Connecticut western news., 1891-02-11
CHAINED TO A CORPSE.
The Awful Fate of a Yankee Seal Poacher.
SENT TO THE SIBERIAN MINES.

The Horrible Experiences of Capt. Mor-
 ris, One of the Survivors of an Ameri-
 can Ship Which Was Fired Upon and
 Captured by a Russian warship.
 BOSTON, Feb. 9.-One of the greatest out rages ever inflicted upon American citizens by the decree of foreign power has been the imprisonment of four New England sailors-one of them born in Boston-for two years and ten months in Siberian coal mine One American died, after starv- ing upon rice soup and being eaten by vermin. This seems also to have been the fate of the twelve or fifteen Japanese who made up the rest of the crew. The first member of this little party to reach home after being mourned as dead is Capt. Joseph w. Morris, of this city. He suffered un- heard of cruelty as punishment for poach- ing in Russian territory, and is one of two survivors of the awful punishment in- flicted upon the crew. The fact that he was poaching invalidates his claim for in- demnity from the Russian government.
 No More Poaching for Him.
 He had made one successful expedition to the islands in Behring sea and then he tried it again. The second time he had an experience which has efectually cured him of poaching on Russian territc-- The schooner was the Helena and was manned by four American and twenty-two Jap anese sailors. Capt. Morris was in com mand. F. c. Crocker, of Searsport, Me-, was second mate; Buck Folger, of Nan tucket, was third mate, and J. c. Colder, of Bath, was shipkeeper. The schooner made successful run to the islands, se- cured a full cargo of skins, and was headed for Yokohama, when Russian man-of-war overhauled her. The result is told by Capt Morris as follows:
 Fired Upon by the Russian.
 "We were afraid of being captured on account of the sealskins we had on board, and we quickly made for fog bank. The man-of-war was probably making twelve or thirteen knots, and as she came out of the fog and sighted us she was about six miles distant. She immediately fired a shot for us to heave to. Instead of heaving to, however, we cracked on every stitch of sail, but it did little good, for the Russian soon began to drop shot around us pretty close We held consultation and consid- cred the chances of escape and capture. The rest thought we could make the fog bank and elude our pursuer, though 1 felt doubtful about it myself, but we decided to try it. But it was no use.
 "When about one and a half miles from the fog bank the man-of-war began to shoot clean over us, and at last one shot cut the mainmast in two There was noth- ing to do then but heave to.
 The crew were then made prisoners, but were compelled to live out of doors nearly two months while awaiting trial No food was given them. The trial was conducted in Russia, and the prisoners were not told what the evidence against them was. The only thing they knew was that they had been convicted of violating the seal and fishing laws. Capt. Morris continues:
 ''At the end of week we were taken out, wet and hungry, and started on the road to Nicolaski, 15O miles to the northward. We all walked, and slept under cover only two nights of the march, which took us twenty three days. When we reached our destination we learned that we were sen- fenced to work in the mines three years.
 "Our rations were pound of dry bread day. Each of us received from the in terpreter paper stating that each must dig and send up from the mine five car loads of coal ss day. If the stated amount of coal did not come up no rations would be sent down, so that if any of us were sick we would have to starve to death. was the first to go down and I did not again see the light of day for two years and ten months. I was left in pit POO feet long and about 20 wide.
 fThe darkness was so intense that was never able to see more than a few feet in front of me. After had been down lit tie while saw light at the other end o1 the pit. 1 at once went toward it and there beheld one of the most woful sights 1 ever saw in my life. It was man six feet tall and built in proportion. He was | covered with coal dust from head to foot his clothes were in tatters, and he looked like fiend. The light that I had seen came from the miners lantern on his head.
 Chained to Maniac.
 "On seeing me he let forth savage yell and came toward me rapidly, talking in Russian to which I could only reply with shake of the head. Later an officer came down, bringing with him two belts and 6 chain with riveting instruments. The belts were of thick leather, padded on the inside so that they would not cut into us when put on. The officer rivited two bands of iron to the outside of these belts, anG then put one on each of us, connecting us with an iron chain eight feet long. Up te this time the Pole for that, learned, was the nationality of my fellow prisoner, ha6 worked in the pit alone.
 ''Why we were chained together I dit not know, and don't know now, unless ii was to increase the punishment or prevent escape The Pole was really insane, ant for day or two he ate my rations ana threatened to kill me when expostulated l At last hunger drove me to desperation and the Pole and I had a terrible fight. HI was much stronger than I, but he had n, skill, and gave him a sound drubbing After that we got along all right.
 Manacled to the Dead.
 At the end of three monthsI awoke on' morning and found my companion dead Twas chained to dead man and with fiv car loads of coal to send up or no rations through at the waist, removing the belt thus freeing myself from the body, ant placed the corpse on the car and sent then up on the next load o1 coal
 | "Time went on endless as it seemed, ant nothing occurred to break the monoton. until one day an officer descended with large sheet of paper. He could not tall English, but merely motioned for me t. get into the car This I refused to do, be cause was more scared to go up than t. stay where I was.
 "He then returned up the shaft and sool came down again with an interpreter, wh told me that my term of imprisonmen 5had expired. Cr.;ker was released witt me. I could get no tidings of the others and presume they died in the mines Lately have heard that Colder also sur vived, but I have no authentic information to that effect"
 Ex-Chief Justice Appleton Dead. l Mo Fah of I'm ct John Appleton died sl. ldenly Saturday He was nearly S7 years of age.
 Will Cannon Be the Secretary? / | WASHINGTON, Feb 9-A report was cuI