The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1884-10-17
THE SIBERIAN MINES.
An Inferno ia Real Life.

NhltbtO lbbht
If a person of SAINT mind were to in
form you of his or her intention to spend
a vacation in Siberia, you would
undoubtedly smile audibly and
opine hat the party making
be a fit subject for a lunatic asylum.
Still, | am bound to confess that have
just returned from a trip to that Arctic
region, where l made quite a stay in
company with my friend, Robert
Lemke, the eminent political economist
and a student of political philosophy,
than whom there is non more thorough
and more searching. We have been
through the land of the Nihilists; and
however earnest we might have been in
our desire to discover important infor-
nation, all our efforts would have been
in vain had not an influential American
at st. Petersburg, whose name | prom
ised not to mention, giving lis such let
tiers of Introduction that all portals
were opened wide to us, and we saw
and heard what only a privileged few
have seen and heard for a good many
years. 1t is easily understood that the
Russian government, under the trying
circumstances of the present day, is not
very liberal in granting extended privi-
leges to newspaper men; and had |
travelled in that capicity l might have
been denied access to the sources from
which | have drawn the information
about a good many things in Russia.
The large cities, however, are not the
places for the accumulation of knowl-
edge such as we desired to get; and,
after idling a few days at
Moscow, st Petersburgh, and
its village features, we
start for the Siberian mine.
Until we come to Tobolsk there was
still some civilization about and around
us. But after that we received a fore
taste of the horrors we were about to
witness. For days we dragged along
in a miserable carriage, without meet
ing anything or anybody except the
lonely government posts, with their
stupid ''Starost" and his subordinate
Cossacks. AT last we saw in the dis
tance a towering mountain, and within
its cleft a side a colossal opening,
similar to the pit of a volcano. From
within, foul air and disagreeable smells
saluted our nostrils, and for sometime
we had to draw our breath hard. With
our pockethandkerchiefs crammed into
our mouths we entered the gigantic
mouth of the rock. From the walls
dirty water dripped down in large
drops, forming a little ~rivulet, which
gathered in a pool outside the entrance.
Towards the east and the north the
territory rose as high as 1000 feet
above the sea. A chain several miles
in length, of snow-capped glaciers gave
to the mine the character of an unap-
proachable fortress. To the left of the
entrance an enormous guard-house was
built, occupied by a number of Cos
sacks. The establishment was about
as filthy as any habitation for human
can well be. The furniture con-
only of a few rough benches and
a large table. In front of its door a
double file of muskets were stacked,
between which a bearded Cossack
marched up and down. We showed
our letters to the young officer of the
day, who regarded us wonderfully
s~earchingly. He seemed at a loss to
the granting of a privilege
so seldom sought and so rarely grant
ed. A guide was given us, and we
passed a long, narrow and daak corri-
dor, which, to judge from the inclina-
ion of the floor, led into the depth.
The ground was so slippery and so wet
han once. Presidential miasms filled
he air; and. in spite of a good fur
'loak-the gift of a friend in Moscow
actually shook with the cold. The
darkness was so intense that neither of
is could see the other.
We had gone on perhaps ten minutes
when | pr~eceived, far in the distance,
he trembling, uncertain glimmer of a
light; and / felt sure that we were APP
preaching the mine proper. The
ground became softer and more Shiny
he cold more penetrating. At every
step we sank into the morass for several
inches, and there was a smell of putre-
as in a charnel-house.
I'VE are in front of the mine," said
,ur guide, pointing to ahighiron railing
which surrounded a long cave,-its
rails, through the crevice of
which hardly a rat might have squeezed
Itself, being covered with rust. The
ocks were fastened with chains of i'm
nense thickness and weight. A guard :
made his appearance, and upon the '
word of our guide he opened the lock, !,
but only with a great deal of strength !
vas he enabled so far to turn the rail i
ne upon its hinges that we could pass
Trough into the interior. We stepped
nto a room which, although it was
arge enough otherwise, hardly permit !
ed a full-grown man to stand upright, :
nd was lighted only by a poor-oil- !
amp, which left all surrounding things .
4 darkness. ''Where are wep' | !
sked the guide. ''In the dormitory of !
he prisoners" he answered. For =.
this was n well-yielding lode, .
we have made it into a sleeping |
oom." We shuddered. This subter- :
anean cave, into which neither sun nor y
loon could ever send a ray of light,
Tas called an apartment; and in this
grave, the air of which was 9
legnant with fearful miasma, the I'M -
,%rtunates banished here by the unpali- Z
BILE law of ~despotism We're compelled -
!, rest after the days work, upon n y
DOR bed of straw Into the dripping "
alls of the rock, alcovSike cells had 8,