Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-03-10
IN A RUSSIAN PRISON.
4 SUSPECTS ACCOUNT or HIS
FIRST DAY IN A FILTHY CELL.

Covered Aimcs, Instantly with Hor''
and uunsry vsrmIs-- Wearing the ciosl
of [. diseased Couviet--Bsw Time
Passed In the JAN. Of Iisssia.
Iw,.taken into ono Of the little courts
In which were four cells. each with rOofl
for ten persons. The sleeping bcrths wer'
for ten persons. hut the space between thes'
lerths and the wall was 80 narrow As y
make II difficult for all the ten 10 Walk a.
ouce Several 81 them generally VT or W
on the bertbs. All the cells were open
and the prisoners were In the court. som'
werr mending their ragged clothing son'
knitting stockings. some merely lying ~
sitting In the SUM most Of them. however
were employed In destroying parasites In
their hair or clothing
Several persons surrounded me aud asked
who ! was. how long was 70 stay. aud
where was going. No ono Inquired why
WINS In prlsoni that question j. considered
impollte In prison society. After having
Satisfied The curiosity Of the queslioners,
most Of whom were In chains and were to
l., transported 10 Siberia, | was taken
into q cell, where a vacant place was shown
me ON sleeping larth an ell wide, with q
dirty pillow stuffed with straw and no
mattress or blanket, for both Of which the
prisoners cloak serves.
The prlsnner who showed me my place
vas the "eldsr Of tho ward" tstArostal; he
wps VERY amlable TO me. and recommended
cue berth, remarking That, There's plenty
Of toom here, there are only ten " a., In
all the other cells therehr hfteen; that's
why pot you here" The fact l., that the
elder was building hopes on me. he had
noticed TINT | wore spcctacles, and had
Therefore concluded that mus, be gent
leman." aud, u course, must know how r.
write and he was Just then very anxious
10 write petition.
l. Of course consented, and asked him 70
explain TO me hi. business. lie began an
account. from which my attention was dis.
trscted by sudden sensation Of burning
all over. "Ohi II II theyv he asked.
breaking OF. They" frepcate'i, wonder
Ing, lie nodded; my experience wnH FAINT
liar TO him. Never MUD" he said con.
solingly, "thcy only bite so furiously just
NJ first, you won't feel them after a blt.'
ALIVE WIN vrnMiS
tore on my cloak: my shirt was liter.
ally covered with yernin. They were In
such swarmN that stood horror stricken;
My now friend. still trying Ia CONSOLE me,
helped me on with my shirt. aud We went
out into the court. Laying down the cloak
In the hot sunshine 10 gut warm. We em.
ployed ourselves In clearing the shirt OF
sermin. Before laying the cloak on the
ground tho elder held u up 10; me TO look
at. and Il seemed TO me 10 10 almost frre
from Insects. Hut after few minute. he
sallal ftN altantlan a. IA utrulp
The vcrmin hidden In tho coarse canvas
texture had come out TO the heat. II was
only then that | understood iu what con
dillon the clothing was that had been given
me. drew back with the bitter convlc.
ton that u was useless 10 struggle against
such endless legions hut my Instructor
ASSURED that there was no need 20 despair.
that must have patience. and that. by
working at n eighteen hours day, one
could gct rib Of great many In two days.
There was nothing for II but To follow his
advice; not that had any hops OF success,
but rather from sheer desperation hut
We had not long 10 lit IN the court. Al !
y. IN. cur names wore called oyrr, aud we
were locked up In the coll. We lighted
some tiny lamps. Allied with grease. aud
went on with our work.
Some had oontriycd TO got hold OF - pack
OF cards, and spent the tins In playing,
though with frequent Interruptions, ~ at
any moment the sentinel might look In
and catch the gamblers In the act, which
would have resulted 10 q search and the
eoniiscatlon OF the cards. One 81 the pris
onerr, Therefore. stood admiring the beau.
tie. Of the darkness, acting meanwhile ~
scout, and gave notice with n movement OF
hr foot every tim. III. sentinel approached.
Then instantly all the gambler would put
on the fnost Innocent air and occupy them.
selves In some other way. Al . a. m. ws
were let out. had not slept nj all nor oh
tanned one moments relief from tho toE,
ment Of the ycrmln.
gKruLsIvr GARNfNr
The prisoner. crowded round the well
and drank. Some took off their clothing
and washed u, remaining naked while
they did 80. The morning ohlllinoa- was
sull In the air. ! and my new frirnd re-
sumcd our toll Of the day before lie was
evidently well accustomed To the work,
and looked oompassionatcly upon my W.
norancc and clumsincss. "Yon don't BIZ
know how to manage; you look half afraid
Of them. You shouldn't 10 at Il 20 gin
gerlyi know whose CLOAK that H." he
went on. "a fortnight ago there was a
fellow here. Jack Fool. we used 10 call j
him; quite a natural one. yon know.
'Iiewas always soft In hi. head, and then
he was III. too Just all over wounds and
sores from head 10 foot. Well there he'd
lie. and Of course he got all over thcs,
creatures, he never tried To get rid Of them.
Of cours. decent fellow wouldn't IL. bis
cloak get into that state, but th. fool didn't
care-not he; he didn't seem 10 have any
feeling. somehow
On learning the biography Of my cloak
appealed b, him In horror to know whether
could no, possibly get II changed for an.
other. He at first maintained that it.was
quits needless, that he could get rid OF the
verrnin. that one could not catch disease.
from clothes, etc, but he failed W convince
me. "of course" he remarked at last,
zone can get Il changed. i'm cost a lot, but
II can he done; here slr, anything can 10
got for money. Why, not only clean things,
you can have .pirita, playing cards, paper.
pens aud lnk-anything you like"
My cloak was changed that day. Pris.
oners are not allowed TO have money 10
their Possession, but a prisoner who has
money 10 his account In the onlce can buy
thugs In the prison shop by order
Tie dealer, like banker, cashe. your
order, though IN goods instead Of money,
and takes 70 per cent. himsalf for trouble
and risk.
That evening felt far less miserable, IN
consequence of n clean CLOAK. Free Russia.
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