II ANARCHY ON THE COLCHIS COAST 15
mole. Here lay five Russian vessels fully laden, but lifeless and deserted, for no one would unload them, and the goods could not be forwarded. A huge heap of chests, sacks, and bales was piled up at the harbour, enough to fill 50o trucks. A large part consisted of flour and sugar, which was quite spoiled, and was washed away, to the great loss of the merchants and the delight of the workmen on strike.
The stationmaster at Poti, Lopatin, married to an amiable Swedish woman, was the only railway employé who remained at his post when all the rest struck ; but he lived in a constant state of siege, and his life was threatened—it was touching to see his wife's anxiety for his safety, and she had good reason for it, for four stationmasters had been murdered between Poti and Tiflis. Lopatin advised us to wait ; he believed that a strong military train would come from Tiflis within two days, and he could send us to Samtredi at any time ; so far the way was clear.
At mid-day on Nov. 8 I paid my usual visit to Lopatin. A soldier directed me to an adjacent warehouse where the railway men were holding a meeting, which had already lasted more than four hours. It was quite entertaining to listen to their political discussions. The most absurd propositions for the distribution of all property and power were set forth, defended and applauded. My friend Lopatin was the object of a violent attack because he had not joined in the general strike, and a fearless partisan proposed that he should be killed forthwith. But another speaker undertook his defence, calling to mind that Lopatin had always been well disposed towards the workmen.
At the meeting an old strike-breaker came forward and showed a laconic threatening letter he had received—a sketch of a coffin, declaring that he would not be daunted by anything of the kind. Lastly, two Georgians spoke in their native tongue, of which speeches I understood nothing but adopted words, such as revolution, liberal party, politics, autonomy, social democracy, with other strong and expressive terms. The more the speech was interspersed with them, the louder the cries of hurrah and
IIIF Color HighRes
