The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-07-20

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/ nerves and to get used 10 the abuse without
the deepest emotion To give you an ex-
/ ample of the abuse let me narrate to You an
! occurrence Of an average temper.
| The day before last Mary Kovalsky de
mente1) and Armfeldt were escorted to the
/ bath house. On their way they halted in
! front of the storehouse requesting the per-
mission of their guard to get some clean
/ clothing-they had the permission Of the
| commandant procured beforehand. For
ward, march, Commanded the guard officer
| in reply TO their request. But" exclaimed
| Armfeldt, 1.-THE commandant-' At this
moment blow from soldier knock ID her
down. With butt end of their rifles the
| soldiers began TO batter her on the
mead. arms and back. Bruised and
! bleeding, she screamed at the top Of
her voice; we heard her; we rushed
to the windows. You NAV perceive the eff
feet of the scene we witnessed Blood
rushed to our beads we lost self-command,
| our screams filled the prison wards and
brought down from his Office the warder.
He stopped the beating Of Armfeldt, and
then, ike maddeIed beast, rushed at US.
Silence commanded he in a tone that
meant no good. His eyes fell upon me. l
was crying. The guard" commanded he,
and squad of soldiers surrounded me. o,
how terribly they tortured me- Sophie
Shihter stood next to me. Overcome with
fear and emotion she fell t. the ground
beating her head against the walls and
screaming. 1t seems as if all of us became
mad.
There are punishments prescribed by the
code of the prison rules for every trifing
offense, but this is not enough for them
and we are hourly subjected to insults AID
punlshments for no otfense at all The
soldiers are ordered to treat us insuitingly,
aud for every insta ce of their not having
acted with appropriate brutality they are
severely punished. Here is an instance
A few days ago when, loaded with fire
wood, we were returning to the prison, the
commandant ordered the soldiers TO
drag" us. What caused him to act this
way we cannot understand. He meant
wnat he ordered, while the soldiers inter-
preted his command in q more liberal way.
How could they understand him otherwise.
We meant no resistance, commit ed no
otfense and were actively going in the d-
rection in which we were to be dragged.
So the soldiers were content with pushing
forward one or the other and striking a
occasional blow. They paid dearly for their
INSTRUMENTATION; the court-martial sentenced
them to Imprisonment.
Six long years of prison life are yet be-
fore me; SIX years of unbeqrable moral and
bodily suffering. God knows il [ shall sur
vlve hem and once more sec the light of
freedom All my past, my fathers home,
my family aud frie Ids with their tender
love aud attention; all joys and happiness
of past years-all this seems like a dream
before the coarse reality. Dreams were
my delight during the first years OF my
exile life; | dreamed of home life; deans
cheered me, kept up my courage, my hope,
warmed up my mind and heart. Now
even the pleasure of dreaming is gone, and
apart from bayones, soldiers and com
mands my diseased brain can create moth
ing better.
Few words more concerning our mutual
friends Misses Rouienkova and Leshern
Won Herzfeldt are here undergoing life sen
fences; Misses Kovalskv tdementecn and
Armfeldt got fourteen years of hard labor
each; koutidonskaia and Savandovitch,
four years; Levonzon, eight years. and
Shihter, six years of hard labor Shihter
is rapidly sinking; would not live to see the
new year. As to myself skeleton evel-
oped IN skin, this is how | look to my
friends. My hope is vanishing; great effort
is needed to keep up rly courags and
desire to live. For Gods sake write me,
tell me word of sympathy, wake me up
from the state of mental lethargy which
drags me to my grave. N.
VERHoLIENSK, Aug. %, 1856,
ny Dear Frtend-lt is now over a year
since l wrote you my last, and although
material to write you was not wanting |
kept silent; what could tell you? To speak
OF myself, of my suffering and sorrows, is
to cause sorrow TO you, whose happiness is
dear to me. Therefore | shall not speak of
myself; let me, instead, acuuaint you with
the country whence | send you my love and
this message.
Kouznetzon writes from Bologansk about
40 miles Il ON the town OF Jak 1ntsk) settle
ment. the Jakontes, amongst whom he
with some other OF our friends live, are a
goot-hearted, hospitable people, but print
IF vii nd
filthy in their habits. They live in "urt4"
dog hou'es), together with whole herds of
their cows, and nothing to divide the men
from beasts except a thin board partition
The Jakontes never change their clothing
once put on 1t is worn until completely rot
ten; it falls off their bodies. On special oc-
casions and holy days. however, they Dire IS
profusely, and then precious furs of sable
and silver fox aud heavy silver ornaments
hide the dirty Undertaking.
His present home is one of the Jakont
urtas. There is no floor i'll it to speak of
mud takes the place of boards. A fireplace
without a chimney emits clouds of smoke,
which fills the house and fluids its way out
as best 1t can through holes in the roof and
walls. The principal source of warming
the house is, however, furnished by the
cows, of whom there are thirty. They
lmpregnate the atmosphere Inside with
such stencil, as makes life not worth liv-
ing, excepting to JakonteS. Food supply is
another of the dllemmas hard to solve
Although cattle are plentiful. meat is not
procurable upon their scanty allowance
from the government-nine roubles about
So so per month. Salt is to be got only on
rare occasions and at enormous prices. In
a word. the allowance is barely enough to
buv bread with
Let me tell you now few facts concern
ing Middle Colima settlements. take them
from letter by our friend Alexis Artasion-
OIL. In spite of all his appeals to the author
tiles IN lrkout,k to postpone his departure
thlther until next spring. he was taken from
the prison, and, under guard of two Jakont
Cossacks, driven to his destination. The
Journey lasted three months A great variety
OF vehicles were employed in this eventful
travel of our friend. First, wheeled trucks
drawn by horses, then "narty"-a narrow
sleigh for one man, drawn by reindeer.
Then he rode on horseback, tramped on
foot, and sailed in a boat. Two thousand
versts lone mile equals IL verstsl of the
wilderness were traversed in sleighs drawn
by reindeer. Four mountain ranges were
assembled and left behind. A glacier thirty
to forty versts wide was met and crossed
through a furious snow blizzard and
many rivers filled with broken-up ice
were forded. The remaining 500 versts
were made almost entirely in a row
boat through succession of immense lakes
and Hooded marshes. This is the kingdom
or sable aud silver fox. dogs are the oolv