St. Landry democrat., 1880-10-16
A Tyrant's Prison House.
The Cruelty with which the Nihiiists
are Treated.
[St. Petersburg letter.

mates Of the fortress of St. Peter and
St Paul, in which the Nihilists are con-
fined Immediately after their arrest,
will, doubt not, be perused with inter
est by your readers. The writer, a st.
Petersburg correspondent, obtained ac-
cess to the casemates by special order
from one OF the grand dukes whose
name he naturally suppresses., The
sight of the order, when presented, was
by no means acceptable to the com
mandants of the fortress, but as it was
peremptory, he had no alternative but
to comply.
The classmates, it appears, are hol-
lowed out under the Neva, and directly
under the ramparts. Their only WIN
dow, a little square hole, protected 10y
inches above the level of the river. A
staircase of about ten steps leads down
to them, and, as the aide-de-camp who
acted as guide remarked, in a jocular
tone: "Many go down, but few come
up again." It would seem that the
climate isnOt favorable to OrevolutlOnlsts.
At stated distances there are iron doors
opening into the halls filed with sentl-
nels, who, with loaded rifles and fixed
bayonet, keep watch and ward over the
unhappy tenants of the cells WHICH
open upon them. The doors of the cells,
also of iron, are very low.
AS for the tiny prisons, they are very
narrow quarters, square, with stone
walls and floors, and fearfully damp,
the water constantly dropping about in
all directions. A chair, a table, and a
pallet Of white wood form the only fur.
nriture. One Of the pallets were found
to be covered with bed Of straw horri-
bly, foul, but even this, poor luxury as
it was, must be considered an exception.
The prisoners, the writer learned were
fed on a soup made of salted cabbage
and black bread. On grand occasions,
however, they we're sometimes treated
to a bit of meat and q tcharka, or glass
full Of brandy.
The visitor was allowed entrance to a
few of the cells. Their tenants were
pale; they rose as he entered, according
to order, but regarded him with fixed
look of despair. On some OF the Walls
characters had been traced with point
ed instrument. One OF the phrases ran
thus:
"My poor mother, you doubtless know
that your innocent son is buried alive
in this vault"
The guide interfered and prevented
the writer from reading more. tie was
shown the famous cell in which was i'll
carcerated the Princess Tarkanova
daughter of the Empress Catherine III.
grandmother Of the present car. Ihls
| unhappy woman perished in the cell
| in the most dramatic circumstances
| The Neva, swollen by the melted snow
suddenly rose, and the rushing torrent
dashing with overwhelming strength!
against the tiny window, broke in and
filled the cell With water. The princess
| was drowned.
The cells of the great State criminals
are lined with mattresses, and rings o.
| iron are placed in the walls, to which
| MANY of them are bound when they are
not OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES The guide
| informed the writer, among other things
| that these unhappy men were asket
eyerv quarter of an hour if they were
present. Whenever they failed to reply
| tLey were barbarously punished. III
also states that in the wall OF the EN-
peror's room there is an invisible door
communicating with a little passage
| very narrow, and leading to a subterreal
| gallery, followed out under the Neva
The gallery leads to the fortress, and il
case of a revolution or of imminent peril
the car could disappear in few Sc
conds from the Winter Palace, and
few minutes after find himself in perfec
safety in the fortress of st. Peter ant
St. Paul. the guns of which in shor
time could reduce st. Petersburg t.
ruins. 80,
The nalace of the Car Paul /, whic!
is now the engineers school, was siml
larly provided; but when the assassin
entered his room he had not time to tiee
and was struck down at the very mo
ment when he was about to disappea,
behind the secret door, which was al
ready open,