St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-02
TORTURED BY COSSACKS.
Experience of an American Citi-
zen in Russian Prisons.


After being accused of murder, ar
rested and maltreated, thrown into
filthy dungeons, tortured by brutal Cos
sacks. and refused protection by his
own government, Sven Britt, natural
lied citizen of the United 81 tes. mas
just been paid the sum of e400. Or $22.ea0,
by the Russian government, as recon-
penSe for series of extraordinary in
dignities heaped upon him. says the
New York Sun.
The story of the outrage, told IN
BIRTHS own words, is as follows:
Having left my native country,
Russia, in 1S74.I emigrated to the United
States of America, where L settled in
New York city and became natural
lied citizen. In 1880 Prof. HerZog and
DR.. Fridenburg, two doctors of Mount
of air, and, as L had some family affairs
to regulate at home, returned to Yalta,
in, the Crimea. Here my health was
perfectly restored, and went to live at
Odessa, where | spent two years. earn
ing my living partly by trading and
partly in the employ of the tramway.
After the revolution of Alexandria had
been suppressed L thought that l might
find better place in Egypt. whittier [
repaired. Unfortunately my hopes
were not realized, and | had to accept
situation on the police force. with
monthly salary of &c. Having hurt my
feet while on duty l was sent to the
hospital. and the consul of Russia &C
companied by the secretary of the gov
ernOr of Alexandria, made their appear
ance in the hospital and arrested me
without giving me all opportunity to
speak word. One day | was sent for
by the governor of Alexandria, who
showed me photograph, declaring the
same to be my likeness, and that had
brutally murdered two women at NicO-
laieff, in Russia. l denied having COM
mitted the crime imputed to me or being
the man represented by the photograph,
and requested that competent person
might be sent for in order to prove my
identity with the photograph. The
government photographer was at once
sent for and declared that l was not the
man represented by the photograph, but
in spite of this official declaration the
Russian conSuFS influence was great
enough to induce the governor to grant
my eXtraditiOn to Russia, and was
ordered to be sent to ConStantinople and
to be placed on my arrival there at the
disposal of the Russian legation. On
my arrival at Constantinople, however,
1 was refused permission to go ashore,
and | was carried farther Oh to Odessa,
in great distress and suffering.
Q"When, in 1888, l arrived at Odessa, I.
of course, expected to be sent at once to
Nicolaieff for my trial, but it came
otherwise. I was first sent to Eliza
bethgrad, then to Balta, Kremenczuk,
Kominska, thence back to Elizabeth
grad. [ had to stay in each of these
places from five to eight days in irons,
with the exception of Balta, where they
kept me two weeks in prison.. During
the whole time the authorities gave me
but kOpeckS, or 80 cents, for bread
and water, and l had to pay about
twenty times this amount for obtaining
this seant allowance. Having been ac-
customed to tea every day. L had to pay
as much as 10 rubleS, or s. in gold. for
each ration of tea, and for allowing me
a trifie of sugar to my tea the jailer at
Balta took away from me gold watch
the railway station at Balta to the Jail,
distance of abOnt three miles, had to
walk in the summer shoes that Ihad
brought from Egypt, and, it being in
spring, and consequently very cold and
dirty. [ fell into the frozen dirt
up to my thighs. This gave
me severe cold and l began to
cough violently. When [ at last ar
rived at Nicolaieff 1 had no trial, but
was transported to Cherson under an
escort of ten armed guards. whose liv-
ing had to pay for the whole distance,
about fifty miles, in order that they
might not treat me with such cruelty as
those people are accustomed to do. In
each Jail where they put me the author.
tiles at the same time put several spies,
in order to find out whether l was a nj
hiliSt or not, and in the same way they
kept me for Whole week in prison at
Cherson. All my clothes, washing, ETC.,
that wanted for myself were stolen
from me or had to give them up, so
that | remained with one solitary shirt
the whole time. After weeks Soiourn
in the CherSon jail | was transported
back on foot to NicOlaieff. Ny feet
were swollen and covered with blisters,
but still hoped to be at last at an end
of my sufferings, and indeed, after an
other six days the Judge of instruction
sent for me and called ten OF fifteen
witnesses to Identify me with the ac-
eused murderer, but all testified that
was not like the murderer at all, who
had lived about twenty years in the
place and was head shorter than I.n