The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1885-03-13

though II be. good 81 its kind; the but
ter Is generally rancid. the meat putrid.
and the brcad-except the crust--so
badly baked that when thrown against
the wall II sticks like mortar.
SUFFERING FROM scURyY.
In summer the prisoners are little bet
ter OF than in winter. It Is during the
warm months that ST. Petersburg. built
upon missmatic marshes, develops all
it, unhealthy qualities. and the hygienic
condition Of the fortress. the gloom and
dampness Of the cells, the bad and in
sufficient dietary. the depression arising
from solitary confinement. intensity
every unfayorable influence and render
the life Of prisoners not preternaturslly
robust one long agony. They are nearly
all aiirc,e,i with scurvy. The common
est symptoms are swelling Of the face,
Inflammation Of the eyes. softening Of
the gums trembling Of the limbs. all Of
which show that. owing 10 the inability
Of the organs to perform their functions,
the body Is in state Of incipient disso-
luton. Many. in effect. die, and they
are the most fortunate. The medical
service, says the :. Inhabitant of a Case
mate. is intrusted to an octogenarian
practitioner. who Is so infirm that he
can hardly get one foot before the
other, and a young doctor. whom the
inevitable gendarme renders so timid
that he can hardly feel pulse or ask
question. Dysentcry j. another COM
mon complaint, aud often ends fatally.
Not few of the prisoners either forget
their suflerings in insanity or terminate
them by self-murdcr. :" Issajeo. one OF
\ the men who fabricated the bombs for
habitant," ''died in this very casemate."
PREyED UPoN BY vERsIIS.
But horrible rs is the condition OF
the prisoners, that Of the women is still
more deplorable. Albeit. the wardens
are not supposed to enter the cells
alone, the women are often the victims
Of brutal violence Their beds, like
most Of the male prisoners. are
searched every day by the turkeys. to
whom, moreover. their cells are always
open. Neither the men nor the women
have the right to possess comb or =
brush, much less pair Of scissors or .
piece of soap. The boards Of the one
and the hair Of the other swarm with
yermin. and. in other respects. want Of
cleanliness produce the usual results.
They are almost eaten alive.
In Harrison Ainsworth's Guy
Fawkes" there Is terrible description
of the torture inflicted on the arch
gun-powder plotter in the Tower -oi
London to make him confess. 1t i
thirty years since read that book. but
I have never forgotten the hideous
story nor the impression it made on
my mind. One Of the ordeals
Guy underwent was being put
into q pit which communicated
with the river and At flow Of tide
swarmed with loathsomc and ferocious
sewer rats. With these creatures he had
to fight as best he could. and was only
pulled up when he was in Imminent
danger Of being devourcd. do moi
think they do anything quite so bad a.
: that in the fortress OF st. Peter and St
Paul. but they do things almost rs bad
: In the Troubctzkoi bastion there arr
cells below the level of the river; hor.
rible places into which the sunlight
never penetrates- The walls are
moldering. dirty water is continually
dripping from them. and in the brick
floors large holes have been left open to
give admission to the rats. In these
earthly hells are imnurcd the prisoners
most hated OF the Government. and the
doomed to death spend in them the last
hours Of their life. The rats enter BY
scores. run over the beds and bite the
prisoners as they sleep. Not very long
ago-early this year in fact-a woman
: of the name Of Takimoya. whoshad 4
babe M the breast, inhabited one o
these rat-hannted cells. She had L
watch her infant night and day to keel
it from being eaten alive.
NOT EXAGGERATED.
! Such are the horrors Of the Trou
betzkoi bastion. They may seem to-
horrible 10 be true. All the same. an
strongly Of the opinion that they ar
: little exaggerated. il at all. and tn
n evidence ON which they rest Is botl
: trustworthy and abundant Princ'
\ Krapotkine and Stcpniak affirm thei
: truth. and having had personal exper'
{ ence they ought 10 know. Whens more
over. it is RENE what was thu
condition of nearbT all European pris
ons hardly a hundred years ago, A. de
: scribed BY John Howard, and that Rus
z sia is dcspotism with : corrupt buryai
cracy and .fettered press, in ciyiliza
: ton more than 4 century behind tn
: rest Of Christendom. the terrible stor,
! I have told 40 longer appears incredi
4 BILE. Even in England. even In Amer
2 ca, cruelty il not unknown. and bnt 70
4 the ever-viyilant Watchdog of Ia
!. press abuses IL every sort would sool
\ become rampant What must i thel
be in Russia. where there is no publ
> c,,;r;or ana olliciali~m Il master Of tn