Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-04-02
A SIBERIAN EXILE.
A poLlsH-AMERlcAN's HORRIBLE Ex-
FERENCE IN RUSSIA.

]
brewery manager in this city is a well G
yno,vn citizen upon whose head good
nrice is set by the Russian government, I
and whose story has all the horrors OF ana '
more intensity than the narrative OF George {
Kepnan concerning the Siberian exlles.
Theodore Bender, manager OF the 20 | :
lucrative brewery, is well known souUh
side resident. lie walked into Attorney
Bauders Office last week.
"Cold morning." he said by way of greet
ing. ,.T,,.-,,s
a touch of Siberia in this
"Siberia-ba. ma, hap laughed Mr.. Ben
der. 81 could give you few points upon
that" III
did so. ,.-o,,
At about the time the civil war was rag
ing in this country the inhabitants oil 70
land made their last determined stanu Ior
freedom. Bender was a boy OF elghueen
wears. In 1861 he entered the Pollsh army /
and for a year and half ana not kho"
what it. was to sleep under roof. lnthree
r,root battles which were fought he re
ceived wounds. The troop Of which he was
n member was surrounded by the cZars
forces and siege began. The provisions
~ tbe besioycd were exhausted, ana Jhey
were compelled TO kill their horses lor
meat Mr.. Bender says that young horse
0,.sb is as sweet rs chicken. After uhuoIa
rrivations a break for liberty was MADE
bnret strucz Bender i'm the back OF his
- a,d he tumbIrl from his horse. He
-o,,,r,bered nothing until he recovered
.onsciousness in o. hospital. When he had
narrially recovered he was confined nine
months i'm Jail. ....
FIGHT WIN RUSSIAN GUARDS.
No trial was given him, but he was sen
fenced to twenty-five years al nara lauo
in the mines Of Siberia. In the nine hohOhS
Of his Imprisonment he was allowed very
Ii4tIo food and barely sufficient water to
drink. He asked for water to WASH IN puU
,vas refused. and the slime Of the cell was
t,,cr,,stcd over his skin and clothing.
FINALLY he. with over 200 prisoners, men,
women and children, were started Tor 81
beria under guard Of sixty soldiers. lie
Trained through the snow for seven
yoontbs Every day some Of the weaker
ones fell from exhaustion. They were
placed ON sIedgas which the other prisoners
were compelled Go drag.
At some of the villages the inhabitahJ
took pity on thom and gave the prisoner
covering for their exposed Feet 1000 am
,roter Al other places the inhabitant
,,cItod them with dirt and filth. The sol
diers offered them no protection. A
NTionsk-civiIization having been left b'
hind and escape being deemed lmpo'slDle-
the chains hy which the convlctS had pee
hound I'M pairs were removed. in the priso
men at this point the horrors endured o
the prisoners are scarcely descrlbable' We
min attacked them with the ieroclty
bunger. Some Of the creatures, it is Il
clared. were as large around as an oralnal
lead pencil and half an inch long, ana TN
covered the ceiling, walls and hunks col
pletely. ,,-,..
One night of such existence, added TO G
qufreriut of the exiles i'm the previous sew
months. decided a number of the mo
hardy Of the men. They realized that
those who endured the march few won
survive the expiration Of their senten'
and a general agreement was entered II
to attack the soldiers and escape or die
the attempt The eXiles had no arm
while the soldiers carried rifles and OIL
effective weapons. Sticks stones, a
even bare fists were TO be employed 10y
desperate rebels 10 secure their treedo
They waited until the train reached a 81
where the uuderbrush was thick. 1T
eighty of the men dropped their burd
and rushed upon the soldiers. Some W
tramuled down at once by the hor
Others fell under the murderous
incurred into their midst by the soldiers
soon as they could bring their guns to b'
REMARK hBLE ESCAPE.
In all thirty or forty Of the exiles "
left dead upon the ground. About twel
after alternately fighting and running
two hours. got into the brush and left
nursuers behind The little band scat
ID tonakc pursuit more difficult A
dozen. among whom was Bender Kept
uether. They sEulked and starved Tor
morths and seven days, avoiding the To
and picking up a precarious HNlhg
tbe German frontier was reached in sa
Thev were kindly treated by the Ger
ueople. aud Bender spent three month
The empire. Assistance reached him
friends I'M New York, and he took pass
arriving here July 4, 1863 Being well
Gated and intelligent, he found no
Guilty in securing employment, and Is
well TO do. He has not OF course
dared venture back to Russia, wher'
nolica would enforce severe punish
npon him for his escape. He learned
rio arrival that his father was a COW
the mines. and later heard OF his
there.
Mr. Bender married after his arr
sbis CITY. Hiswife was Polish girl.
had beep po5ses-ed of information COZ
ing a plot 90 again rebel against tn
of the car. She was arrested and rec
10 divulce all she knew. She refui
Give TN, information which would Il
the death or transportation of fifty OF
of the conspirators and was sent to |
For year and five months she was $
and tortured in the filthy prison. l
ically she was subjected to examin
but Invariably prolessed her entire
rance Of any conspiracy. The Russ
dcials finally became convinced TIA
knew nothing and let her 20. She '
.1uired % take an oath that she wo'
turn TO her home, but did not hold
bound by the cytortcd promise an'
to America. where she met Mr.. Benc
Bendcr's experience is barely o
here. The details are many of TIA