Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-12-30 | Page 2 | Trotzky Doubts Explanation of Red Cross Chief

TROTZKY DOUBTS EXPLANATION OF RED CROSS CHIEF l'KT KOGKAP, Friday, Dec. 2S. Colonel Anderson, head of the Ked Cress mission to Kumania, has telegraphed tele-graphed from dassy to American Ambassador Am-bassador Francis an explanation of the Colonel Kolpaslmikof f-Kostov automobile automo-bile incident, lie declared that it was intended orii;inallv to send the autos to .lassy. but "suddenly changes, developed devel-oped here which indicated it might be possible for the entire mission to leave at once and we were advised it might be impossible to go by the northern north-ern route.' "On December 5 conditions became acute," the telegram adds. "It then appeared that it might be neoessarv fori the safety of the Ked Cross units to leave Rumania by the southern route i with the motor transport. I instructed I Colonel Kolpashnikoff to take the an-I tos to Rostov, intending to have a unit go southward by motor from there. A few days later conditions changed for tho better and 1 cancelled the order and sent Kolpashnikoff back to Petrogratl. "The only reason for ordering the cars to linstov was to provide for the safety of the units in "case of emergency. The statement concludes by saying that Colonel Anderson had nothing to do with any political or military conditions condi-tions iu Kussia, cither directlv or indirectly. indi-rectly. Tiaymond Hobins. took this explanation explana-tion to Leon Trol.ky, the Bolsheviki foreign minister, who is responsible for the imprisonment of Kolpashnikoff and who has mado allegations against the American embassy. Mr. Hobins, who is head of the lied Cross mission to Kussia, took with him a letter from Ambassador Francis to Mr. Robins explaining tho situation. It is understood that Trotzky 's attitude atti-tude towanl tho new explanation is one ot skepticism.