Los Angeles daily herald., 1890-02-16
RUSSIAN ATROCITIES.
The Inhuman Treatment of
Political Prisoners.
MDE. SIHIDA FLOGGED TO DEATH,
Others, Despairing of Their Cruel
Fate, Put an End to Their
Lives.
Associated Press Dispatches to the HERALD.

Associated Press Dispatches to the HERALD
LONDON, February 15.-[Copyrighte(
by the New York Associated Press. j
Provided with cable dispatch of intro
duction from George Kennsn, the cele
bratt d Siberian traveller, the London
agent of the Associated Press called this
morning on Sergius Stepniak, the well
known writer on Russian political and
social conditions. Stepniak, when asked
whether he could give any information
in regard to the outrages in the political
prison at Kara, in Eastern Siberia, re-
piled that the reports already published
gave only hint Of the horrible tragedy
enacted at Kara. Perfectly trustworthy
information, he said, had been received
in cipher letters, that tell the story in
it's main outlines. The full details of the
story cannot be long now in reaching the
Western World, coming 80 soon after the
publicity given to the Yskutsk atrocity.
The facts go far received are as follows:
Madame Sibida did not commit sui
eide, as the earliest reports stated. She
died from the effects of cruel fogging
to which she was subjected. The fog
ging took place on Wednesday, the 9th
Of November. It was continued till
under the brutal blows the unhappy VIC
tim lost consciousness and lay as one
dead. The news of her shocking mar
der produced widespread dismay and
anguish among her female fellow pris-
oners, and three of them, unable longer
to bear their wretched fate, committed
suicide by poison. The names of the
women were Marie Kaluzhnays, Marya
Paoloona Karalefekaya and Madyehda
Smirnitskaya.
Marie Kaluzhnaya was arrested in
1884, girl of Is, on the charge of dis.
loyalty. Every means tried to extort a
confession from her, duplicating her
friends, was futile, until Colonel
Katauski brought her forged statement
purporting to be confession of her fell
low conspirators, and promising i'm
munity. Marie fell into the trap, con-
fessed and her confession was Used
against her friends, who were sentenced
to penal servitude. When che learned
the deception she procured revolver
and tried to kill Katauski. For this she
was sentenced to twenty years. penal
servitude.
Marya Paoloona Karalefskaya was a
young married lady, about 35 years of
age, of good family. In 1871 she was
sentenced to thirteen years penal servi
tudo with exile to Siberia for life, for be
longing to secret circle. Her husband
was rent 1000 miles from the mines to
which she was sent. The separation
drove her insane, and in 1881 she was
allowed to join her husband in the hope
of restoring her reason. She recovered,
but the new Governor separated them
again, and she was returned to the Kara
mines.
Madyehda Smirnitskaya was SO years
old and student in woman's college.
She was sentenced to the Kara mines for
fifteen years with penal servitude.
Shortly after the suicide OF the three
women brother of Marie Kaluzhnaya,
also political prisoner, died suddenly.
Another exile, named Botokov, com.
mitted suicide rather than submit to the
cruel humiliation and suffering of fog.
ging.
The fogging of Madame Sihida oc-
Cured under orders issued by Lieutenant
General Baron Korff, Governor General
of the province of Amourin, in which the
Kara prison is situated. These orders
directed that the secret edict of March,
1888, signed by Galkinevraski, Director
General of Prisons for the Empire
should be unfinchingly enforced.
The edict was to the effect
that political convic's should be treated
by the prison officials in precisely the
same manner as criminals condemned
for common law offenses. In what
particular wav Madame Sihida trans.
gressed the prison rules is not clearly ex
planned. but the fogging of sensitive
and cultured woman to death for any
lack of conformity to prison regulations
Stepniak thought would impress the
western world with profound horror.
The political prisoners at Kara
Stepniak said, had in some way learned
that the political exiles imprisoned a
Saghalien had also been subjected t,
cruel fogging. They were constantly
in dread of similar torture to that in
flicted upon Madame Sihida.
Stepniak thought it not unlikely tha,
the publication of the facts would force
the imperial officials Of Russia to take
some notice of the affair. But foggins
and all other brutalities we're entirely
due to the direct orders of the Centra
Government at St. Petersburg.