Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-11-08
A Receptlon of the Exiles.

From George Remnants illustrated article in
the October CeataTy, we quote the following;
"The prisoners had dsembarked before we
reached our destination. We found them as
sembled in two dense gray throngs at the
ends OF long wooden shed, which was sur.
rounded and turned into a sort of cattlepen
by a high plank wall. Here they were dentl-
fed counted aud turned over by the convoy
officer to the warden of the Tomsk forward
Ing prison. The shed was divided transverse
ly through the middle by low wooden barr-
cade, at one end of which was fenced In.
closure, about ten feet square, for the accom-
mediation OF the officers who had to take part
In the reception of the party. About half the
sxles had been formally received and were
handing at the eastern end of the shed, while
The other half were grouped in dense throng
1t the western end, waiting for their names
10 be called. The women, no stood huddled
together in group by themselves, were most
in peasant costumes, with brlght-colored
ierchiefs over their heads, and their faces, l
thought, showed great ETY. aud apprehen-
lion. The men all wore long gray overcoats
)ver coarse linen shirts aud trous FRS; most OF
ihcm were in chains, aud the bare heads OF
he conyicts and the penal colonIsts had been
lalf shaved longitudinally In such a way that
me side of the scalp was smooth aud blue,
All lie the other eide was hidlea by long neg.
ectod hair. Soldiers stood here and there
lround the shed. leaning upon their bayonet-
ID RITES. aud inside the little inclosure were
;he convoy officer Of the party, the warden aud
The surgeon OF the TomSk forwarding prison,
The chief of the local bureau OF exile admin.
stration, and two or three officers, all In full
] al H..
American travellers who desired to see the re.
eeption OF an ,Xlle party, and we were United
10 stand inside he nclOsure.
"1he officer who was conducting the exam
nation o, the cOnvicts Dire folded paper
from large bundle in his hand, opened aud
glanced ut 1t, aud then shouted, NICOLA KoIt.
solp A thin, pale man, with heavy, wearled
eyes and a hopeless EXPRESSION of face, who
was standing in the front rank Of the exile
party picked up the gray linen bag that lay
beside him on the floor, and with a slow clnk
enk, clink of chains walked into the enclOs-
are. The examining officer compared his face
carefully with photograph attached 10 the
ateni speesoll,' or Identification paper in
order to make sure that the pale man la d
not exchanged names with some other exile,
while a COssack orderly examined him from
head to foot and rummaged through his bag
to see that he had neither lost nor surrupti-
liuusly sold the articles of clothing that he
had received in Moscow or TiumeD, and that
his Statenl speesok called Tor.
80 is everything thereF inquired the Off
GER.
Everything replied CossacS.
SloOpial, Pass onr said the leuten-
ant; and the palc.faced mau shoudered his
bag aud joined the ranks of the received at
the eastern end of the shed.
The photographs are a new thing,
whispered Colonel YagOdkin TO me; and on.
ly part OF the exiles have them. They are
intended TO break up the practice of exchang-
! ing mes and Identifies
But ~hy should they wish to exchange
nam So inquired
III u man Is sentenced 10 hard labor at the
mines lie replied, and has little monev,
he always tries to buy secretly the name and
! identity Of some poor devil OF colonist no
longs desperately for drink OF vodk a, or who
wants money with which to gam BILE Oh
course the convoy officer has no means of pre-
venting this sort of transaction, because he
cannot possibly remember the names and
! faces Of the four or five hundred men in his
party. IL the convict succeeds Ia finding a
colonist who is wiling TO sell bis name, be
takes the colonisps place and is assigned to a
! residence In some village, while the colonist
takes the cunv cts place and goes to the
mines. Hundreds OF hard labor convicts es.
cape 10 this way"