Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-12-21
A HERNANDEZ,
M ERCHANT TAILOR,
Cor Main and First Streets, Prescott Block

quiremeuts.n This description will
answer for many of the o a prisons.
But what OF the fate of the eXiles to
Siberia?
These are ofvaricus classesand grades,
from the man with the knowledge
and ability OF statesman, and the
woman who won d grace the highest
! position in society," to the common
thief. Among the political eXiles are
college professors, eminent doctors
journalists, lawyers, and other highly
educated men and women, who, in
their desire to free their country from
the despotism of the cZar1, have ither
/ themselves advocated the use of eX-
treme measures or sympathized with
4 those who did Some of them were
arrested for no other reason than that
those in power personally disliked
( and took advantage of their positions
to get them out of the way.
Others were arrested because they
dared to attempt to protect help
less women from the lust of the Rus
sian soldiery, who respect neither
maid, wife nor mother. 1t frequently
happens that Russians are secretly ar
rested, and while their friends are
making fruitless search for them they
are quietly tried, convicted and start
ed on the road to Siberia. Whether
with or without fair trial, the con
victs usually in public admit the jus
,ice of their sentence, and make full
Acknowledgement of their guilt in
writing, for to do this is the only hope
of receiving a pardon, and not TO do so
would only increase the severity Of
their punishment.
q
where Siberia island that il is about the
most desolate country upon the globe.
1t is 50 cold that no one who can get
anywhere else will live there: which,
perhaps, is one reason why it was Sc.
lected rs the government penal colony.
1t is 80 sparsely settled and the dis
tances between villages so great that
one who undertakes to escape is al
most certain TO starve. There are
large number If colonies, each gual ded
by forty Foldiers and three officers;
duty which Russian soldiers would
willingly decline, If they could do so.
The colonists are divided into three
classes-those who live ut their own
expense and are allowed to have their
families with them those who live at
the expense of the government, but
are permitted to earn small sums by
acting as servants to the richer colo
nists, and those who are EN- ployed ut
hard labor on public works or I'M the
mines. The first two classes include
those who, through influential friends,
have procured light sentence, or, if Il
severe one, have been able to buy IN
exchange with some convict whose
crime did not impress the judge us be.
Ing heinous enough to justify severe
sentence. Only in rare cases, how
ever, does the sentence indicate the
grade of the crime. Fardons are some
times obtained after few years,
through influential fri nds, but seldom
after the convict has been eXiled more
than ten years; perhaps because com
paratively few are able TO survive that
long, especially in the mines 1t has
happened that the term of imprison-
ment has been forgotten, and the pris-
oner not released when he has served
out his sentence.
The convict of the first or second
class, upon his arrival ut his destina-
ton, is immediately taken before the I
ispravnik, or village governor. who
asks his name, age, whether married
or single, where from, address of par /
ents, relatives or friends, and eXacts /
from him solemn promise that he
will not give lessons ofany kind or try
to teach anyone. that every letter he 1
writes shall go through the governors
hands, aud that he will follow only !
certain designated occupations. He is |
then told that he is freel?) AT the
same time he is solemnly warned that
should he attempt to pass the limits of
the town he will be shot down like n
dog rather than be permitted to escane.
and should he be captured alive
he will at once be sent of TO
the mines. Going out into the
village street he sees his fellow
convicts, who have spent months i'm
the place, all pale, emaclated, some
melancholy mad. They greet him
kindly, and take him to some of their
miserable lodgings, where they eagerly
ask him the news from home. They
live In twos and threes, have food.
clothing, books, aud money in COM
mon, and consider it their sacred duty
10 he y each other in every emergency,
regardless OF sex, rank, or age. Their
lodges are daily inspected by soldier,
and should any of them carry warm
dinner, II pair of newly mended
boots, or change OF linen To some
passing exile lodged for the hour IN
the police ward, ii is likely to be
marked against him as crime,
and be punished. LISA crime TO 20
to see friend off on journey, much
less to accompany him short distance