Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-10-30

Escaped from Siberia.
The Pitirni story of ItussIan EYiie'i
Sunerings.

Sunerings.
A Vancouver, B. c., despatch SAYS that
one of the passengers by the Steamship
Empress of India from Hongkong to that
port has tale of terrible suffering to relate,
such as few in Canada have ever eXpe-
rienced. Scarcely yet has he recovered
from the effects of his long period of misery
and privaton. Shortly after the Empress
of India reached Vancouver it was learned
that q stowaway who was an escaped exile
from Siberian prisons had been found soon
after the vessel put to sea. This man,
Demetrius KOnoplitsky by name, was seen
soon afterwarl. He could speak little
English, but not sufficient to make himself
clearly understood. One would expect to
meet a man who, though perhaps now i'm
adverse circumstances, would have the
bearing of one who formerly had been
leader among men, but, instra !, this poor
mans spirit seemed completely broken.
His face was almost colorless, his eyes
were sunk, and his voice was weak and
listless. He was a mere shadow of what he
had been. lie was of fair complexion, of
medium height, with light mustache, and
apparently about 30 years of age. Among
those aboard the ship was }. Hanson lay
Tor, the storekeepCr, who before joining
Telegraph. Mr.. Taylor during the voyage,
through Mr. Smith, one of the quarter
masters who speaks French and German
quite tluently, learned many details of the
eXile's history.
KonOplitsky had said that he was born
in 1884 in kozan. He had been printer,
afterward a soldier, and had then gone into
a lawyers office. This lawyer established
a democratic newspaper, the name of which
when translated means 1.-The will of the
people, and KonOplitsky was one of the
compositors. This publication could scarce
ly be called Nihlistic, although it was most
democratic in its views. Its suppression
was at last ordered by the Russian govern
ment, and one day everybody connected
with it, 10 in all, were arrested and held
for trial. The editor, two reporters, and
the foreman of the compositors were eX-
ecuted. The Others were obliged 10 walk
to Moscow, a journey of ten days, where
their trial was held. Some of the prisoners
were sentenced to exile for life, but the
majority for - years.
For two years they fingered in Russian
prisons. Then they were taken by steamer
up the Volga to Perm, and from there to
Teemen by train. From there they went
to Tobolsk, and from there party of some
600 eXiles, men and women, were marched
overland across the wilds of Siberia to
| krasnOyarsk, place about $50 miles from
the mouth of the Yenesei. Here Konop-
| litsky was condemned TO work in the gold
mines. Six years of untold suffering fol-
| lowed. Fourteen of the men were shackled
! together working far below ground in al
most total darkness. They all slept in
room about six feet by nine on bare planks,
and with one a little higher for pillow
| They began work at : a. NJ. in the winter
time, and finished at p. NJ, and in sum
mer time they worked from A. NJ, to !
p. NJ, with only one hours intermission,
| from to o'clock.
They got but one meal a day, and that
consisted of black bread and water, and on
| Sundays they were allowed a small portion
of canned beef. Almost as many Cossacks
as cOnvicts stood guard at the mouth of the
pit to absolutely bar all possible means of
escape. Any complaints were punished
most vigorously, and on one occasion Kon-
opltsky was stripped, with the exception
of belt around his waist, and shackled to
a rock and left exposed to the cruel Siber-
ian climate for "a hours, simply for stating
to the overseer that he was not quite com
Portable.
teen of them were working in the one shift
all shackled together. With a stone Kon-
oplitsky managed 10 remove the anklets.
The same opportunity of escape was offered
to the others, but he only, so far as he
knows, awaited himself of it. To Vladivo-
stock, the eastern seaport of Siberia, was a
long journey, but he undertook it, and,
after weeks of suffering reached it in
August One of the other prisoners had
managed to keep his passport by him dur
ing all these years, and he had given ii TO
konoplitsky to aid him, if possible, on the
way to liberty. At Nladivostock it had TO
be shown to a Russian official. Upon the
passport the description of the rightful
owner was given. The refugee almost
correspondent with the description given,
but KOnoplitsky had tattoo mark OF
Christ bearing the cross upon his forearm,
while the passport particularly pointed out
that there were no tattoo marks upon the
person to whom the passport had been
given.
The case was a desperate one and requir-
ed IA desperate remedy. With an ordinary
claspknife KonOplitsky cut the piece OF
flesh from the arm. The scar is not yet
healed. At Vladivostock he worked pas
sage on the Tagasakimaru, a japanese
steamer, to Nagasaki, trip of seven days.
For four days he remained in Nagasaki.
To Yokohama was four days trip in the
Kobe Maru. In Yokohama he remained
l6 days, but the greater part of that time
was spent in the hospital. When the En-.
press of India left for Vancouver he got on
board, and hid in life-boat and did moi
make himself known until after the shiI
was out sight of land.