The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-04-02
A SIBERIAN EXILE.
A L:SH-AMERiCAN'S HORRIBLE Ex-
PERlENCG IN RUSSIA

and Sentenced to the Mines of Siberia.
A Desperate Fight
Pursuing the peaceful occupation Of q
| brewery manager in this city is well
| known citizen upon whose head a good
price is set by the Russian government
and whose story has all the horrors of and
| more intensity than the narrative of George
KEENAN, concerning the Siberian exiles.
Theodore Bender, manager of the Co
operative brewery, is well known south
side resident. He walked into Attorney
Bauders Office last week
Gold morning." he said by way of greet
ing.
Yes responded the lawyer. "There's
touch of Siberia in this"
"Siberia-ha, ha, hal" laughed Mr.. Ben.
der Il could give you few points upon
that
He was urged to tell his story, and he
did so.
At about the time the civil war was rag
ing in this country the inhabitants of Pc
land made their last determined stand fol
freedom. Bender was boy of eighteen
years. In 1851 he entered the Polish army,
and for year and half did not know
what it was to sleep under roof. In three
great battles which were fought he re-
ceived wounds. The troop of which he was
a member was surrounded by the cars
forces and a siege began. The provisions
of the besieged were exhausted and they
were compelled to kill their horses for
meat. Mr.. Bender says that young horse
flesh is as sweet as chicken. After untold
privations a break for liberty was made A
bullet struck Bender in the back of his
head and he tumbled from his horse He
remembered nothing until he recovered
consciousness in hospital. When he had
partially recovered he was confined nine
months in jail
A FIGHT WITH RUSSIAN GUARDS.
No trial was given him, but he was SEN
fenced to twenty-five years at hard labor
in the mines of Siberia. In the nine months
of his imprisonment he was allowed very
little food and barely sufficient water to
drink. he asked for water to wash in but
was refused, and the slime of the cell was
incrusted over his skin and clothing.
Finally he, with over 200 prisoners, men,
women and children, were started for 81
IBERIA under guard of sixty soldiers. He
tramped through the snow for seven
months. Every day some of the weaker
ones fell from exhaustion. They were
placed on sledges which the other prisoners
were compelled to drag.
At some of the villages the inhabitants
took pity on them and gave the prisoners
covering for their exposed feet, food and
water. AT other places the inhabitants
pelted them with dirt and filth The sol
diers offered them no protection. At i
Observation-Disclosures having been left be- |
hind and escape being deemed impossible |
the chains by which the convicts had been !
bound in pairs were removed. In the prison
pen at this point the horrors endured by |
the prisoners are scarcely describable. Yer |
min attacked them with the ferocitv of |
hunger. Some of the creatures, it is de- |
clared, were as large around as an ordinary |
lead pencil and half an inch long, and they |
covered the ceiling, walls and hunks com |
pletely.
One night of such existence added to the |
suffering of the eXiles in the previous seven |
months, decided a number of the more
hardy of the men. They realized that of |
those who endured the march few would
survive the expiration of their sentence,
and general agreement was entered into
to attack the soldiers and escape or die in
the attempt The exiles had no arms.
effective weapons. Sticks, stones and
even bare fists were to be employed by the
desperate rebels to secure their freedom.
They waited until the train reached spot
where the underbrush was thick. Then
eighty of the men dropped their burdens
and rushed upon the soldiers Some were
down at once by the horses.
others fell under the murderous fire
poured into their midst by the soldiers as
soon as they could bring their guns to bear.
A REMARKABLE ESCAPE.
In all thirty or forty of the exiles were
eft dead upon the ground. About twenty,
Ifter alternately fighting and running for
wo hours, got into the brush and left their
,ursuers behind. The little band scatter
d to make pursuit more difficult A half
lozen, among whom was Bender. kept TO-
5ether. They skulked and starved for four
months and seven days, avoiding the towns
nd picking up precarious living until
he German frontier was reached in safety.
hey were kindly treated by the German
eople, and Bender spent three months in
he empire Assistance reached him from
riends in New York, and he took passage.
IRVING here July 4, 1866. Being well edu-
ated and intelligent, he found no diff
ulty In securing employment, and is now
rell to do. He has not, of course, ever
AIRED venture back to Russia, where the Z
olice would enforce severe punishment {
pom him for his escape. He learned after ,
Is arrival that his father was convict at
ne mines, and later heard of his death {
here. :
Mr.. Bender married after his arrival in [
ms city. His wife was a Polish girl She {
ad been possessed of information concern S
lg plot to again rebel against the rule '
the car. She was arrested and required =
} oivulge all she knew. She refused to
i've the information which would lead 10
he death or transportation of fifty or sixty
the conSpirators and was sent to prison. | Z
or year and five months she was starved @
nd tortured in the filthy prison Period 7
ally she was subjected to examinations. a
ut invariably professed her entire igno- t
lnce of any conspiracy. The Russian of
Gals finally became convinced that she r
new nothing and let her go She was re- s
aired to take an oath that she would re- p
Urn to her home, but did not hold herself t
ound by the extorted promise and came |,
} America, where she met Mr. Bender. f
Bender's experience is barely outlined
ere. The details are many of them too
locking for print. He declares that Ken
ans picture of life in Siberia is not over
World. e
Unshaved for Thirty Years. L