The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-05-17
AN ISLAND PRISON.

AN ISLAND PRISON.
Eaghalien the Prospective Horne OF rus
s;a's Convicts MOVE in Siberia.
American readers who have been sur
feite6 with more or less exaggerated
descriptions of the Siberian exile sys-
TEN may not be generally aware. says
"a correspondent, that for many years
already the island of Saghalien on the
Pacific coast of Siberia has received a
certain number of deported convfcts,
thus occupying in a measure the same
relation TO the mother country that
New Caledonia does to France. A
measure is now under discussion before
the imperial council of Russia which
proposes a general transfer OF couvicts
from the Russian al daSiberian prisons
TO the island of'Saghalien.
The island of Saghalien stretches it
self in parallel line to the coast Of
Eastern Siberia. 1t was first occupied
in 1858. just prior TO the Crimean war,
bv ADM. Nevelsky, acting under the in
structions from the celebrated governor
of Eastern Siberia, Gen. Mur2vietf-
Anursky The first post established
there received the latters name. The
northern extremity of the island lies
opposite the mouth of the Amur river.
It's center IS intersected by the fiftieth
parallel of northern latitude and its
southern end reaches the forty-tifth.
The island is narrow and irregular in
shane. FIVE hundred and sixty miles
long. with an average width of sixty
miles. being seventeen miles wide at its
narrowest part and one hundred and
twenty at its brOadest. On the east
Saghalier is bounded by the sea Of
Ol.hotsk and on the southwest by the
sea OF Japan. 1t is separat ted from the
Furthermore northern island of the
japanese Archipelago. EesSo. by the
straits of Laperouse, and from the
Asiatic continent by the gulf of Tar
tary with a minimum width of five
miles
For the past few years the number of
coDvicts deportec to Saghalien has 2v-
eraged one thousand per annHm. They
have been forwarded To their destina~
ton IN two patches OF about five hun
dred each. Prior 30 1854 only men We're
deported: since then. however. also
women ano children. many convicts be-
ing granted the privilege of taking
their families along with them. The
wisdom of this measure has been JUST
fed by the event. since it has laid the
foundation to legitimate COLOMBIA ton
of the island The same now contains
numbers of Woodworking Immigrant
settlers besides the released convictS
who have been allowed to settle down
as free men. A sentence to deportation
to Saghalien involves hard labor either
in the coal beds or the public works.
1t is usually for life, but good behavior
on the convicts part always initiates
in his favor in the long run, and after
term of years he is allowed a certain
amount of freedom. Not a few of these
released convicts. by dint of persever
,ance and hard work, have even ac-
.quired fair competence. They own
arms and land, and. while tabooed by
official society, are not without their
social pleasures. One man. a desperate
bandit from the heart of little Russia,
died a year ago. leaving many acres of
fine pasture land. one hundred head of
cattle and five houses to his son and
daughter. HIS son is being educated at
Nladivostok at government expense,
preparatory te being sent TO the St Pc
tersburg school of mines.
Saghalien is now dotted all over with
thriving villages. Some contain one
hundred houses. others less than
twenty. Tins largest of vi, Ril1off,
boasts three hundred dwellings, a large
church, flour and saw mill and many
workshops.
The question may new be asked. how
is the Russian convict to be benefited
by undergoing his sentence in far-off
Saghalien instead Of at home or in ST.
IBERIA? IN other words. will the cause
of humanity be served by the proposed
change? I think | can safely answer
in the affirmative. Even the signs
We're wanting that the Ru,s,ia govern
1nent has finally hearkeneG - the voice
of the critics of its penal system and
lS entering upon an era of reform, the
very fact that the loathsome dungeons
and frtid mines of Siberia are TO be re-
placed by open air la Dor is of itself an
immense stride forward
The hard lot of Russian prisoners
hitherto, and more particularly their
confined condition. has been due to the
necessity of providing agsinst escapes.
No such necessity exists in Saghalien.
thanks TO her isolation. The stormy
seas that wash her shores form an eff
fectual barrier to all attempts 10 flight
The convict there must feel that no
personal effort of his could carry him
thence. and in accepting his lot he
seeks comfort in the thought that good
behavior will eventually secure him
full liberty within the confines of his
island home and afford him a chance TO
reha bilitate himself As to the future
of the colony. one need only point 20
Australia and Tasmania as an evidence
of the possibility OF forming the nucleus
Of substantial community from the
class Of humanity constituting Il penal
settlemtnt.-N. \. Herald
Not AT All Surprising.
Father-Iou seem to look at thincs
sn different light since your marriage.
His newly married daughter-Weil. I
ought to after receiving fourteen lamps
and nine candelabras for wedding pres
ents-Brooklyn Life.
4 Hard Woman to Please.
There is no pleasing Mrs. Adipose,"
said Parker. she got in crowded
ear the other day, and when three men
got up to offer her seat she got mao.
Took il as reflection upon her size -