The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1889-01-05
AREcEPrloN OF The ExN Es.

From George kennans article in tho
Century, we quote the following: "The
prisoners had discmbarked before We
reached our destination. We found
them assembled in two dense gray
throngs at the exds OF a long wooden
shed. which was surrounded and
turned into sort of cattle pen by
high plank wall Hero they were
identified. counted, aud turned over By
the CONVOY officer to the warden OF
the Tomsk forwarding prison. The
shed was divided transversely through
the middle by low wooden barricade.
at one end OF which was a fenced in
closure. about ten feet square. for the
accommodation 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 were grouped in dense
throng at the western end, waiting for
their names to be called. The women.
who stood huddled togetherin q group
by themselves, were mostly in peasant
costumes, with bright-colored kerchiefs
over their heads, and their faces, l
thought, showed great anxiety aud
apprehension. The men all wore long
gray overcoats over their coarse linen
shirts aud trousers; most OF them We're
In chains, and the bare heads of the
conyicts and the penal colonists had
been half shaved longitudinally in
such a 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, aud inside the little inclosure
were the convoy officer Of the party,
the warden and the surgeon of the
Tomsk forwarding prison. the chief of
the local bureau of exile administra-
ton. and two or three other officers,
all in full uniform. Colonel Yagodkin
introduced US as American travellers
who desired to see the reception Of IN
exile party. and We were invited to
stand inside the inclosure.
1.-The officer who was conducting the
examination Of the convictS drew
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
who was standing in the front rank of
the exile party. picked up the gray
linen bag that lay beside him on tho
floor, and with slow clink, clink.
clink of chains walked to the inclosure.
The examining officer compared his
face carefully with photograph at
tached to the 'stateini speesok. or
identification paper. in order TO make
sure that the pale man had not 'ex-
changed names with some other exile.
while a Cossack orderly examined him
from head to foot and rummaged
through his bag te sec that he had not
neither lost nor surreptitiously sold
the articles OF clothing that lie hadre
ceived in Moscow or Tiumen, and that
his 'stateini speesok' called for.
is everything therc?' inquired tho
officer.
=" Everything replied the Cossack.
'Stoopai" ('Pass on") said the
and the pale-faced man
shouldered his bag and joined the
ranks Of the received ut tue eastern
end of the she'd.
The photographs are new thing
Colonel Yagodkin, to me;
and only part Of the exiles have them.
They are intended to break up the
practice OF exchanging names and
Identifies
- But why should they wish to e1-
change names?' I inquired.
".1f man is sentenced to hard labor
at the mines, he replied. .'and has
little money. he always tries to buy
secretly the name and identity Of some
poor devil of colonist who longs
desperately for a drink of vodka. or
who wants money with which to
gamble. OF course the convoy officer
has no means of preventing this sort
IF transaction, because he cannot pos
,ibly remember the names and faces of
he four or FIVE hundred men in his
,arty If the convict succeeds in fipd-
ng colonist who is willing to sell his
,ame, he takes the colouist's place and
) assigned a residence in some village.
While the cOiouist takes the convict's
lace and goes to the mines. Hun
reds OF hard-labor convicts escape in