Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1880-01-26
I~RREPREssIBLE EiH11sTs.
Dsfylny Their ExscuiiOnsrs and strly.
ing to Preach From the Scaffold.


The Odessa journals report that on
the 18th of December, i'll conformity
with orders issued by the governor
general and commandments OF
the troops, General Totleben, prepar-
ations were made early in the morn
ing for the execution Of three Minis
lists lately sentenced to death by the
Odessa court-martal. The house OF
detention. in which the condemned
men were confined, was surrounded
by four regiments of infantry and one
regiment Of Cossacks. P%unctually at
! u o'clock in the morning the gates
leading into the courtyard OF the
house of detention opened and gave
passage to a black wagon drawn by
two horses, in which the three con-
demned men were seated with
their hands firmly tied be-
hind them and again bound to a bar
affixed to each side of the vehicle.
The nobleman, Victor Alexejef Ma
linka, a young man of twenty-six
years of age and a volunteer in the
One Hundred and Thirty second Bat
talon Of the Infantry Reserves;
Josefof Maidanski, military surgeon
of the Seventh Regiment of Hussars,
twenty-five years of age, and Ivan
Wassilewitsch Drobiaskin, twenty
eight years of age, the son of a priest,
were all e~nveloped in the customary
long white garment. From around
the neck of each of the prisoners vas
SUSPENDED a large black placard bear
ing the inscription, "gossudarstwennyi
prestupnik" ORATOR to the State).
During the whole ride from the prison
to the place of execution the three
prisoners did their utmost to make
their voices heard by the dense
crowds which lined the way. The
wagon was escorted by the Thir-
teenth Battalion of Chasseurs, which
bears the name Of the Prince OF
Bulgaria and by a hundred Cossacks.
In addition to this escort the wagon
was guarded by five gendarmes who
rode BY its side with drawn swords.
As Drobiaskin would not heed the
reiterated command to cease address
srs the people, but on the contrary
sbontSl 10 them at the top Of his
noe n It the gendarmes struck
him 50 severe a dow on the head with
the fiat of his sword that it stunned
him. Upon this one Of the fellow
prisoners cried out, DO not new us
down, unfortunate minion OF the
Gar" but the gendarme, threatening
him also with hissword, only answered
by the injunction, "Moltischi, SO
baka 70 (%silence houndl. Very shortly
after this painful incident the place
of execution was reached. The three
condemned men were unbound from
their seats in the wagon and led to the
gallows. Their sentence being read
by Captain N~esterenko, Malinka was
deprived of his rank a. nobleman.
After this ceremony had been COM
pleted Malinka was at once
delivered over to the hang
Imam. He, however, demanded
permission to address the people,
which was refused him by the late
commander of the town, MajOr-Gen-
eral Baron Heinz, who inquired if he
would like to confer with the priest;
Malinka, after seornfully glancing at
him, turned to the hangman and said:
Now, servile wretch, do your work.
Dobiaskin was the next TO be placed
under the rope. When in this posi-
ton a priest approached him with a
crucifx, but was repulsed with the
words, "Let me alone, brother. ]
do not want any OF thaG numDug.
When the last prisoner, Maidanski
was placed in the executiOner' hand;
he shouted out to the rabbi, Get out
of my sight; let me not set eyes upon
YOU. AT 1l:30 o'clock all three were
hanged, and at Y o'clock the bodies
were cut down and cast into the
graves which had been dug on the
spot. The earth was thrown upon
them and stamped down. Major.
General Krok then gave the word Of
command, and the troops, marching
off the ground with their band playing
passed over the graves and trod The
earth yet tighter.