The Labor enquirer., 1883-03-24
Rnaainn Peraecutien.

home of inalienable rights and liberties,
should 90 out to the world at large the
contumely and reproach merited by a
car and a court who tolerate and even
command the preparation of barbara
ties, whose recital chills the blood and
creates amazement and horror that
such things should be in the nineteenth
century.
Two eases in point: A we'll known
English writer recently visited the mines
where political convjcts are immured'
Midway in dingy subterranean pass
age he saw haggard and emaciated man
living on his back, naked, save a dirty
' clout around his loins, and plying a
heavy pick. He was on the point of
speaking to him, when the guide inter
fered, sternIy 8uppressing all attempts at
conversation. Later, however, he found
an opportunity to exchange word with
the prisoner, who said, in response to
various questions: Il am Count --,
exiIed for life to this terrible place. We
convicts work as you see us for eighteen
hours out of the twentv-fOur; have five
minutes allowed for meals, consisting Of
piece of black bread and a cup Of
water; are never permitted to exchange
word with anyone, are punished mer-
cilessIy with the knout for the slightest
infractiOn of orders, and in all respects
are treated with the most shocking inso-
Ience and cruelty The intention, l
firmly believe, is to kill us off as soon as
possible. Life here is CerrOr-sunle88
and hopeless. My crime o. was jeI.-
ing, perhaps contemptuous, alluSlon &o
the inner policy of the Gar"
Another convict, exiled for life on ac-
count of an alleged connection with a
secret society Of nihiliSts at Moscow,
turned his back toward Mr.. - ard
pointed to such BRUISES, scars WeltS and
running sores, the results Of frequent
knoutings, as cou4d have Sickened even
the cruelest slave-driver Of the Olden
days, the application Of the dreaded
knout having, at various times, even
laid bare the bones of his hips and
shoulders
A prominent nihiIist leader now in
Geneva, Switzerland, makes the follow
ing statement in relation to the treat
ment of the heroic prisoners who were
hanged at st. Petersburg
'The poor creatures Rou8sakof, Sophie
Perofsky, MichaiIoff and Jeliboff, while
being driven to the galIOws on the Sim
0nofsky square, were enveIoped in heavy
coarse gowns, which almost hid them
from view And also their sleeves were
tied to their wrists, so that not theslight-
est portion of their arms could protrude.
In spite of the roll Of drums of the
clanking Of horses hoofs against the
stones; of the dull thud of infantry bat
talions on the march, in spite Of all this,
cur five martyrs, strapped to the tumb-
rils which were leading them to death,
had strength to cry out and tell them of
the tortures they had undergone. All
the noise which filled the air could not
drown that cry. 1t was heard by other
nihihsts, who were unknown to the
crowd of lookers-On. These men now
determined to acquire the bodies Of
their executed friends at all hazards
: They waited until the execution was
over and then followed the funeral pro-
cession, if it may be so called, to the va
cant lot in the outskirts Of the citv,
where the interment took place. 1t was
dark before the last soldier left the i'm
proyised graveyard, and then our breth-
rem set to work. BY the light of tallow
candle they dug and dug and dug, until
the first CORPSE was unearthed. 1t was
Roussakotf-the face was black and the
eyes protruded,- just the appearance of
man who had been 8trangled to death
and not really hanged. And, indeed,
what is the Czar'S system Of hanging but
strangulation? But that was nothing
They barred his breast and back, and a
terrible sight met their gaze y Deep,
long burrows were dug in the flesh, and
on inspection large Jumps of sealing wax
were found to be imbedded in them.
Just under the right shoulder bone
something snyery reflected the light OF
the candle, and when my friends looked
nearer they discovered that piece OF
molten tin had burnt itself an inch deep