Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1888-11-22
EXILES AND C0NVICTS.
A COLUMN or RUSSIAN PRISONERS
b EN- ROUTE TO SIBERIA.

EatiOns.
The column moved at the'rate OF about two
! miles an hour, and long before noon it wa.
/ onveloped in a suffocating cloud Of dust
raised by gthe shutting, fetter encountered
feet of the prisoners. In warm, dry weather
when there is no wind, dust is a source OF
/ great misery to marching parties, partcu
larly TO the sick, the women and the children
/ There is no possible way Of escaping it. and
when prisoner is suffering from ono Of the
diseases Of the respiratory organs that are
30 common in otape life it is simply torture
20 sit in crampod position for six or eight
hours IN an open telega breathing the dust
raised by tho feet Of $50 men marching in
close column just ahead. / have traced the
progress of an invisible exile party more
than a mile away by the cloud of dust TINT
hung over it in the air.
Five or six miles from Tomsls the party
passed ''chasovnaya,n or roadside shrine.
consisting Of an open pavilion, in which
hung o CHASTITY wooden eiiigy Of tho cruciGed
Christ. Here, as upon our departure from
Tomsk, noticed that two-thirds of tho con
victs removed their caps, crossed themselves
devoItly, and muttered brief supplications.
a Russian peasant may be q highway robber
or a murderer, but he continues, nevorthe-
less, to cross himself and say his prayers.
HALT BY THE wAYsIDE.
Tho FIRST halt Of the party for rest was
nude about ten miles from Tomsk, at the en-
trance to small village. Here, on patch
OF green sward BY theroadsidc, had assembled
ten or twelve girls and old women with bas-
kets OF provisions, bottles OF milk, and jugs
Of 'kvass,n or small beer, for salo to the
prisoners AT first sight Of these prepare
lions for their refreshments tho experienced
brodyags, who marched at the head Of the
column, raised joyous shout of Prevail
PreevalW-the exile's name for tho noon day
halt The welcome cry was passed along the
line until it reached tho last wagon Of sin
capables," and the whole party pcrccptibly
quickened its pace A walk Of ten miles does
not much tire q healthy md unincumbered
man, but to convicts who have been in prison
without exercise for months, and who are
hampered by Eve pound leg letters united by
chains that clash constantly between the
legs, It IS q trying experience. In less than
a minute after tho command to halt vas
given, almost every man in tho crowd was
either sitting on the ground or lying on it ut
full length. After a short rest, tho prisoners
began buying food from tho provision ven
pic, hard boiled eggs, milk and l,vass, and in
half an hour thoy were all sitting on tho
ground, singly or in groups, eating their
lunch.
The afternoon march was without note
worthy incident The brodyaes talked CON
stantly as they walked, raising their voices
SO as to make themselves heard above tie
1agling Of tho chains, while tho novices
LIST
Is tho same difference between a brodva-
who has been to the mines half dozen times
and novice who is going for the first emo
that there Il between an experienced cow
boy and 'tenderfoot.n The brodyag knows
tine road as the tongue knows tho mouth: he
has an experimental acquaintance with tho
temper and character Of every convoy officer
from Tomsk TO Kara; and his perilous ad-
ventures IN the "taigan-the primeval Sibo-
rian forest-havs given to him self conf
eence and q decision Of character that mako
him the natural leader in every convict
party. 1t is tho boast Of the true brodyag
that tho oStrog the prison. is his father and
the taiga Che wilderness his mother. and bo
often spends his whole life in going from ono
parent to the other; he rarely escapes from
Siberia altogether, although he NAV reach
Sooner or later no is almost always recap-
tured, or is forced by cold and starvation TO
give himself up AS an etape officer once
said to brodyag rearrested in western 81
boria: THE cars COW pasture is large. but
you can't cot out Of it; We find you ct last if
you are not dead.n.
REST FOR THE NIGHT
When our convicts, after their toilsoms
march OF twenty-nine versts from Tomsk,
reached at last the red rooted poloo etapo of
Semiluzhnaya, they were marshaled in rows
In front Of tho palisade and again carefully
counted by tho under officers in order to
make sure that none had escaped, and then
the wooden gate of tho court yard was
thrown wide open. With q wild, mad rush
and furious clashing of chains, moro than
jJO men made sudden break for the narrow
gateway, struggled, fought and crowded
through 1t, and then burst into tho kamcras.
IN order to secure, by preoccupation, places
On the sleeping platforms.
al last the tumult subsidized, and the con
vlc,s began their preparations for supper.
aoo water was furnished by tho soldiers Of
tno convoy ct an average price Of about q
cent teakettlolul; 'brickn tea was made bv
yhe prisoners who were wealthy enough to
s--crd such luxury; soup was obtained by
2 few from the soldiers kitchen; and TIC
llged exiles, sitting on the sleeping platforms
q on the hocr, ate tho black bread, tho fish
PIES, or the cold boiled meat that they Lad
purchased from tho provision vendors. Tho
evening meal IS sometimes an exceedingly
scanty one, on account Of the failure Of he
peasant women TO bring to the etape for salo
IN adequate supply Of food. They ara
not obliged TO furnish subsistence 10
convicts on tho road, and tho exilo
attempts no regulation Of the
commissariat beyond furnishing tho pris-
oners with money for rations, aud allowing
the peasants or tho soldiers of tho convoy to
net as purveyors. IN times Of scarcity itis
to buy, with the money given 10 |
zach exile for his subsistence, enough food
70 satisfy hunger. In one district Of eastern
Siberia wnerc there had been partial fail
rro OF the crops, the exiles could scarcely
buy, with cents a day, pound and n |
half OF black rye bread, The etape officers
complained bitterly to me Of the indifference |
Of tne government to tho sufferines of tho |
prisoners, and declared that it was uninst |
ard cruel to give men only a pound and |
hah OF black bread, and at tho same timo |
Iorco them to march twenty miles a dav IN |
leg fetters, and in bitterly cold weather |
GeerSe Lelnaa in Tho Century.
4 Toad in Solid Coal.
The correspondent Of The Collio,-v Omar