The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-09-14
PRISON HORRORS
IN MACEDONIA.
Prisoners Confined and Chained
in Dark and NOisome Cells.
The Cruel Tortures to Which the Poor
Wretches are Subjected Chained to Pill
lar and Large Ants Turned Loose.
IctE1ERY reluctantly, and with many mis-

SaHkE. givings, the MuShir of U skub in Mace
pA2eS donia Ahmed Ayoub Pasha, gave me
a letter OF introduction to the chief
of the gendarmery, who alone could
give permission TO inspect the large
prisons, writes a correspondent to the
London Daily News. ''The Mushir in
quired over again of the dragoman whether
had eyinced friendly feelings towards the
Turks, or whether L was an enemy.
"The draeoman's ingenious replies" says
the correspondent. Eat last inspired him
with sufficient confidence to allow him to
grant my request L went through the
badly-paved and filthy streets of the town,
and reached the residence of the Com
mander of the gendarmery of the Prov
ince of Uskab. He was quite as surprised
rs the Mushir when he heard that | wished
to visit the prisons, declaring that since he
had been in Office no European had ever
seen them, and that in the rare cases when
Consul representing foreign ROVER had
wished to see them, he had always given
twenty-four hours notice.
Before en- ering had to swear that was
not Consul, and that was what the drago-
man had described me to bs-a European
hunting for antiquities. The fact that was
not Consul, however, impressed the Turk
more than anything, and he politely invited
me to take coffee and to smoke narghileh.
L
number of men to the prisons to announce
my visit and to give some special orders
the execution of which took some time, and
and | was kept drinking coffee and smoking
for nearly an hour and half. At last my
host rose and invited me to follow.
I'VE soon entered the largest prison of the
province, which is called 'Kurschumla,' or
the House of Lead. 1t rises out of the
River Warda, not far from the fortress, and
occupies a vast area. Soldiers, presenting
arms, formed two lines which reached to
the interior courtyard. where a number OF
prison officials were awaiting us.
THE COURTYARD IS SQUARE,
And surrounded on all sides by the build
ing. which has three stories. A loggia, or
covered balcony, runs all round on each
story. The commander first showed me
great number of red inscriptions on the
made by Genoese or Venetian mer-
chants in the seventeenth century,
who, perhaps erected the building
as warehouse for the Oriental goods
which they sent to Europe. OF course |
affected great interest in these inscriptions
to keep up my character as an antiquarian.
and l noticed that the commander no longer
distrusted me. After this we assembled the
staircase to inspect the first story. There
was scarcely room to pass on the steps, so
covered we're they with aecumulations of
dirt and eXerementS, which filled the air
with pestilential odor.
In the sO-called office | was shown the
books, according to which the kurSchumla
contains 149 prison cells and 1911 prisoners
Those on the first and second floors are
sentenced for slight offences, and the time
of detention varies from one TO ten years
| do not believe that any prisoner has ever
Outliyed the fifth year Of imprisonment
in these l0athsome dark cells. In this
resp ct the prison officials confirmed my
suspicious by saying that the mortality was
- &,
lived to the end OF their time. In a cell
certainly not larger than two and half
yards square. and of about the same height
between fifteen aud twenty prisoners are
confined. All they can do by being friendly
and making room for each other is to stand
up and lie down again, aud they are allowed
half an hours walk in the courtyard once
in the day.
"But how shall l describe the pitiable as
peet of these poor creatures? With hollow
cheeks. the pallor of death upon their faces,
and terrible prOtruding eyes they wrilhe in
continual agony on tho floor, not only pant
ing for air. but suffering from want of food.
They receive absolutely nothing but bread
and water. even if their sentence be for life.
If their friends send them money they are
allowed TO buy meat twice a week, but the
prison officials brulally cheat them out of
three-fourths of what is sent to them. Thus
exposed to hunger and thirst to the pes
thence in the atmos phere;
CONFINED IN THESE BLACK HOLES,
Without the possibility of moving about, and
kicked and outraged by the brutal prison
guards, no wonder that they succumb to their
misery! The greater number of the prisoners
are naked from head to foot, with heavy iron
rings and chains on their wrists and ankles
As passed some of the cells, after looking
through the loopholeS in the doors. the prison.
eTS within pushed through stick to which
little leather bag was ATTACHED. | placed
RrNfaF hut bod i.
to whether the prisoners would benefit by my
almsgivinE, and thought it more likely that
the greedy guard would take the money from
them.
1.-The cells on the first and second floors
are all alike. The degree of sickness and
misery of the inmates alone varies. The
cells in the underground prisons, where the
worst offenders expiate their crimes. are,
however. far more horrible even than those
/ have described. Here every ray of light
is excluded. In utter darkness the unhappy
wretcheS lie chained to the reeklng floor of the
cell. They are totally unable to change their
positions, and are released from their
, chains for two hours each day, lest death
should afford them an escape from this In
ferDo. The official who conducted me told
me with cynical smile how this class of
offenders is brought to confess. Hands and
feet are bound together, and the man is
placed at pillar, to which his head is
fastened, The victipl is thus absolutely I'M
able to move. The preparations completed,
the torture begins. There is always a stock
of large ants kept ready in little boxes and
of these about fifty are placed upon the body of
the poor wretch. The tortures he endures from
the bites of these insects seldom fail to make
him confess, no matter whether guilty or in-
nocent. Upon others the same effect is pro-
duced by ehaining them to the pavement of
the court yard and exposing them for a
whole day 10 the scorching rays of the sun
without the power of moving limb. Never
in my life had / so fully appreciated the
privilege OF breathing fresh air as when
turned my back upon the prisons of Uskub,
which, moreover, are but specimen of
what may be seen in every city of Mace
donia."
Several women Of the English nobility