The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-03-12
4 aa1ieita alu Eagle ghursday going arth II, 1891
IN A RUSSIAN PRISON.
A SUSPECTS ACCOUNT OF Ht8
FIRST DAY m A FILTHY CELL.
Covered Almost instantly with Horrfd
and Hungry vsxni.-Wsaring the cisas
of \ Diseased Conyiet-How Time Il
Pass>d In the Jni1s Of Russia.

AAe.S@y
of Diseased Conyiee-How Time II
Passed In the Jails 81 Russia.
Twas taken into enc Of the little courts.
In which were four cells, each with room
for ten persons The sleeping berths were
for ten persons, bat the space between these
berths and the wall was so narrow IS to
make 1t difficult for all the ten to walk at
once Several Of them generally sit or lie
on the berths. All the coils were open.
and the prisoners were In the court; some
were mending their ragged clothing. some
knitting stockings, some merely lying or
sitting in the sun: most Of them, however.
were employed in destroying parasites In
their hair or clothing.
Several persons surrounded me ard asked
who / was, how long was to stay. and
where was going. No one inquired why
was in prison; that question is considered
impolite in prison society. After having
satisfied the curiosity of the questioners,
most Of whom were in chains and were TO
be transported to Siberia, ! was taken
into q cell, where vacant place was shown
me on q sleeping berth an ell wide. with
dirty pillow stuffed with straw and no
mattress or blanket, for both Of which the
prisoners cloak serves
The prisoner who showed me my place
was the "elder of the ward" tstarostal; he
was very amiable to me, and recommended
one berth, remarking that. There's plenty
| of room here, there are only ten of us, in
all the other cells there are fifteen, that's
why put you here The fact is, that the
elder was building hopes on me, he had
noticed that / wore spectscles. and had
| therefore concluded that must be = gent
| leman." and. Of course, must know how TO
| write, and he was just then very anxious
| to write petition
l, of course consented, and asked him to
| explain to me his business. He began an
account, from which my attention was dis
| tracted by a sudden sensation Of burning
| all over "Oh, Is it they," he asked,
breaking off "They." repeated, wonder
| ing. He nodded; my experience was FAINT
| liar to him. Never mind" he said con-
soiingly; "they only bite SO furiously just
| at first, you won't feel them after bit"
ALIVE WITH vERNIN.
1 tore off my cloak; my shirt was liter
! ally covered with yernin. They were in
such swarms that l stood horror stricken
| il seemed to me that must die from them.
NV new friend, still trying to console me,
helped me off with my shirt, and We went
out into the court. Laying down the cloak
in the hot sunshine to get warm, we EN-
| ployed ourselves in clearing the SHIRT OF
| vermin. Before laying the cloak on tho
| ground the elder held it up for me to look
at, and it seemed 10 me to be almost fret
from insects. But after few minutes III
called my attention to it again.
The vermin hidden in the coarse canvas
texture had come out to the heat IL was
only then that / understood in what con
dition the clothing was that had been giver
me. drew back with the bitter convic
ton that it was useless to struggle agains
such endless legions. But my instructor
assured that there was no need TO despair
that must have patience, and that. b.
working at it eighteen hours day, on
could get rid of great many in two days
There was nothing for it but to follow hi
advice; not that had any hope of success
but rather from sheer desperation. Blu
we had not long to sit in the court. AT
%. NJ. our names were called over, and W
were locked up in the cell. We hGhte
some tiny lamps. filed with grease, AM
went on with our work.
Some had contrived to get hold of a pac
of cards, and spent the time in playins
though with frequent Interruptions, as q
any moment the sentinel might look !
( and catch the gamblers in the act. whic
would have resulted in search and On
confiscation of the cards. One OF the pri
oners, therefore stood admiring the beat
ties of the darkness, acting meanwhile q
scout, and gave notice with movement {
his foot every time the sentinel approached
Then instantly all the gamblers would pu
on the most innocent air and occupy then
selves in some other way. At a. m v
5 were let out. had not slept at all nor el
tanned one moments relief from the to
| ment of the vermin-
A REPULsIvE GARMENT
The prisoners crowded round the we
Z and drank. Some took off their ciothin
y and washed it, remaining naked viii
/ they did So The morning chilhness wi
q still in the air. ! and my new friend r
9 sumed our toll of the day before. He vi
e evidently well accustomed To the wor
a and looked compassionately upon my !
b norance and clumsiness. You don't
G. know how to manage; you look half afra
n of them. You shouldn't go at IL so 81
II gerlyi know whose cloak that Is,