The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1888-07-19

E vAeRANr SIBERIAN coNWcTa
One of the Peculiar Institutions Of the
Great Convict Empire.
The s'Taiga," the Siberian forests
which cover thousands Of square miles,
are thickly peopled with "Brodiagas,
runaways and Migrants, who slowly ad-
vance, like continuous stream, toward
the west, moved by the hope of finally
reaching the border line Of European
Russia. As soon as the cuckoo begins to
cry, announcing that the woods are free
from their snow covering, SO that man
may be sheltered without the risk of be-
coming motionless block of ice during
the night. and that they will soon pro-
vide the wanderer with mushrooms and
berries, thousands Of convicts make their
escape from the gold mines and salt
works, from the prisons and lockups;
thousands Of exiles leave the villages to
which they are banished, the convict set
Elements where they are starving, and
run to the woods. Guided by the polar
star, by the moses on the trees, or
by old Migrants who possess the
precious information about the runaway
paths" and runaway stations" they
undertake the long and perilous back
ssif 0o Climbing nt IL his a10a and H xIS
mountains on its shores, or they cross 1t
on RATS. When possible, they avoid the
highways, the towns and settlements Of
the Bouriats-who are still numerous in
the province Of Lkutsk-but freely camp
in the woods around the towns populated
by Russians. At the city of Chita, the
capital Of Transbaikaha, each spring can
be seen the fires Of the Migrants lighted
on the woody slopes Of the surrounding
mountains. They freely enter the Rus
sian villages, where they always find
piece Of bread and q can Of milk in the
houses Of the peasants.
The forests conceal and feed the wan
derers during the warm season, though
they are filed with clouds Of small mus
quitoes-the ''moshkas," that Siberian
plague which pursues and maddens man
and cattle alike, even among the clouds
OF smoke that are spread around the vii
lagos in Siberia The vagrant when met
in the summer is horrible to look at. His
face is but one swollen wound, his eyes
are infamed, and can hardly be seen
from beneath the burning and swollen
eyelids; his swollen nostrils and mouth
are covered with sores. Still he pursues
his march toward the border chain of
Siberia, and his breast beats more strongly
and faster as he perceiveS the blush hills
of the Ural on the horizon.
Thirty thousand men are continually
living this life, and hundreds Of thou
sands of people have sought to gain lib
erty in this way during the last fifty
years. Thousands have found their
grave in the "Taiga," and happy were
those whose eyes were closed by de-
voted fellow traveller. Thousands have
ups, when the mercury was freezing and
the frost stopped the circulation Of the
last drop of blood in their emaciated
bodies. They submitted themselves to
the unavoidable 100 lashes, they were
taken back to the penal settlements of
Transatlantic, and the next spring they
tried the same journey again, with more
experience. Other thousands have been
hunted down, seized or shot by the
Bouriats or some Siberian trappers.
Others, again. were seized a few days
after having reached the soil of their
''mother Russia" after having thrown
themselves at the feet of their old parents
in the village they had left many years
before to satisfy the caprice Of the is
pravnik or the jealousy of the local
uSurer.
There is touching trait in the char
acter of the common, uneducated Rus
sian; a trait of love for his kindred which
makes life far away from the circle of
his relatives almost unbearable to him.
The common Russian, exiled to Siberia,
and deprived of all civil and personal
rights, feels himself in his place of ban
ishment as in grave. He cannot read
or write to keep up a correspondence
with his relatives in Russia, nor are the
latter in a position to send letters to him,
being equally unfamiliar with reading
and writing. In the course of years he
becomes homesick, and he undertakes
the long westward journey, hoping to-
reach his native place and see his loved
ones once more. AS to the perspective
of being arrested and banished again he
cares little about it. He is accustomed
to prison life, and knows that nothing
could keep him in his new place Of BAN
ishment if the idea to visit his relatives in
Russia should again get into his head.
There are hundreds Of Migrants in Siberia
who live thus continually from year to
year, one year tramping from Siberia to
Russia, another year marching as con-
victs, under military escort, back to Ir-
kutSk.
There is o sort of tacit mutual agree
ment between the Migrants and the ST.
berian peasants. As long as nothing is
stolen. or nothing offensive done, by the
ramblers, they may be sure of not being
disturbed by anybody. But as soon as
any one of them breaks the agreement
the Siberian peasant becomes pitiless, and
the crime Of one vagrant has disastrous
effect on all The Siberian ''oblava"-
battue against the vagrants-is famous
for its ferocity. The peasants arm them
selves with axes and sticks and guard all |
the roads leading out of or into the vii
lagos; the hunters and trappers spread
through the forest; every suspicious
traveller is arrested; in a few days the
prisons and lockups of the entire locality,
which often embraces hundreds of square
miles. are filled with seized Migrants,
who. after receiving the 100 hshes pre-
scribed by the law, are sent to the gold
washings in 'Transbaikalia. The cob
lava" is dreaded even by the most daring
and experienced Migrants. For this
reason they are anxious to prevent the
commission Of crime by any one of them,
and they punish the guilty themselves
with even greater severity than do the
authorities. Michael Malkoff in Chicago
News.
The Sun As q Heater. |
BY means Of a high box attached to
the wall of house, the outside of the
box being made of slate or corrugated |
iroH. to absorb the heat, and so con-
nected with openings In the wall as to |
act as flue, the heat Of the sun can be
called in to assist In warming a room. A
heater AZ feet long and inches wide
was formerly attached to the. Athenmum
in Boston, the work done by it being es-