The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1884-12-06

dying man. But it was only the
world on a minute sea e.
On the route we often met with rum
aways. The guards did not bother
with them. Sometimes conversations
were held between the runaways and
the prisoners.
.'Hullo, Ivan, you are again in the
regulars!' runaway would remark.
'sHalloo, Semen, are you not satisfied
with free board?' prisoner retorts.
81 say, Semen, you are a good run
ming horse. puts in jester, '.yet you
| will not escape his Majestys stables. y
The condition OF the political prison
ers was far better than that of the capi-
tai criminals. The political prisoners
got fifteen copecks per day, rode in
wagons and had separate room for
themselves. 1t was the Government
order that the political prisoners should
be kept quite apart from the others. But
| on the journey that order couli not al
ways be executed. Every evening in
| the houses the prisoners of all grades
| came together. 1t is common practice
| for the prisoners to exchange sentences.
A man condemned to settlement as
sumes for some payment the name and
fate of his fellow sentenced to hard labor
for long period. engaged an exile.
a robber, to assume my role for pair
of hunters boots, flannel shirt. and
eight roubles -four dollars). | am
told that in our party twenty-eight
exchanges took place. Yet the guards
and the authorities knew nothing
about it. AS rulethe prisoners
do not betray one another. My
new role and that of my substitute
was bothersome. | was a medical stu
dent, political criminal and noble.
man; and he was peasant, hardly able
to sign his name. But if | could drag
his irons, he too, could support my rep
utation. Once our officer was taken i'll,
and as he knew that one of the prison
ers in his command had studied medi-
cine, he called upon me, that is, upon
my substitute. to treat him. My sub
stitute did it we'll
the city of Irkutsk, where the prisoners
are usually classified. Those con
demned to settlement are sent to their
new home, and those condemned to
hard labor are distributed among vari-
Gus mines. My substitute and passed
the final examination, and each went
his own way, never to meet again.
On the second day we exiles, or set
| tiers, were turned over to the village
authorities We were practically free.
My companions went to a liquor shop
to celebrate the happy event. resolved
10 make the best possible use of my
freedom by running away from Siberia.
had sold some OF my things and real
1zed about seventy-ffve cents, VIII 81 mon
ey determined must support ME during
aweek. had to travel one hundred and
forty miles to reach the residence
of a trusted friend. Profit 9 by
the lessons of the old runaways,
| made my way successfully, though
the gendarmes were after me. 1t
was in November Snow covered
the ground. Whenever | hid my
self in any bushes | reached them by
walking backward into them, and thus,
perhaps, | misled my prosecutors. My
friend secreted me in his country place
for two months.
On the etdpe road made the acquaint-
ance of many old runaways, who gave
me the knowledge needed for becoming
a successful tramp. In Siberia there
are about thirty thousand runaways
tramping, as the sun does, westward
to Russia. The villagers treat them
we'll SO long as they do not injure prop
erty or otherwise misbehave. Other
wise they hunt them like wild beasts,
Yet, if runaway is badly handled by
villagers without just cause, the rum
aways pledge themselves to have re-
yenge. Incendiarism is meted out for
the whole village and death for the indi-
viduals. l am told that in the Irkutsk
province there was native who made
it his business to hunt fugitives. IF
you kill SQUIRREL" he used to say,
''you earn only fifteen copecks, but kill
a runaway and you are sure of earning
fifty copecks at least, for his dress costs
, that sum-" That brute was in turn
, killed by runaways.
A professional runaway, Beloff, who
for twenty-five years has tramped Sibe-
ria eastward and westward, from the
Ural Mountains to the island of Sagha-
lien, told me that for many years it was
impossible to escape from Saghalien,
because the Guilaks, the natives, used
to kill every fugitive they saw. At last
a party of runaways, thirty strong and
we'll armed, banded together for theil
freedom and revenge. They ransackec
several Gulak settlements and killed
everybody in them. After that the
Guilaks ceased to hunt runaways.
When my health was restored
started back to Russia in the most dig
nified manner. l went by the officia
post road. changing ops troika after an
other. My pass was all right, excep
that it belonged to retired officer re
Gently dead. In May, 1881, reached
Geneva.-N Y Sun.