The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1892-03-31
A SIBERIAN EXILE.
A POLlSH-AMERlcAN'S HORRIBLE Elk
PERlENcE IN RUSSIA.


Against the Gar, He Was Captured
and Sentenced to the Mines of Siberia.
a Desperate Fight
Pursuing the peaceful occupation of
brewery manager in this city is well
known citizen upon whose head 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. lie walked into Attorney
Bau ler's Office last week
"Cold morning." he said by way of greet
ing.
eyes" responded the lawyer There's
touch of Siberia in this"
''sSiberia--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 Po-
land made their last determined stand for
freedom. Bender was n boy Of eighteen
years. In 1861 he entered the Polish army,
and for year and half did not know
what it was to sleep under a roof. In three
great battles which were fought he re-
ceived wounds. The troop of which he was
member was surrounded by the czar's
forces and 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 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 a hospital When he had
| partially recovered he was confined nine
months in Jail.
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 ST.
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
Miensk-civilizatio 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 ferocity of
hunger Some of the creatures, it is de-
clared, were as large around ASIAN 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 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
while the soldiers carried rifles and other
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 a spot
where the underbrush was thick. Then
eighty of the men dropped their burdens
and rushed upon the soldiers. Some were
trampled 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.
REMARKABLE ESCAPE.
In all thirty or forty of the exiles were
left dead upon the ground. About twenty,
after alternately fighting and running for
two hours, got into the brush and left Their
pursuers behind. The little band scatter
ed to make pursuit more difficult. A hall
dozen, among whom was Bender, kept to-
gether. They skulked and starved for -four
months and seven days, avoiding the towns
and picking up a precarious living until
the German frontier was reached in safety
They were kindly treated by the German
people, and Bender spent three months in
the empire. Assistance reached him from
friends in New York, and he took passage
arriving here July 4, 1865. Being well edu.
Gated and intelligent, he found no diff
Guilty in securing employment, and is now
well to do. He has not of course, ever
dared venture back to Russia, where the
police would enforce severe punishment
upon him for his escape. He learned after
his arrival that his father was n convict at
the mines, and later heard of his death
there.
Mr.. Bender married after his arrival in
this city. His wife was Polish girl She
had been possessed of information concern
ing plot to again rebel against the rule
of the car She was arrested and required
to divulge all she knew. She refused to
give the information which would lead to
the death or transportation of fifty or sixty
of the conspirators and was sent to prison.
For year and five months she was starved
and tortured in the filthy prison. Period
ically she was subjected to examinations,
but invariably professed her entire igno-
rance of any conspiracy. The Russian Of
ficials finally became convinced that she
knew nothing and let her go. She was re-
quired to take an oath that she would re-
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