_By Hector Boon._
Copyright, 1921, by the Press Publishing Co. (The New York World).
Thanks to Jansen, I was able to live in an apartment of six rooms, quite
an extraordinary privilege, bearing in mind that people were being
crowded four and five in a room. When I took possession of it my drawing
room was occupied by an engineer and his family and four other people,
making in all nine persons. This engineer, a well-known member of
Irkutsk society, had been turned out of his house to make room for a
Commissar. His presence in my house led to an unpleasant incident which
gave me a glimpse of the methods of the “Chika.”
I was awakened one morning at 2 A. M. by my servant with the news that
the house was being searched. On going out to investigate I found half a
dozen soldiers and a Commissar busily engaged in searching the effects
of the engineer and his family. I formally protested to the Commissar,
but as he most politely informed me that my personal rooms would not be
disturbed, I was left with no alternative but to go back to bed. I took
the precaution, however, of leaving my servant on guard, and he reported
to me at breakfast that the search party had left at 6 A. M. with the
engineer under arrest.
I inquired into the charges against this man and found that he had been
arrested primarily because he was supposed to be rich and also because
he had been associated with an organization for sending comforts to the
troops during Kolchak’s regime. He was still in prison when I left
Irkutsk.