MAN WHO WOULD BE EMPEROR.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 136, 10 June 1922, Page 20

MAN WHO WOULD BE EMPEROR.

THE REAL STORY OF SEMENOFF. 3* ~ ' « " LOVE, GOLD. POWER " or T"'"* J,Ory n ' 00e 8f the »•« lr remarkable adventurers of modern times " TrZT /r anOtb " !tren?e PW V "be ... arrest of General Gregory Semenoff in New , n l ork upon „ charge of gtMl(nff , n Siber . a rura and nther valuables which were (he jP-operty of American citltens, cays a writer in the ■ Weekly Dispatch." Semenoff was the successor to Kolchak Jas leader of the antl-Bolshevist for.es in >» Eastern Siberia. In the tale of bis advened I"'" th ,r "' min " ed «» th ' th «a"s of tlie worlds groat romances-love, intrigue <& personal prowess, the changing fortunes of «.«ar. w.th gold beyond the dreams of ir. avarice, and empires as the stakes In tue ! ," Rus!,i an and Mongolian descent His th mother-, Meiuwltan of noble birthX- endowed him with that audacious «nd a.i nithless spirit which has raised up among l>y the Mongols some ef the greatest conquerors freebooters the world has known. I His strikinc appeeran-e titled Semenoff , for the part he was t« play. Tall, handI some, soldierly, well set up. like so many | D, Cossack officers, his brilliant eyes anil | nt slightly Mongolian cast of conntenance ip gave him special distinction. Wherever he •d was he was (he cynosure of all eyes. To r . women especially he was a magnetic n-ure. ~ The beautiful lady te whom he was devoted •o shared cheerfully all the hardships and j. vicissitudes or his fortune. The Russian •d Red Cross nurses who attached themselves n- to his motley force were there because they m 5 ' bad fallen under bis spell. '* THE CENTRE OF ATTRACTION. d When he left tbe railway train, which was his headquarters, aad whose locomotive |aJways had steam up. and appeared in lor attraction. In the Svetlanskain—the •c leading street of Vladlvostock—ail eyes y were fixed upon him. and every female g neart fluttered. There was the same n excitement in the chief restaurants, where s he refreshed himself with rum and brandy J and enjoyed his favourite meal of tiny i\ : steaks threaded npou a stick. Everyn where he went this bold, dogged, a turous, anil imaginative figure enslaved the n hearts of women and captured the iranjrlnation of men. d Semenoff Bret emerge' in the coufusion d ef tbe early months of 1918. He ranks rt himself as a loader of the " Whites '• '" against the Bolshevik forces. With his '-.train under steam, and supported by a J motley force of Cossack adventurers. Chinese ruffians, and Japanese auxiliaries, jI he carries on guerilla warfare against the »I " Iteds." His position is regularised by his p ejection as •" Hetman " ef the Cossacks. j SUBSIDISED BY BRITAIN. , j He receives subsidies from the Allied I Governments, including our own. In the J midst of these chaotic struggles he cherishes the design of carving out for himself a * Siberian Empire, and from Siberia of nltlm--1 ;iast dominion of the Czars. . J When Kolchak went East in Wl9 ' Semenoff, Joined bands with him and I ■ accepted his authority, but be wae never a trustworthy aniillary. From start to j tinlsh he was out for bis own ends. . i In Kolcb.ik's train there was estimated j to be £6,000.000 of tbe Russian gold reserve. I .Semeuoff at once laid hold of as much of j this hoard as be could get away with. By I its means and by assistance which he received from Japan he set himself to " revive tbe Empire of Mongolia. ' For some months in the later part of ini9, Semenoff prosecuted this ambitious and picturesque design. It is a confused and romantic story of daring attacks aud " hairbreadth escapes. Finally the Chinese. j who appreciated the danger, joined with I the Reds te destroy the new dominion. His I cruelties and depredations also aUenate'J i the sympathy of the population. Chita, his - I capital, was taken, and Semenoff escaped by aeroplane to Manchuria, where he remained for some time under Jaranese ! protection. i Eventually be was allowed to take refuge !in the Cnlted States. There he no doubt hoped to live lv ease and security on the remnant of his gains. This illusion bus been destroyed. Tbe erstwhile brigand- ' emperor bad forgotten that amid his Indis- ' criminate depredations he had seized the property of American citizens, and for this ,be has now to answer before the tribunal (of the United States. [A recent cable stated that Semenoff had been released, as it was found that be could not be tried in tbe United States for crimes I alleged to have been committed io Siberia.] I