The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-08-30

stood prison life much better, Tor IT
more nearly resembled in its diet and
daily toll their former life. l have
known ordinary offenders, men from
the lower classes, who we're stout and
strong, who had lived and worked In
the mines for twenty years.
The women prisoners at the mines
were employed in scrubbing, washing
and clothes-making. The delicately-
nurtured ladies among them who were
political offenders did not generally
live long.
..Some of the seventies practiced
upon convicts in Siberia are justified,
it must be said. Many of the convlcts
are the worst sort of humanity, in
GLIDING murderers. thieves. highway
men and all kinds of offenders. We
had one murderer in our community
who had killed twenty-seven men.
1.-The political prisoners were forced
to mingle with this class of convicts,
some of them the dregs of humanity.
In our company of eight hundred
which left Moscow there were forty
eight political prisoners, four of whom
were women. Sixteen of us were the
officers of the Shleselburg Regiment,
who had been court-martialed for al
legged completely with Polish conspir-
ators. Three of us officers stuck to-
gether and worked together and finally
escaped together. do not know what
ever became of the others. l suppose
they are all dead by now.
''There is only one chance in one
hundred of ever getting back to Russia
when one is once sent to Siberia, for if
a convict is suspected of having further
political schemes it destroys his hope
of pardon.
''Many of the convicts, as l have
said, are desperate men. Here is a
story of the revenge some of them
took upon a Siberian who had MUIR
dered some of their number. This
Siberian was one of the Mongolian
race called Bratski, and he had a
farm about two hundred versts from
Nerchinsk. 1t lay in the way by which
convicts escaping from the mine gen.
orally passed. The region was mostly
a dry desert, but this Bratski farmer
had good well of water which at
tracted the convicts, especially the
green ones who had never heard OF
him.
Il was this farmers custom to call
to a convict whom he saw passing by
wearing a good pair of shoes or a
good coat and entice him within
reach, and then shoot him from a
round hut which he had loop-holed all
',out. He killed and robbed num-
er of cOnvicts in this way.
Zone day a party of seventeen con-
victs went by the farm, and some Of
the younger ones were for stopping.
The more experienced convicts dis
suaded them from doing this, saying
that they would surely be shot By
means Of stratagem five of the con.
victs captured the farmer unarmed
and away from his loop-holed hut.
Then the best means of putting to
death the murderer were discussed.
Some were for hanging him. but one
convict said: 4 II show you better
way than that The farmers legs
were ripped up with knife from the
inside of the ankle and lot of finely
chopped hOrse-hair was rubbed into
the wounds. The hair was obtained
from the tail of horse, which was
cut off. The finely cut hair irritated
the wounds much and put the victim
in great agony. The convicts at
Nerchinsk later heard, through the
convict system of signs and communi.
cation, which is spread all over Siberia,
like the tramp language in this coun-
try, that the farmer died of his wounds.
Il remember convict at Nerchinsk
named Butouska. who was an unruly
fellow and often brought punishment
upon himself. He used to get two
hundred or three hundred lashes at a
time for stealing from the other pris-
Oners. Upon one occasion he was
punished for some misdeed by being
thrown into dark cellar, the inten-
ton being to keep him there for two
hours. But the overseer. who was a
drunken fellow. forgot him, and he
was not released.
During the night the other con.
victs heard an awful yelling coming
from the cellar into which Butouska
had been thrown. In the morning
there was nothing to be seen in the
cellar but Butouska's bones. The rats
had eaten the rest of him.
Il can recall many acts of cruelty to
the prisoners. remember one politi-
cal prisoner, young man of high
rank who had been Captain in nv
own regiment He. was much beloved
by us all. Weak and run down by the
hard life of the mines, he found him.
self utterly unable to work one dav.
and when they tried to make him keen
at it he refused and declared he could
not. He was taken to the hospital.
where he died, being kept without a
mouthful of food for twenty-four
hours"
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