West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-04-24

raul, prison in the center OF Russian
civilization, and on which the Car. who
Is nothing if not religious, has continu-
ally his eye. What, then, must be the
horrors perpetrated in other and re-
mote prisons-for instance, i'm the fort
ress OF Schlussoburg, situated on the
shores of the Silent Sea and lately
transformed into vast political
prison?
HOW REFORNIERs ARE TREATED.
The lot of the rcformcrs who were
sentenced during the reign of AlcNan-
der III. l. i'm no respect more tolerable
than that of the rcvolutionists who are
now in bonds. I use the term reform
or, adviScdly. for they are men who
sought To attain their ends bv pacific
means-by writing and speaking. They
neither took part in any revolutionary
movement nor were their hands stained
with one drop of blood. They were
the predecessors of the party of action
aud the tcrrorist> of the Popular
VIII. But the Government. a. if they
desired to force everybody who i i'm
any way dissatisfied with the existing
state OF things to join the revolutionary
ranks, treats all alike. and deals the
same measure to the mildcst reformers
rs To the widest tcrrOrist> MANY of
the men sentenced for sediton i'm the
last reign are confined i'm the prison of
NoNO BelgOrod, and their life is de
scribcd in the number of the ICStHiE
which / have already mentioned. The
| system pursued in this prison is strictly
cellular, the cells being almost the
double of those of st. Peter and st.
Paul-littlc chamber, live PAGES long
and two and half wide; furniture a
wooden bed. a small table, Il three
/ legged stool and the eternal and odor-
| ferrous pail In these holeS, men whose
/ sole oficnse is devotion To their coun-
| try are doomed To pass long wears of
their lives. Here Plotnikof and sew
cral others, sentenced at the same time,
/ were ncarccratcd for ten years. Misch-
I Kline, more fortunate, was kept only
/ eight years. To describe the manifold
/ tenorS of this Inferno as set forth i'm
! this prisoners letter. would take MP too
much space. | must leave out and
compress but the following are the
essential parts of his account. They
state how terrible are the effect of soil
! larry confinement how cOrruptiblc mas
! tcrS. absence of any sort of manual or
mental occupation, and the irritating
attention of the iailorS render the lives
u
produce n very epidemic of insanity.
MADMEN IN LIVING TOMBS
The great clock of the prison has
struck the hour of midnight and the in
! habitants of the last corridor of the
! Bclgorod Prison. overcome by a long
{ day of sad thought and enforced idle
ness, are buried in fevcrsh and ftful
slumbcr- all save one, VINO is pacing to
and fro i'm his cell like wild beast and
utterlng incohcrcnt cries and muttercd
/ ordinations. sound of rhVthmical
snoring in the corridor shows that the
warden on duty is also indulging in
slumber One O'clock strikes. then two
o'clock. and aS the reverberation dies
away, terrific uproar is heard i'm Cell
!. The inmate is kicking with all his
strength at the door and yelling at the
top OF his voice: Open! OPEN YOU
villains. am the Emperor of Russia.
Siberia has elected ne her King and /
have been recognized rs Sovereign
Lord of all the land. Open, YOU scoun-
drels! Open, saw The warden
stops snoring. jumps from his stool and
shouts for help. Thrc. other wardens
answer his call, and the four men, enter
ing No 1, seize the wrctched maniac,
throw him on the ground. rope his arms
aud legs. fastcn him TO his wooden bed
and leave him cur,ing and bowling.
For half a year this scene was repeated
two or three times week In the end
the warlcns OF BelgOrOd weary Of the
iniliction, got Bptchorow, for so the
man was called. transferred to the
prison of Bori~oglcb, *. where after
month detention he died.
Another unfortunate was Sokolovskv.
He had a fixed idea that lac had been
pardoncd, and was always asking TO be
released. When ne went out for eNer-
else he would refuse to re-entcr his cell.
vet despite his condition, was always
punished for his disobcdience by severe
bcatings
In No. is Donctlky, who is always
ringing hi, bell and asking - see the
/ Director, in order To inform him that
he (DoncNky) j. the center OF the uni
verso. and that all the troubles in the
world arise from ignorance OF this inn
pOrtant fact
Ano her lunatic confined i'm the prison
Of NOvo Belgorod is Bogol oubov. for
striking whom Vera Sis,oulitch shot
General Trcpon He fancie- that all
the world is in a conspiracy to Kill him
that the air he brcathcS. a. well rs
the food he cats, j. poisoned When
the barber comes To shave him he re-.
-ists. and before the operation can b.
performed ne has tp bee throttlei and
held 10y the hair of the hc5i
Lastly. there is Plotnikoy. He labors
under religious mania. and is perpetual
is asking for the chaplain funct ouary
with whom his comrades. without eV-
cepuOn, will have nothing whatever to
do. lie calls himself great sinner.
declares that everything which +, eN-
lists by the will Of God, and that IN f.
/ consequently "a sin even 90 relieve .uf.
/ fcrIng or resist evil. An these mon
have gone mad from solitary cOnGuc.
mrnt and these instances are taken
\ from one corridor alone.
ASKING FOR DEATH
But perhaps Tho fate Of the mad f.,
moro 20 be desired than ths; of those
. who arc -till sane ard whose SUFFERING.
are so terrible chat they welcome death
a- happy release. During the short
. Dictatorship of LOui- MelikoTa general
officer was sent to inspect the BclgOryd
prison. Entering the cell oil Prince
+ IIiano1 ho put the -tcrcOtypcd quc.-
ton. 'iiavc YOU ans requests to-
make n have one. and Won can
easily grant it was the -wcr IL
ask a. favor that yog will commute
. Fu.. .Duflfrrn 90 f,f.rr. Hr......t