Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1881-08-17
siberian Eyt2cS,

resry page to description given ty re-
turned Russian political exile, who had spent
sonc years of his life in Siberis's drcsiy land
for alleged sympathy with nihiism. Eis dea !
sc:iptions Of arbitrary arrests and Imprisonment |
within tee Cars domain, if true. land be |
seems ready to prove all be says.l are no doubt
exaspsrs.iog and calculated to make men des-
poratc; but s5 accounts from other equally res
liable sources are occasionally published, retut-
ing all such allegations, of course this. ss well
as similar narrstiyes, will DO taken With some
allowance.
His description Of the Russian prison ia re-
voting Ho Gays: "rhe Il was quite dark;
i S furniture, which | grcpsd arouud to feel,
being uoable to see at first, was composed Of
bosrd to sleep on and STOOL. Aftor while,
| ny ty booming accustomed to the partial
! dsrkurss. saw that the call was horribly dirty,
and that its former inmate Was by no means
clesnIy. Tne ohnesB OF the place wbica at
! first thought Was due to my nervous condition
was accounted for when placed NY hand on
the damp wall. which at ono corner of the room
was quito m1uldy. How loug | sat there |
don't know. | Was dszsd end must have final
S, in sheer distress from exhaustion, laid do~u
on the board aid slept. | roGs@d, chilled By
| the cir aud stuuH by the YER mlu, which attfcS
| ed mo 90 boldly that il soomed they knew
| | was nnueroou. 1 was weak snd sick aud
trigatored by these creatures. and going 70 the
cell door raped on it with my kuuckIes With
all NY might and called out piteousy for the
jaer. A soldier. who afterwsrd learned had
been observing me sll tne time through hole
| 10 the door, waited to knoW what was max
Jog such rumpus for at that time of the uight.
| asked the soldier if could see the dcc:or-I
was really very ill. The soldier told mo rough,
ly to keep quiet or be would use means which
usually sieooed prisoners for a considerable
time. | complained of my sufferings. He re-
piled with laugh that had plenty Of compan.
iop9,"
Then follows tho appended description of the
manner in which the exiles are transported to
| SIberib:
when the transportation is by rail the men
and women ere collected in the railway yards
like beasts and are driven into the cars, one
Car al time, till each is full to rcpletion. when
it is looked sud barred. These oaGs are scrs
Of Railway cattle wagon; the larger proportion
| OF the cop9ic:s stand up 10 them as you see Cat
tie slowed n cars on the arrival of stock trains.
Around the interior of the Oar three or four
rough boards are nailed. on which few ct u
time can sit down, II thu msj ,rity of rrso-
|
| tetn to relieve each other and the women lr I'M
Standing but as all tho vile criminal classes are
herded with those political offenders the weak
es. go to tho wall, aud o fight is going on
among the sils: for the coveted resting PLACES.
Even though We CT the batter GLASS did all We
could for tae wouen many were forced to stand
ill they dropped down from exhaustion on the
h,or Of the uneasy, jol.ius, rattog cattle train,
80 mad q1ste vas tho supply of seats There
were 40 arrsDgC N ants Tor privacy 10 respond
iog to the demands of nature, aud as o result
the re6ocd man aud women wore driven to the
mos: terrible sufferiog bef0rs they Tero COM
palIed 70 slc,i6cs natural modcsty to physcil
ltg,nY irficted on them By imperial shameless
nass. | have seen the W men hpddled 10 cir.
Gle in one corner, in the night. screening 10 turn
By their dresses some of their number, aud the
more refined Een distraotiDg The attention of
c)srse creaures present who would otherwise
have uttered vile remarks On the awful scene.
But you can Imagine what Wes endured before
such modification was submitted to By these
womeD, many of them noble aud re6ned. very
mauy OF them 10 delicate haalth aud suffering
already from discusses contracted 10 prisoo.
stations were passed without stop. hnlts CO.
curing only at cosliog sld watering Stations.
and twenty four ond even thirty six hours went
by more than orch before We were allowed TO
eat. drnk or leave tho cars. When We were
90 fcot tho auferloss we endured were simply
; indescribable. Men, women, and | might also
say chiIdren-ftr some of tie condemned were
quito young gitls-were driven along remorso
lessy By the brutsl military guard. Many of US
carried ohalrs. the uoruly aud sometimes the
Wesk or sick ones being fastened to some more
docl, or stronger fellows, who vera expec ed
to prevent them from su king end haoging
/, | han n IN ha m
: dug The weak creature on when his or her
streDgth gave out. was myself chained 10 this
way Tor 500 miles to an ugly brute, who drsg-
) gsd on my ohso by day and often fought Tor
the best place with me when We rested, from
. whom | Was never free aud who sickened me
, by uear ootac; to his filthy person aud vermiu
stocked clothing. 1t was like beiog chained to
rot,ing corpse. 1t was more horrible than |
can tell you. Chained to each other day aud
(; Dight, as many of u, were, dragging along bits
,erly cold, SNOWY, iron links In our numb bands,
i: besliDg cur Way along the suoW fields, for the
roads Wero sometimes 90 better, witnessing the
agony. OF the sore bieeGlog creatures fastened
; to US, We c.me at last to look for lis or har
> death as blessing sDd reies "
The horrors Of the p;is0n pens sra thus
described:
The are all ever Ru;sia Sd called 'etars.' OF
' | pI5uG peoo' "nSi0 tue ~ 81 pob up az u!S VI
on The way 10 Siberia. The interior is simply
q large room, provided With narrow boards
nailed AGAINST th- ~..I cne above aoother, With
no fJcr BIT the eAr,h, !itler4d with straw 10
the centre or one co;nsr. The narrow boards
| are 10 sleep cn, bat the sore and bruised and
half fr.z,n prisoners sre uuabls TO climb more
than to The first or second tier of buoks, and SO
. the rest lie on the earth hoJr. The food giVer
hsm is generally bread ard water-nsve
,, mest-aud. sometimes weak soup msds Q.
buekwhea boiled 10 water. But how nutritiou
: this oist is can be learned whsn it rem en-
bered that the ial!eIs ere allowed only thre,