Smyrna times., 1884-01-30
A Slow Torture.
THE AGoNIzING JOURNEY TO SIBERIA


ed now the cOnvicts at Irkutsk r
whose Judgment such movin,
machine was submitted, declared a
once that it was the most stupid vehicl,
that could be invented for the tormen
OF both horses and convicts. Such car
rlages, which have no accommodate,
Ior deadening the shocks, move slowI,
on the rugged, jOlting road, plougheG
over and over by thousands of heavily
loaded cars. In Western Siberia
amidst the marshes on the eastern
slope OF the Ural, the journey becomes
true torture, as the highway is cover
ell with loose beams of wood. which
recall the sensation experienced when
hnger is dragged across the KEYS of Il
piano, the black keys included. The
Journey is hard, even for the traveller
VINO Is lying on a thick felt mattress in
comfortable tdrantass, and it is easy
10 conceive what the convict experi.
ehces, who is bound to sit motionless
Tor eight or ten hours on the bench of
the famous vehicle, having but n few
rags to shelter him from snow and
rain.
happily enough this journey lasts
but few days, as at Tumen the exiles
are embarked on special barges or float
ing prisons: taken in tow by steamers
ana IN the space of eight or ten davs
are brought to TOmsk. The convict
oarges are usually so overcrowded
ana are usually kept in such state Of
llthlness, that they have become real
nests OF infection. each barge has
Oeeh Dullt for the transport of 500 con-
Vlcts and the convoy" wrote the
lomsE correspondent of The lEosco,r
Telegraph, on November Is. 1881: "the
ejaculation of the SIZE of the barges has
not been made, however according to
the necessary cubical space. hut accord
ing 10 the interests of the owners of
the steamers, NM. KurhatoH and
lgnatoff. These gentlemen occnnv for
Cheir own purposes two COMPARTMENTS
Tor hundred men each, and thus eiybt
hundred must take the room destined
Tor SIX hundred. The ventilation ia
very bad, there being no accommoda-
tlon at all for that purpose. and the
CABINETS are of an unimaginable nasti-
ness" lie adds that "tho mortality
on these barges is very great. especiai-
~ among children and his informo-
tlon IS fully confirmed by official figures
published last year in all newspapers.
IL appears from these figures that eight
10 ten per cent of the convict passeng-
srS aled during their ten days journey
On board these barges: that is some.
.hlng like sixty 10 eighty out of eight
Here you Sc see," wrote friends Of
'urs VINO have made this passage. 'the
elgn OF death. Diptheria and tvpbus
cut down the lives of adults
.nd children, especially these last
'orpses of children are thrown out Mt
ach station. The hospital, placed un-
Ter the supervision of an ignorant
older, is always overcrowded."
AT Tomsk the convicts stop for a few =
ays. 1t is easy to conceive what q
ell the TOmsk prison becomes when ;,
ne convicts arriving every week can :
" De sent on to Irkutsk with the !,
anne speed, on account of inundations :
obstacles on the rivers. The prison >
as bulit to contain 960 souls. but il :,
ever holds less than 400 to 400 -
nj very often 2,20O, or more. One. :;
uarter OF the prisoners are sick but :,
le lnflrmary can shelter only ope- .
llrd, or so, of those who are in need
II; and so the sick remain in the ~
Ime rooms, upon or beneath the sape =,
attOrms where the remainder orc :.
aihmed to the amount of three men :,
I each free place. The shrieks of =,
e SICK, the cries of the fever-stricken =,
'tIents, and the rattle of the dviny =,
TX together with the jokes and LAUGH. h,
OF the prisoners, with the curses of .,
e warders. The exhalations of this w
imam heap mix with those of their tb
et and filthy clothes and with the W.
nanatlons of the horrible Parosbo
fOu are suffocated as you enter the w
ON, you are fainting and must run w
OK 10 breathe some free air: Won nj;
lst accustom yourself by-and-by to su
horrible emanations which float do
.e fog in the river "-such is the 60
'tlmony of all those who have enter tn
unexpectedly a Siberian prison Sill
le families room" is still more bor- ed
lie. Here you see," says Siberian ru
lciai In charge of the prisons-M. pa
shlo-" hundreds of women and m,
Ilcren closely packed together. in tse
;h state of misery, as no imaoina- roc
n could picture" The families of sin
cOnVlcts receive no cloth from the tb,
tie. Mostly peasant women. who as 90,
ule, never have more than one dress or
once; mostly reduced to starvation If
soon as their husbands were taken
o custody, they have buckIed ON sto
ir sole cloth when starting from III.
khangesk or Astrakhan, and after 1Ss
ir long peregrinations from one pe,.
k-up to another, after the long wears ma
detention and months of snr
rney, only rags have remained ON ION
ir shoulders from their weather NJ,
IN clothes. The naked, emaciated
y and the wounded feet appear 7
n beneath the tattered clothes as ~,
y are sitting on the nasty floor, eat ,~,' w
the hard black bread received from ,'o. ~.
passionate peasants. Amid this -
wing heap of human beings who &c &c
er each square foot of the platforms .s' s
beneath them, you perceive the ,;.'
ng child on the knees of his mother