ement except the working class."

We stopped at Zema, the scene of a sharp encounter with armed strikers a
few months previous. The meeting in the works was a great success. It
was remarkable to find that though in my previous meeting with these
workmen I took the attitude of a military dictator, they showed no
resentment and had rigidly observed the agreement which had been entered
into at the point of the bayonet. They were delighted to find that I,
too, had performed my part of the contract in not forgetting their
interests when opportunity presented itself.

Nesniodinsk was not on my list, but a special request having been
presented for me to address the workmen there, we made the necessary
arrangements and visited this place on Sunday, March 8. It was perhaps
the largest meeting held up to that point. The official heads had caused
a special platform to be erected in a huge engine-repairing shop, and
themselves took the greatest interest in the whole proceeding. It was a
very harassing business, but if as an outcome the seed of orderly
progress was sown, the effort was entirely worth while.

Our carriage was fastened to the rear of a slow-moving train going west,
and we did not arrive at Kansk till the evening of the 10th.

Kansk is the most easterly point of the area of revolt and a fairly
large depot for the railway. Some interesting facts about the revolt
were picked up from the railway officials. The revolt began suddenly on
December 26, at the same time that it broke out in Omsk and Kolumsino,
and at first was aimed at the possession of the railway. The military
guard at Kansk consisted of one officer and fifty men. The officer
posted his sentries at different points some distance away, and the
soldiers who acted as his personal guard awoke to find their
sleeping-place and arms in the possession of half a dozen armed men. The
marauders shouted "Your officer is dead," and ordered the men to lie
still while they removed the rifles. This done, they proceeded to the
quarters of the officer, who, finding his men already disarmed, bolted
without firing a shot. The total strength of the Bolsheviks was fifteen
men, and these fifteen held the station and a town of over five
thousand inhabitants up to ransom for twenty-six hours! At the end of
that time a squadron of Cossacks approached, and the Bolsheviks left,
taking with them about 80,000 roubles belonging to the railway and post
office. During their short stay the