¢ which was enjoyed by political prison- ers even under the old regime. In case of further repetitions of abuses and violence upon prisoners generally and Soctalists in particular, all re- sponsibility for such acts will fall on the heads of the central Government. Delegated by nineteen Social Revo- lutionists, the minority of the party of Social Revolutionists, Social Demo- crats and the Nonpartisans confined in the political “{solator.” G,. Korcnansicy, Delegate of the 8. R. September 26, 1922 But why Chekist Men Beat Prisoners to Enforce Hard Boiled Servitude Tc the Party of Social Revolution- ists—Comrades: On the 5 nd of Oc! er the Social- ist prisoners in the’ Yaroslav Prison were beaten by the Chekists sent down from Moscow to introduce the hard penal servitude, The Chekists would break into the cells with vulgar, abusive language, knock down the prisoners, trample them under foot, knock out their teeth and tear out locks of women’s hair. This brutality continued for three or four hours. Not only the protesting comrades were thus beaten, but also a group of nineteen prisoners that had just arrived from Nizhni-Novgo- rod was assaulted in the prison yard. As a result of this brutality, all the victims, some ‘forty in number, are sick, Among those who have sus- tained the most serious injuries are Comrades Krukoy, a workingman, who had a leg broken, his head smashed and ‘the eustachian tube ruptured; Bogorad, who became in sane as a result of a fractured skull; Kotcharovsky, the prisoners’ repre- sentative, and Fannie Bukhter, Tu- garin, Udalov, Tseltlin, Merkhale Ivyanovsky, Yakoleva, the Left Social Ivanovsky, Yakovleva, the Left Social Democrat Ossovsky and others. With the firm determination to secure bet- ter conditions at any cost, the prison- ers declared a hunger strike. Their specific demands are: (1) An invest!- gation of the brutal assault; (2) Sta- rosta, elected by the prisoners them- selves; the restoration of prisoners’ representation, and (3) the right of intercommuntcation. The head of the Yaroslav Govern- ment Tribunal for Political Affairs, or Cheka, himself (Kissllakov), together with the new prison warden sent down from Moscow, personally par- ticipated in these acts of violence. The condition in the Soviet prisons has become absolutely unbearable. This was the third beating and the fifth hunger strike of imprisoned So- clalists within a short time. The re- sults of the hunger strike of the Yaro- slay prisoners are not yet known. Yet, at this very time, the official press is raising a regular tempest over the as- sault upon the German Communist prisoner, Geltz. Our conscience re- volts equally against the violence committed upon our comrades and that suffered by Geltz, and therefore we can quite consistently protest against all brutality toward imprisoned political dissenters. But where {s the conscience of the Bolshevist scribes who, while shocked by the assault upon Geltz, know full well that scores of Socialists are being outraged in thelr “Socialist’ detention camps by fellow members of their’own party? And can they really be shocked? Do they not understand that they them- selves are the spiritual inspirers of these brutalities? Is there not a bond of solidarity bétween Lenine, Steklov and the Chekist executioners? Are they not members of the one and same “Communist” party? The first, from their quarters in the former Czar’s palace, in the press, and from ora- torical platforms, dictate and direct; the others, In the dirty cellars of the Cheka, carry out their directions. They are all energetically engaged in the game base and bloody business—the business of crushing freedom! Having lost the confidence of the working class and realizing the utter insecurity of their position, the Bol- sheviki cling convulslyely to what power is still theirs. While bowing thelr heads before Western European capital, they draw tighter and tighter the noose around the necks of the Russian masses and yent their wild fury upon all those who haye the courage to oppose them. The brutal beating of the Yaroslay prisoners has added another infamous page to the history of “Communist” dictatorship —a page which reveals once more to the proletariat the world over the real character of the so called Workers- Peasants’ Government. We protest against the outrages committed upon our comrades, and, in reply to the new outbreak of ter- rorism say to the Bolsheviki, in the words of Comrade Gotz, condemned by them to death, “You won't scare us!” And we firmly believe that the suffering and blood of our imprisoned comrades in arms will only serve to unite our forces for our common fight upon the usurpers and executioners, Down with the foes of the workers —the “Communists”! Long live the party of Social Revolutionists! THe Moscow Bunrav or THE P. 8. R, October 12, 1922, AM well acquainted with the Kuban Cheka from personal experience. During one of those periodical raids on the Socialists I was also ar- rested and taken to one of the police stations of the city of Yekaterinodar. Arrived at the Chexa, I iad to fill a question blank and was then taken for @ preliminary examination to the in- vestigator, a youth of 18 to 20, seated importantly in a richly furnished cabl- net, reminding me of the private cabi- net of some wealthy bourgeois. I was perfectly willing to plead guilty to harboring Socialist ideas, and I was convoyed to a cell. These cells, bullt for a capacity of 200 to 240 prisoners, now held over 500, They had to sleep on top as well as underneath the sleeping platform, be sides using the aisles. There was searcely any room to move about, one could sleep only half reclining or stand on his feet. ‘The filth was truly phe- nomenal! In the whole course of the four months I had to spend there the cell floors were scrubbed only twice. Bath- ing was not permitted. And the brutal treatment of the prisoners by the guards, who would indulge’ in the choicest Bolshevist profanity, was only in perfect harmony with the general cattlelike treatment of the prisoners. No fresh air exercise was permitted, except during the very rare and, ir- regular periods of five to ten minutes —all depending on the whim of the keepers—when the rollcall would take Place in the yard instead ofthe cells, To cap the climax, we did not get enough water, not alone for washing purposes, but even for drinking. The Plumbing either freezes or gets out of order six times a week, through lack of proper care, so that we were left time and again not only without our tea, but even without a drop of drinking water, parched with thirst. As for the food, apart from its abominable prepa- ration (the bread is as stale as a rock and soup is made of millet and maize), it is served as If to cattle; Protests of No Avail; Waste Basket Gets Them All The actual conditions of confine- ment may be inferred from the com- ment made by Armavir Soclalist-Revo- lutionists who were at that time at the Cheka. Among these were K. M. Varsonobiev, P. L. Nikiforov, a son of Leo Pavlovich Nikiforov, who was a prominent member once upon a time of the “People's Will” party, and others, These men had been “through the mill" under the Czar’s regime, and had tasted aplenty of the “delights” of Czarist prisoners of every description. And they were unanimous In declaring that one year in a Czarist prison was equal to but one month spent at the Cheka, as far as suffering and abuse of prisoners was concerned. Although the prisoners confined at the Cheka were only under investiga- tion, they were deprived of their most ¢lementary rights and their human dignity was outraged at every turn. This applied especially to women rrisoners, Every day, in cold and filth, they had to scrub not only the mag- nificent cabinets of the Cheka judges and other officials, but the stone floors of those long corridors as well. And this in spite of the fact that every one knew perfectly well that these floors were bound to be just as muddy as before within five minutes after they had been scrubbed, for hundreds and thousands of soldiers and prisoners would again be tramping back and forth all over the place. These poor women, irrespective of age, were mado to work in the penetrating cold, icy water and dirt, under the vulgar leers and taunts of the more brutal of the guards. The complete outlawry of the pris- oners, as well as their cattlelike con- finement, could not but breed the most unrestrained arbitrariness among the guards. Mondays and Fridays were officially set aside as days on which relatives and friends were permitted to bring food packages for the prisoners. At times, however, such packages used to be accepted ‘also on days other than these, At first sight this may appear Uke generosity on the part of the au- thorities. But the sad truth is that the food is stolon by the guards in a most shameless manner. Scarcely half of it, and sometimes perhaps only one-third, reaches the prisoners. Cheka Prisoners in Four Groups; Smallest of These, Profiteers All Cheka prisoners were divided Into four different categories, accord- ing to the nature of their crimes. First there were the speculators (profiteers), composing the smallest of these groups. Then came army de- serters, forming a somewhat larger group. Next was a rather numerous group charged with all kinds of mal- feasance in office. And the last and most numerous group of all was made up of prisoners charged with being counter revolutionists, In the cases of deserters and “Greens” (fighting organization: mostly of peasants, attacking the “Reds”) these unfortunates used to be shot without mercy. It is to be noted that Machia- yellian tactics were resorted to in such cases. For, while the official amnesty proclamations issued by the local au- thorities stated plainly, black and white, that “complete amnesty has been granted to all those who have actively, weapon in hand, fought the Soviet authority, and persons now in prison for such offenses are to be im- mediately released,” all deserters and “Greens,” to the last man, were shot. However, the amnesty was actually never applied to any but speculators and policemen. ‘The third group of prisoners, more numerous than the first two, consisted of officials charged with crime in office, There was one characteristic feature to these cases; they would all land at the Cheka on denunciation by their fellow officials, and not, as was the case frequently with speculators and counter-revolutionists, through the reports of ordinary citizens. Thus, whenever there was a president of some Soviet executive committee among the prisoners, it was a safe guess he had been sent there, thanks to the report of some other Soviet official or Cheka agent, or, more often, of the police. Again, if a police- man found himself behind the bars it meant that some official of an execu- tive committee was responsible for his plight. In short, the inhabitants live in such a state of outlawry that com- mon mortals don’t risk to complain about Soviet officials. The crimes com- mitted by these officials represent a great, variety, but most of them are bribery, theft, fraud; however, a con- siderable proportion were also charged with robbery, holdup, murder, &c. A Higher Soviet Official Gets Into Trouble There was in the Cheka prison, among others, the whole staff of the revolutionary committee of the stanit- sa of Ladozhskala, represented by its president, Shadurski, and its secre- tary, Sharov. They were accused of robbery, bribery and similar exploits. ‘Their arrest was made by order of Saraiey, representative of the Maikop Cheka. It transpired that Cheka Represen- tative Saraiev was there on a charge of criminal assault. This little Czar of his stanitsa held the power of life end death over its ‘inhabitants in his hands, confiscating, requisitioning and shooting people at his pleasure. Hardly @ good looking woman could come un- ler the eyes of Saraiev. He would imprison the nearest relative of his intended victim—a brother, husband or father, and sometimes all of them— and have them condemned to death, And all these things were committed with impunity amid a population de- nied. the most elementary human rights that would enable them to seek redress. If Sarafev at last found himself in the Cheka, it should be borne in mind, in the first place, that he was set free about one and a half months later, resuming his regular duties in Yekaterinodar, and, in the second place,.it was due only to mere acci- dent that he finally got himself into trouble, His last victim happened to be the wife of the district chief of police. It should be sald, however, that he was not alone in such practices. The state of total outlawry of the popula- tion, combined wth the labor con- scription, is breeding sadists of ‘Sis kind as profusely as weeds grow !n rich, black earth. In one of the stanit- sas President Kosolapy of the revolu- tionary committee had set his eyes on the local ptivlic schoolmistress. An order was then issued appointing her, under the pretext of labor conscrip- tion, secretary of the Soviet executive committee. All her arguments in fa- ver of being left at the school proved unavailing. She disappeared one day from the stanitsa. Telegrams were at once dispatched in every direction, reading literally as follows: “An outspoken counter-revolutionist and sapoteur of the Soviet regime, a woman by the name of K., has ab- sconded. All local Government inst!- tutions and authorities are requested to arrest and detain her and to return her under convoy to the jurisdiction of this executive committee, (Signed) Kosolapy, chairman of the executive committee. Woman Victim Finds Police Chief Is Decent The unfortunate woman was ar- rested in Yekaterinodar and taken to the police for the purpose of being sent back. As luck would have it, she found the chief of police there—he had once been a lawyer and was not a Bolshevik—to be a personal acquaint- ance and a decent man. This gave a different turn to her case. She was released and an investigation of Koso- Japy’s actions started; but this was soon stopped. In the stanitsa of Pashkovskaia the president of the Soviet executive com- mittee had taken a liking for the wife of a Cossack ex-officer, N. This started a@ series of porsecutions against the husband. The first thing the presi- dent of the executive committee did was to requisition one-half of the ofi- cer’s house and to occupy it himself. Nevertheless even this failed to kindle the affections of that beauty for the . Soviet dignitary. Certain measures were thereupon taken to get rid of that obstacle—her husband. As a former officer, and thegefore counter-revolu- tionist, he was sent to prison and shot. Similar facts could be cited Indefi- nitely. They all-follow the same pat- tern, proving one and the same thing, i.e, the outlawed condition of the population and the utterly irresponsi- ble power and arbitrariness of the Bolshevist authorities. Not a few of the crimes committed by Soviet officials were for purposes of personal enrichment. In the stan- {tsa of Stavropolskaia, a health re- sort, V. V. Ptashnikov, a consump- tive, was spending the summer. As he happened to own a few articles of gold and silver which appealed very much to the proprietor of the house at which he was staying—a Cossack by the name of Zhintitz—the latter sent in a report to the Cheka, telling them that Ptashnikovy was in commu- nication with some anti-Bolshevist bands of “Whites” and “Greens.” Ptashnikov and his wife were ar- rested, while their gold and silver re- mained in the hands of Zhintitz. The mvestigator, however, found nothing against Ptashnikov, Encouraged, the unfortunate victim committed the blunder of reporting about the gold and silver left in the hands of Zhin- titz, That was sufficient for these ar- ticles to be confiscated from Zhintitz and appropriated by the Cheka in- vestigator for his personal use, and for Ptashnikov—so as to avoid all further complications—to be shot. Needless to say, bribery on a phenomenal scale flourishes among the Cheka agents as a result of these conditions of utter irresponsibility. Frequently people are left to rot in jail for no other purpose but to ex- tort a substantial ransom from the relatives or the victim himself. The fate of citizen L. may serve as an illustration, This man was reputed to possess great wealth and thus he found himself frequently under ar- rest. Charges known to be absurdly fictitious used to be brought against him, and the cases would end with the payment of 200,000 to 300,000 rubles; but as the exchange rate of the ruble kept going steadily down these ransom payments would be re- adjusted until they would reach mil- lions of rubles, After paying his “tribute” L. would be released, but only to be rearrested a month or two afterward. (Concluded next Sunday.) COMING, A RIVAL TO JERITZA HE first woman singer imported by Glullo Gatti-Casazza from I Germany since the world war began in 1914 will arrive in America soon. Members of the Metropolitan Opera Company are on the qui vive over the advent of Barbara Kemp, brilliant dramatic soprano, who is to make her initial appearance here in the Amer- ican premiere of a new opera after having become an Unter den Linden favorite in Strauss and Wagnerian roles. To one who has heard her at the Staat Opern Haus in the last two years in such pieces as Strau “Die { To Sing Here Soon ) BARBARA KEMP Frau Ohne Schatten,” a daring opera of highly modern school, there is rea~ son for regarding her coming to Amer- ica with interest. Barbara Kemp's introduction to America through the medium of an opera entirely unknown here, “Mona Lisa,” in which sho will appear in the title role of “the moonlike heroine, in smoke-dim gown and hair of sullen red,” bids fair to make her as much discussed as tho now celebrated Marie Jeritza from Vienna, Giusepp! Bam- boschek, conductor and musical secre- tary of tho Metropolitan, classes her as a “truly great artist.” “Mona Lisa” is a new opera by Max von Schillings, the colorful music of which is bullt about a libretto full of medieval adventures and brilliant in- cidents, Frau Kemp is the creator of the title role and her debut in it in New York will be her first singing of it this season. Miss Sulamith Ish-Kishor of 19 ‘West 111th street, magazine writer and traveler, who hails from the borders of Persia, has just arrived in New York after a chat with Frau Kemp, whom she visited at her beautiful Charlottenburg apartment. She found the singer thrilling with the prospects of her American venture. Miss Ish-Kishor, who has heard the opera, declares there is something Teminiscent of “The Jest” in the say- agery of the plot of “Mona Lisa.” She adds that it is pervaded by an at- mosphere of the Renaissance and that it is one of those highly dramatic Pieces that keep one interested in the story as well as in the singing. The visitor found that the prima donna, who has aided largely in mak- ing the opera famous, was quite sim- ple in her speech and appearance, ex- “magnificent eyes of dark “I found her a practical person. She poured coffee for me from a bright brass urn and served a satisfying rich pastry while declaiming on how hard it 1s to purchase new furniture in Berlin, everything being sold out. She was more inclined to discuss with me her interpretation of ‘Carmen,’ which at first caused a storm in Germany, than to talk about ‘Mona Lisa.’” It ts deemed quite unlikely, inci- dentally, that Kemp will be asked to give her “Carmen” at the Metropoll- tan, but it is among the interesting possibilities, just barely within the realms of chance for another season by way of a novelty, always depending upon the internal economy of the opera house and how well Kemp “goes” with folk there, Miss Ish-Kishor says that the mere mention of “Carmen” struck fire in the eyes of Kemp, a fire not of enthusiasm, but of battle. The singer observed to hei ‘I fought for years for my inter- pretation of Carmen. I had studied Merimee’s book and I determined to follow out what I took to be the con- ception in the author’s mind. It did not seem to me that the traditional idea of Carmen as a selfish coquette did justice to her character. “So I sang it as I thought it ought to be sung. The director, the conduc- tor and my Jose pleaded with me to give the people the Carmen they were accustomed to, and I had to promise to do it, but once on the stage I acted instinctively Just as I had estimated Carmen, “They were ready to call me off the stage in the middle of the perform ance, they were go angry. But the audience liked it, and gradually I won the opera management around to my viewpoint until they applauded the new Carmen as loudly as the old. Frau Kemp declared that if she were ever asked to sing Carmen by any chance in New York she had no doubt there would be searing criticism in some quarters, but a good proportion of appreciation and approval from others, She mentioned that many operatic traditions in late years have gone “crashing down to oblivion,” No matter what elso she sings here, admirers of Kemp think that her ad- vent at the Metropolitan will be not the least interesting event of recent years. Pastor, Doubting They’ Ever Lived, Rivals Mark Twain as Their Press Agent. It’s a long time since Adam and Eve have been given such striking publicity as has just been bestowed upon them by a Massachusetts clergyman, who says he doesn’t be- lieve they ever existed. The last previous bout of free advertising enjoyed by our First Parents oc- curred when Mark Twain published what he said was Eve's diary, also extracts from that of Adam. Perhaps the best press agent they ever had was Charles Darwin, who made everybody talk about them by the simple process of omitting thein entirely from his comprehensive opus, “The Descent of Man. There were monkey exciting tale, but no Ad and their absence made much more of a stir than, for instance, Eve's losing her diamonds, or Adam's being invited to make an address from somebody's Tulpit, of any other publicity stunt you can imagine. And the more the Dar- winians searched for the “Missing Link” the more our First Parents loomed up in the public eye. One of the curiosities of literature re- lating to that period of storm and stress is an account by Mark Twain—himself one of the most persistent press ayents our First Parents ever had—of a move- ment that he originated toward the erection of a monument to Adam, Mark Twain's greatness as a practical joker might even have overshadowed his subsequent literary reputation in the minds of many people if he had only sueceeded in pulling off that stunt. And the thing went pretty far, for $3,000 was contributed toward it, and the claim of Adam to a monument in America came within an ace of belug brought up in Congress. Mark Twain first broached the {dea to the Rev. Thomas K. Beecher of El- mira and some of his friends, all of whom were agitated over the impiety of Darwin's omission of Adam from the human family tree. “Then the unexpected happened,” he wrote in after years. ‘Two bankers came forward and took hold of the mat- ter, not for fun, not for sentiment, but because they saw in the monument cer- tain commercial advantages for the town. ‘The insane oddity of a monument set up in a village to preserve a name that would outlast the hills and rock: would advertise Elmira to the ends of the earth—and draw custom, It would be the only monument on the planet to Adam, and in the matter of interest and impressiveness could never have a rival until somebody should set up a monument to the Milky Way." The unterrified humorist went on to relate that plans were submitted, some of them from Paris. galore in that and no Eve, mind, he had penneu « .lambuoyant petl. tion to Congress begging the Govern- ent to erect a monument to Adam ‘as a testimony of the gratitude of the great republic to the father of the human race and as a token of her loyalty to him in this dark hour of his humiliation.” Joke Falled to Land in Congress. This address he forwarded to a Con- gressman, Gen. Joseph R. Hawley, who Said he would present it to Congress. But he never did and the originator of the joke concluded that the General, on reading the document more care- fully, feared that its facetious char- acter might be detected. It was many years afterward that Mark Twain showed his intuitive grasp of Garden of Eden problems by writing the extracts from Adam's diary, be- ginning: “Monday—This new creature with the Jong hair is a good deal in the wa: “It is always hanging around and fol: lowing me I don’t like this, I am not used to company. I wish it would stay with the other auimals. +. , Cloudy to-day, wind in the east; think we shall have rain. . . . We? Where did I get that word?—I remem- ber now—the new creature uses it." Old ‘Pound Party’ Now ‘Pint Party’ Dry Law Blamed for Social Evolution. “If folks ever ask you what has be- come of the old fashioned pound party, tell them it has been replaced by the up to date pint party,” sald the man who has lved through both stages ot entertainment. He recalls the days when the pound party was the prevailing mode In the matter of entertainment. In that simple and uncomplicated age so- cial fevorlies were “pounded” on the slightest provocation, If things got a bit dull,” he ex. Plained, “somebody was sure to suggest a pound party. They would decide the Jones family would give ‘em all a good time, and so the thing would be ar- ran‘ed. On the appointed evening the guests would appear with bundles, pack- ages and bags, containing an endiess varlety of things to ea, and the party would come off with great eclat. “The evolution of the custom Into the pint party w: result of the Volstead law. ‘The evolution wasn't so far- fetched after all, for a pint’s @ pound the world around. We learned that in our school days, but none of us ever ex- pected to see the time to come when the old fashioned pownd would be trans- formed into the pint party of to-day, to which every guest contributes his owa pint of forbidden beverag: Calls Nearsightedness a Blessing in Theater Most persons plty sufferers of myopla, which Is a blurring of the vision through nearsightedness. But one vic- tim of the afMliction, a theatergoer, rays his nearsightedn @ distinct a tage. “Being a lover of beauty, wh: to the theater [ Ike to see loveliness all about me," he said. ‘ow you know that one of the ugliest things you can look at is makeup at close range. Yet we all like to sit close enough to the ‘stage to hear clearly, “Through my nears!shtcdness the garishness of the paint {fe softenea and T pee only a becoming glow on the cheeks of the player Vhe: y friends have told me of ul things which’ they have seein upon the stage I have felt grateful that my eyes are slightly dulled by myopia.’