The Red Cloud chief., 1885-06-12
PRISONS


h Horrors - the Pate Reserved @
Political Frssesee~
When an accused Nihilis; Is sentenced
10 Siberia. his friends congratulate
each other and say that their beloved
prisoner vas born under q lucky star"
And well they may. hard AZ is the fsie
u exiles TO 1.-THE land Of cold and mis-
cry. Of brutal task-mas:ers. and crI.l
punishmenss." when they think Of sa<
Central Prison-where in 1873 the POI
iitical prisoners enforced q demand Ia
be treated As well as murderers by W
fusing to "a; anything whatever until
their claim was given siien,ion. q reso-
luton they maintained for eight days
and nigh;s-or, worse still. Of the
famous fortress Of Peter and Paul.
From 'pe,cr and Paul" three letters
written in the prisoners blood have
reached the outside world. and S,epniak
has held them in his hand. After read
ing. one does not wonder that exile and
death are eagerly sought IN preference
to this imprisonment The extracts We
make tell but little Of the story. Their
are details Of outrage. and Of enforced
life in cells reeking with corruption. al
most too horrible 70 repeat Here is .
picture Of the condemned cells. ..real
underground vaults. dark at MONDAY.
and infested with loaihsome vermin."
The small windows are on n level
with the river. which overiiows them
when the Neva rises. The thick iron
bars of the grating. covered with dirt.
shut out most of the little light that else
might filter through these holes Ii the
rays OF the sun never enter the cells Of
the upper floor. IL may easily BE- imag-
ined what darkness reigns below. The
walls are moldering. and dirty water
continually drops from them. But
most terrible are the rats. In the brick
floors large holes have been left open
for the rats to pass through express
myself thus intentionally. Nothing
would be easier than to block up these
holes. and yet the reiterated demands
of the prisoners have always been
passed BY uEnoticed. so that the rats
enter BY scores. try to climb upon the
beds and TO bite the prisoners. 1t Is in
these hideous dungeons that the con-
demned to death spend their las, hours.
kv.atkovsky. Presniakof and Soukanoff
passed their last nights here. Al the
present moment. among others. there is
a woman with q little child ut her
breast. This is Jakimova- Night and
day she watches I've her babe lest he
should be devOured by the rats"
And here. finally. is a glimpse Of the
treatment Of the sick. among whom
'.are horrors that defy description. that
only the pen Of u Dante could adequate
" portray. oh, if you could see our
SICK exc'aims the writer Of the blood
written letter. a year ago they were
young. healthy and robust Now they
are bowed and decrep;t old men. hard
ly able to walk. Several Of them can
not rise from their beds. Covered with
vermin and eaten up with scurvy. they
emit an Odor ike that Of . CORPSE
But is there no doctor?' it NAV be
asked; and What is he doing all this
time" Yes. there il = doctor: there
are Y e two doctors One. however.
is past fOurscore. and past work. He
comes to the fortress only occasionally.
The other is young. and probably kind
enough in intention. bat not very nr.o-
in character. and standing in great
awe Of the officers Of the Jail When
he visits his patients he is invariably ac-
by 3 brace Of gcnsdarmes.
lest he should surTeptitiously convey
to prisoners. He enters . cell
with q troubled countenancc. rs IL be-
afraid Of something; pevcr goes
than the threshold. much less
the sick mans bed. or
makes n examination Of him, feels his
pulse, or looks at his tongue. After
a few questions he delivers his
which is almost always couched
the same words: For your illness
is DO cure No mercy Is shown
10 the mad says another Of the
and You NAV imagine how
many such there are in our Golgoiha
They are not sent to any asylum. but
hut up in their cells and kept in order
With whip and scourge. Often you
lear down below you or at some little
distance the sound OF h~eartrending
cries ard groans. II is some
lunafic who is being logged
ntO obedience. " Stepntak.