The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1879-10-07
THE SIBERIAN MINES.
AN INFERNO IN REAL
LIFE. -
The Living Death of Political Of.
fenders-.Men Worked In Chains,
In Darkness, Cold, and Mas
ma, Till They Rot to
Death. a

, Intention to spend a vacation in Siberia
v"u wnnld undoubtedly smile auhihly
a1d upine that the party making 40 au-
dacious an assertion would be it sub
Ject for the lunaIic asylum. Still, an
bound to confess that / have just return.
et from trip to that Arctic region,
where | made quite q stay in company
with nv friend. Robert Lemke, the emi.
nent political economist and a student
nf political philosophy, than whom there
Is none mere thorough and more search.
Ing. We have heen through the land of
the Nicilists; aud however earnest we
might have heen in our desire 20 discov-
er importaut information, all our efforts
would have heen in vain had not an in
huential American at St. Petersburgh.
whose name l have promised not to
mention, given us such letters Of in
trotuct on that all portals were opened
vide to IA, and we saw and heard what
only privileged few have seen and
heard for a good many years. II is
easily understood that the Russian gov
eminent, under the trying circumstances
of the present dav, is not very liberal in
granting extended privileges to newspa-
per men and had travelled in that ca.
pacity. | might tave been denied access
to the sources from which have drawn
the information about good MANY
things in Russia. pae large cities, how.
ever, are not the places for the accumn-
lat;on of knowledge such as we desired
to get; and, alter idling few days at
Moscow, St tersbarg, and its villegea-
lures, We started Tor the Siberian mine
Until we came to Tobolsk there was
still some civilization ahoIt and around
us. But after tnat We received fore
| taste OF the horrors we were about TO
witness. For davs we dragged along
in a miserable carriage, without meeting
anything or anybody except the lonely
government posts, with their stupid
"Starost" and his subordinate Cossacks.
At last we saw in the distance a tow.
erIng mountain, and within its cleft side
a colossal opening, similar to the pit Of
a volcano. From within fou, air and
disagreeahle smells saluted our nos
triIs end for some time we had to draw
our breath hard. Wi h our pocket hand
kerchiefs crammed into our mouths we
entered the gigantic mouth of the rock
From the walls dirty water dripped
down in large drops, forming little
rivulet, which gathered in a pool out
side the entrance. Towards the east
and the north the territory rose as high
as 1000 feet above the sea. A cbain,
several miles in length, the snow-capped
glaciers gave to the mine the character
of an unapproachable fortress. To the
lett OF the entrance an enormous guard
house was built, occupied by number
Of Cossacks. The establishment was
about as filthy as aov habitation of hu-
man beings can well be- The furniture
consisted only of few rough benches
and large table. In front of It's door
a double file of muskets we're stocked,
between which bearded Cossack march
ed up and down We showed our let
t1rs to the young officer OF the day, who
regarded Us won ieringly rchinglv
He seemed at loss TO understand the
graz ting OF privilege so seldom soush,
and 80 rarely granted A guide was
given MS, and we passed long. narrow,
and dark corridor. which, to judge from
the inclination of the floor, led into the
depth, The ground was SO slippery and
so wet that We were in danger of falling
more than once Pestilential miasms
filed the air; and, 10 spite of a good
fur cloak-the gilt of a friend in Mos
cow-l actually shook with the cold.
The darkness was so intense that neither
of US could see the other. sa' ~
We had gone on perhaps ten minutes
when l perceived, far in the distance, the
trembling, uncertain elimmer OF light !;
and felt sure that we were approach.
ing the mine proper. The ground be-
came softer and more slimy, the cold
mure penetrating At every step we
sank into the marass for several inches.
and there was smell of putrefac,ion, as
n charnel house. aaoI aia
"We are in front OF the mine" said
our guide, pointing to high iron rail-
ing which surrounded long csve.-its
massive rails, through the crevice OF
which hardly rat might have squeezed
Itself, being covered with rust The
locks were fastened with chains of i'm
mense thickness and weight A guard
made his appearance. and upon the wort
Of our guide he opened the lock, but
only with great deal Of strength was
he enabled so far to turn the railing up
on its hinges that we could pass through
! into the interior. We stepped into O
room which, although it was large
enough otherwise, hardly permitted a
fullgrc wn man to stand upright. and
| was lighted only ty poor oil.lamp.
which left all surrounding things in
darkness. "Where are wep" l asked
the guide. "In the dormitory Of tie
! prisoners" he answered. "Formerly this
was well yielding lode, now we have
made it into sleeping.room" We
shnddered This snbterranean cave,
into which neither sun nor moon conld
ever send ray Of light. was called an
apartment; and in tlis terrible grave,
the air of which was pregnant with fear.
full masma the unfortunates hauished
here by the unpiiiable law OF despotism
were compelled to rest a ter the. days
work. upon poor bed Of straw! Into
the dripping walls of The rock, alcove.
like cells had been followed out; and
| The entire room gave the impresson of
an enormous beehive. Every cell hal
bors five prisoners during the night !;
and above each of the single cats q
strong iron bar was fastened, to which
the unhappy mortals were locked and
chained like go many dogs. NJ door,
mo window no chair,-no table,
no shelving; ever, where the naked rock
and rusty iron! The straw which serv.
ed as bed for the delinquent was wei
and half rotten; it looked and felt like
mass Of dung. A little bag filled with
straw served as pillow; wet sheet,
made of bag linen, as . coverlet. No
bench-no utensil Of any kind In one
corner a lamp family glimmered, Ia hon.
or of the Madonna, whose image was
fastened above it in an old gilt frame.
An insupportable dread overcame me
in gazing upon this picture Of terrible
desoation and misery ;and drew long
L. Al - lt>f ~ zNI