The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-08-26

ladlee accompanying convoy inst nappeneu
to encounter in one OF my daily halts; Inc
officers and soldiers were as deferent1al and
kind to them as though they were their own
mothers, and attended them into and out of
their sleighs with evident desire TO make them
comfortable. Each convoy of pedestrian pris-
ouers was generally allowed from one to half
dozen vehicles to carry women, baggage, and
such of the men as became iootsore.
Along the entire line of the great roa through
Siberia, as we'll US on the side roads leading to
the principal districts, there are stations where
eXles are lodged during their nightly halts.
These stations are from ten to twenty-five miles
apart and generally Just outside the villages
where post-horses are changed. Tney consist
of one or more houses surrounded with high
fences, containing Rateways for meu and car
rlages. Each station is In charge of a resident
guard, whose room is near the gate; while the
space assigned to prisoners Is farther from the
place of egress. None of the stations are invit-
ing in point of cleanliness, and the number of
feas which they can and do harbor Is not easy
to compute. An exile once told me that each
station would average ten resident tleas to
every lodger, without counting those that
are carried by them to their places
of destination. The stations have theo-
retical conveniences for cooking, but
these are sometimes more imaginary than real
The rations dealt out to tie exiles consist ofrye
bread and cabbage soup-the national diet of
the Russian Empire
The guards are responsible for the safety of
the prisoners Condded to them, and are equally
culpable whether their charges are lost by acci-
dent or escape. Some years ago Polish lady,
on her way into exile, Tell from a boat while
descending river, and barely escaped drown
ing; when she was rescued the soldier Wept tor
joy, and for some minutes was unable to speak.
When his tears we're dried, he said to the lady:-
II am responsible for you and shall be severely
punished ii you are lost; beg OF you, for my
sake, rot to drown YOURSELF or fall into the river
again.
The rapidity of travel varies according to the
character ana otfense of the prisoner Dstin-
,,,,ta had nHa %bn Hat
sent forward -. in vehicles, of course - with
orders to make no halt except for food
and change OF horses until they have
reached their journeys end. In 1925 the exiled
Decembrists were taken from st. Petersburg to
Nerchinsk, on the headwaters of the Amoor, a
distance of five thousand miles in thlrty-one
days. A few years earlier several prisoners
were sent from Moscow to Kamehalka, nearly
ten thousand miles away, and made no unneces.
sary stoppage on the entire route. Ordi-
nary prisoners transported in vehicles
ale generally halted at the stations at
night, but as they can sleep quite comfortably
while on the road, the most of them prefer to
make little delay, and finish their journey as
soon as possible. EXles have told me that they
petitoned the officers conducting them not to
remain over night at the stations, as by con-
stantly travelling they avoided the neces-
sity OF lodging in badly ventilated and gene.
rally repulsive rooms. The officers we're quite
willing to grant their request, but sometimes
the distances between different conveys FORBADE
the infringement OF the general rule. Parties on
foot travel two days in succession, and then
:est one day-their days marches being from
one station to the next. If the roads are good,
the travel Is no more tatiguing than the ord-
nary march OF an army, unless the prisoners
happen to wear chains or letters. The pedes.
TRAN prisoners often ask to be excused from
hating every third day, as they find the open
air greatly pretera Ole to the confinement of the
station and are naturally deslrous of making
an early end of their travelling life. The jour
pey on foot from Moscow to The mines of Ner-
l. a Tn u
sent, requires from ten to fifteen and even
twenty months according to the various con-
tingenccs OF delay.
The Russian people, the Siberians especially,
are very kind to prisoners; when conveys are
passing through villages and towns, the in
habtants give literally of money and pro-
visions, and never seem weary of bestowing
In each party of prisoners, whatever
may be its size, there is one person to receive
for ALL the office being changed daily. The
but, so tar as 1 could observe, always appeared
to encourage it. When l was in Irkutsk was
lodged in a house that fronted prison on the
other side OF public square; used fire.
from the river to the prison, each party
consisting OF two men bearing
large bucket upon pole, and guarded by two
soldiers. One Of the twain generally dotfed his
hat TO every person taey passed, aud solicited
charity to the unfortunate" When anybody
approached them with the evident intention Of
being benevolent the guards invariably stopped,
to afford opportunity Tor almsgiving. To satisfy
myself, tried the experiment repeatedly, and
alway found the soldiers halting as soon as
placed my hand to my pocket. One prisoner
received the gift, but both returned thanks,
and called for blessings on the head OF the giver.
The Russians never apply the name Of
"prisoner" or ''eXile" TO banshed individual,
except in conversation in other languages than
their own. The Siberian people Invariably Call
the eXiles "unfortunates" III official documents
and verbal comm unicatlons they are classed as
involuntary emigrants"
The treatment of an exile varies acco riding to
the crime proven or alleged against him, and
for which he has received sentence in Russia.
The severest penalty is perpetual banishment,
with twenty years compulsory labor in mines.
Hard labor was formerly assigned tor life; at
present, If man survives 1t twenty years, he is
then allowed 10 register himself as a resident
OF a specified district, and IS not liable to be
called upon for further service Below this
highest penalty there are sentences to compul.
sorry labor tor different terms-all the way from
one year upwards. The exiles condemned
to long terms Of 5seryitqde are gene
beyond Lake Baikal technically they
are required to labor underground, but
practically they are employed on or below the
surface, just as their superlntendents may direct.
Formerly all conVlcts sentenced to labor for
life had their nosirils slit, and were branded on
the forehead; the practice was abandoned
nearly twenty years ago, SO that few persons
thus mutilated are now seen. A great many
prisoners are kept in chains, which they wear
day and night, whether working or lying idle.
could never hear the clanking OF chains with
out shudder, and according to my observa-
ton, the Russians did not consider it
a cheerful sound. By regulation, the weight
of the chain must not exceed i've
pounds, and the links are not less than
a certain specified number, Some cOnVlCts
wear chains, and Others do not; the sane is the