West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-06-26
RUSSIAN PRISONS.
rho Horror. of the Fate Rcsct ycd 60
Political Prisoners.

tho horrors ot the Fate Reset Vcd &c
Political Prisoners.
When an accused Nihilist is scu,cnccd
TO Siberia, his friends congrstulato
each other and say that their beloved
prisoner was born under a lucky star. "
And we'll thoy may. hard as is the fate
of cNilcs To 'thc land of cold aud mis-
cry. of brutal task-mastcrs. and cruel
punishmcntS, whom they think Of the
Central Prison -whcro in 1873 tLS po-
litical prisoners enforced dcmaul 60
bc treated rs we'll as murderer, bv rs-
fusing To eat anything whatever until
their claim was given attention. a rcso.
luton they maintained for eight days
and nights or worse still. of tho
famous fortress of Potter and Paul
From 'Potcr and Paul" thrcc letters
written in the prisoners blood have
reached the outside world. and S,crnink
has held them i'm his hand Aftor read
ing, one does not wonder that exile and
death are eagerly sought IN preference
TO this Imprisonment Tho extracts we
mako tell but little of the story. There
arc details of outrage, and of enforced
Ilo IN coils rcckmg with corruption, =
most too hovri BILE TO repeat. Hero l.
picture OF the condemned cells 'rcal
underground vaults, dark at noondny,
and infested with loathsumc Vorminn -
"Ihc small windows are on lCVol
with the river. which overflow. thCm
when the Ncya rises The thick iron
bars OF the grating. covered with Il rt
shut out most of the little LIGHT that else
might tiltor through these holes. If tho
rays OF the sun never enter the cells of
the upper floor, IL may easily ba imay.
inrd what dlrkn - roigns below The
walls are moldcring, and dr,y water
continually drops from them But
most terrible are the rats. I'm the brick
floors large holes have been left open
for tho rats to pass through. express
myself thus Intentionally Nothing
would he easier than To block up these
holes, and yet tho reiterated demands
of the prisoners have always boon
passed by uEnoticcd so that the rats
enter 10y scores, try to climb upon the
beds and TO bite the prisoners IL is in
these hidcous dungeons that the con
dcmned To death spend their last hours
kvatkOvsky. Prcsniakolf aud Soukanolr
passed their last nights hero. At the
present moment. among others, there is
"a woman with little child at her
breast This is Jakimovn. Night and
day she watches over her babe lest ho
should bc dcyourcd by the rats. "
And hero, finally, is glimpse OF the
treatment of the sick. among whom
''are horrors that defy description, that
only the pen of Il Dante could adequate
" portray oh, If you could soc our
siokn cXclaims the writer of the blood
WRITER i"tter "A VOC ago they were
'rnH. lr1 u77l,f nu -rot Now -rfr-y
are lowed and ceorop.t old mon. hard
~ able To walk. Several Of ;hcm can
not rise from their beds. Covered with
vcrmin and eaten up with scuryy, thcy
emit an odor Ike that of n CORPSE
But Is there no dOctorP it may bo
asked; and What is no doing all this
timeP Yes, there is a doctor: there
arc even two doctors. One, however,
is past fourscorc, and past work lie
comes TO the fortress only occa 4ioually.
Tho other is young, and probably Kind
enough in intention, but not very reso-
Lutte in character, and standing in great
awe Of the officers Of the Jail Whom
he visits his patients ho is invariably nc
companied by brace of gcnsdarmos.
lest he should surreptitiously convey
letters 10 prisoners He enters coll
with troubled countonancc. a5 il he
WcIo hlIdlu ol SpIheJhlngi never goes
further than the threshold, much less
approaches the sick mans bed, or
makes any examination Of him, feels his
pulse, or looks at his tongue. After
asking few questions ho delivers his
verdict, which is almost always couchcd
in the same words: For your illness
there is no cure No mercy is shown
even TO the mad, says another Of the
letters, and you may imagine how
many such there arc i'm our Golgotha
They are not sent to any asylum, but
shut up in their cells and kept in order
with whip and scourgc. Often YOU
hear down below you or at some little
distance the sound Of hcartrcnding
shricks. cries and groans. 10 is some
~rctched lunatic who is being 1oggcd
into obedience. ~ StCDntrk.