Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-01-29

enchanting. the climate excellent, the
coll extremely fertile. But the little
settlement had not thought of drawing
the profit that II might from these adj
vantages. The outside houses were
occupied chiefly by the relations Of the
prisoners. All the thoughts " the
community centercd upon the ostrog
aud it, unhappy inmates. There wa.
not sufficient room for them In this
building.
Gas many rs seventy people were In
four rooms. They slept upon wooden
benches without bedding Of any kind,
and each had 10 little room that Il was
necessary 90 pay attention 10 every
movement In order not ~ knock against
your nclghbor: the noise which the
chains made was intolerablc. Hut
youth, health. and, above nll, the
friendship which bound these young
fellows together, enabled them 20 bear
all their pains toumgeously. The
suffering; they were heavy aud, above
all, excessively short, which was
dreadful, especially for tall men like
Ivan.n
The ladlc. were allowed on occasions
to 20 and see their husbands In prison.
TirE rNILEs' LOT ~ ls2s.
The prisoners passed their lives IN
manual labor, sometimes within, some.
times outside the precincts Of the pris.
on. How the life changed them In
outward appearance may be derived
from thel following description u Ma.
dame Annenkon's young aud brilliant
husband:
"rho Princess Troubetzkoy told me
how struck she was when. upon her
arrival IN Tchita, she saw Ivan Alck.
audrOvltch for the fret time nj work
He was sweeping the street and heap.
Ing tho gravel into a cart. He was
dressed Ia an old shccpskin pell,se with
rope round hls waist. HIS beard,
which he could neither cut nor shave,
had spread over his entire face. The
princess did not recognizes him nj first,
and when her husband named Amen.
koif she would not believe II was the
same elegant young man with whom
she had formerly danced at her moth
cr'- balls"
This Princess and another, Princess
WolkhOvsky, were the first wives Of
this batch 10 follow their husbands Into
exile. They prepared the way 10 some
extent for the other women, aud had
had terrible hafdships 10 undergo.
They had Joined their husbands nj
Ner,chin.k, where the Commandant was
brutal, AMI they were not even allowed
IN scc thcir h,i-bn 1de. rriiice Tfou.
bctzkoy used TO communicate with his
wife by mrana Of wild ilowers, which
he used to pick and drop upon hls
path. I..
These two charming women, who
hal been loaded with all the pleasures
OF lille, had TO bear every form Of prlva.
ton. They accepted them all heroic.
ally. For ncarlya year Princess Trou-
bctzkoy lived solely on black bread and
kvass.
The rules Of TchIta were very severe,
but the whole settlement were under
the orders Of "good aud generous
commandant, Laparsky, who made life
endufable by relaxing the rules at his
own discretion. Hurbands were al.
lowed after n time 10 visit their wives,
and the natural gaiety OF youth ASSERT
cd Itself In sIAl0 VI circumstances. The
ladies loarncdto cook. There used 10
be little dinner parties, and for few
pages the souvenirs" have all the
charms Of desert Island story.
THE FERTILITY or SIBERIA.
Madame Annenkofi' set the example
OF cultivating "a garden. And the eX-
traordinaty fertility OF the soil di-cov-
cred itself. Not even ia the "Swiss
Family Robinson" did cabbages. n we
remember rightly, grow NO big that one
man could not carry two OF them, but
had TO bring them In cart, as hap.
pcped 10 Madame Anncnkofi.
at IN impossible TO imagine, " she
says, ''the Size TO which the greater
number Of vegetables grew. There
were bcetroots weighing twenty
pounds, turnips OF eighteen pounds,
potatoes OF nine, carrots Of eight"
Soon she did not know how 10 use
all tho product OF her garden, especial
IS rs the other ladies had followed her
example with no less success. SIN all
Siberia" she remarks, vegetation IL
surprising, but We were especially
struck Win that Of Tchita." The re-.
suits OF the gardening brought very
welcome addition % the diet Of the
prisoner, which, before the arrival Of
their wives, had consisted chiefly OF
cabbage soup thickened with buck.
wheat Hour. The ladies' were allowed
20 send food Into thU prison. Madame
Annonkoif's chief difficulty was 10
cook without stove, which was, OF
course, n luxury unknown In Tchlta.
She managed nj flrst with three braz-
ions, afterwards she succeeded In Oh.
tanning astoye.
HUMANITY or TIM OFFICIALS.
There came terrible moment for the
good old oommandant, when he dis.
covered, by tho letters OF these ladies
10 their homes, which he was obliged,
Ia his capacity Of censor, 10 read, that
the numbers OF his little colony were
likely to Increase. He knew how To
govern prisoners, he had learned To
deal with prlsontrs' wives, hut nursery
regulations were beyond him. Madame
AnnenkOn was one ~ the offenders; n
Madame NIoupvieif and Madame
Dsyilon were ~ bad, The command
ant gravely endcavored TO demonstrate,
but again the gaiety Of youth got the
better Of the situation. lie was
laughed ut for his pains, and ended
by good-naluredly accepting tho in'
evitahle, In the midst OF every danger
aud privation, good humour and kind
illness seem 10 have never deserted the
plucky little band. Madame Annen-
kOn,s husband was poisoned with
arsenic by disreputable servant dur
ing one OF his visits 10 her. lie nearly
died In prison after leaving her, but
the prison servant, recognizing the
symptoms which were common In
Siberia, where the use Of arsenic ~ an
instrument Of vengeance 10 extensive,
brought him Jug Of milk 10 drink,