Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1888-11-07
70 sutler severely IN hsAlth hon ~
severity OF the climate.
A Receptien 81 TIE ExileSs

From George Kennan's article n the
Century we quote the following:
THE prisoners had disembarked be-
fore we reached our destination. We
found them assembled in two dense,
gray throngs at the ends OF * long
wooden shed, which was surrounded and
turned into sort Of cattle-psn BIZ .
high, plank wall. Here they were iden-
titled, counted, and turned over BY the
convoy officer to the warden 81 the
Tomsk forwarding prison. The shed
was divided transversly through the
middle by low wooden barricade, at
one end Of which was fenced inclOsurc,
about ten feet square, for the accommo-
dation OF the officers who had to take
part in the reception Of the party.
About half the exiles had been formally
received" and were standing at the
eastern end of the shed, while the other
half we're grouped in dense tlirung at
the western end, waiting for their name
to be called The women, who stood
huddled together in group by them
selves, were mostly in peasant
costumes, with bright colored
kerchiefs over their heads, and
their faces, / thought, showed great
anxiety and apprehension. The men
all wore long gray oyercoats over coarse
linen shirts and trousers; most Of them
were in chains, and the bare heads Of
the convicts and the penal colonists had
been half shaved longitudinally in such
way that one side OF the scalp was
smooth and blue, while the other side
was hidden by. long neglected hair.
Soldiers stood here and there around
the shed, leaning upon their bayoneted
rifles, and inside the little Enclosure were
the convoy officer of the party, the war
den and the surgeon Of the Tomsk for
wartling prison, the chief of the local
bureau OF exile administration, and two
or three other officers, all in full
uniform. Colonel Yagodkin introduced
IFS as American travellers who desir ell to
see the reception of an exile party, and
we were invited to stand inside the in
closure.
1.-The officer who was conducting the
examination Of the convicts drew q
folded paper from q large bundle in his
hand, opened and glanced at it, and
then shouted, 'Nikolai Koltsof' A thin,
pale man, with heavy, wearied eyes and
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 clink, clink, clink OF CHI aims walked
to the inclosure. The examining officer
compared his face carefully with pho
tograph attached to the 'stateini
speesock, or identification paper i'll
order to make sure that the pale man
had not exchanged names with some
other exile, while a Cossack orderly ex-
amined him from head to foot and rum
mayed through his bag to see. that he
had neither lost nor surreptitiously sold
the articles OF clothing that he had re-
ceived in Moscow or Tiumen, AID that
his 'stateini speesok' called for
is everything there?' inquired the
officer.
Everything, replied the Cossack.
'Stoopaiv Pass on y said the Lieu-
tenant; and the pale-faced man shout
Hered his bag and joined the ranks OF
the received at the end Of the shed.
The photographs are new thing
whispered SoloHci lagolkln 10 NE,
and only part Of the exiles have them.
They are intended to break up the
practice ofexchanging names and identi-
ties
But why should they wish to ex-
change namesg I inquired.
If man is sentenced to hard labor
at the mines,' he replied, and has o
little money, he always tries to buy Sc.
crstly the name and identity Of some
poor devil Of colonist who longs des-
peratelv for drink Of vodka, or who
wants money with which to gamble.
OF course the convoy officer has NJ
means Of preventing this sort of trans
action, because he cannot possibly re.
member the names and faces of the -four
or five hundred men in his party. II
the convict succeeds in finding colon.
list who is willing to sell his name, he
takes the colonist's place and is assigned
a residence in some village. while the
colonist takes the convict's place and
goes to the mines. Hundreds Of hard
labor convicts escape in this way"