The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1893-05-06
KETCHUM ALTURAS COUNTY IDAHO SATURDAY. MAY 1893.
N SIBERIAN puneFons.
Blood-Chilling Experience Of Two
American Seamen.

Blood Chilling Experience OF Two
American Seamen.
The disclosures of life in Siberia
by George Kennan were rejected as
false by many Americans, because
they could not believe such things
possible, but two American citizens
have recently escaped from Siberia
with evidence which chills the blood.
These men-Paradyce and Will
son-were sailors on the sealing
schooner Mary H. Thompson, which
was driven by a storm to the coast
of Saghalien Island last July. The
two went inland for fresh water,
and the schooner was driven away
by a storm. The two sailors were
directed to a Russian station by the
Indians, and on reaching it COM
pletely worn out were at once clap
ped into irons as spies They re-
ceived pound of black bread and
half pound of raw salt beef per
day, and in wretched condition
we're driven to Carasock, the prin-
cipal seaport. :.
"When we arrived at Carasock,'
says Paradyce, I'VE were taken to
the prison in which dozen men
we're confined. The place had not
been cleaned out for months and
smelled horribly. Some of the men
in it had been there for three years,
and had worn heavy ball and
chain all the time. They were near
ly naked and were covered with
vermin. All of them had one side
of their heads shaved, and they
looked more like beasts than men.
That night we got piece of black
bread and a cup of water, and we
had to sleep on the bare floor.
"One of the men was lying in
corner groaning, and l soon dis
covered that he had that day been
given 60 lashes with the knout for
not saluting an officer as he passed.
The poor old mans back and hips
were literally cut to pieces. Every
other man in the room had been
hogged within a month, and there
were terrible wounds on all ofthem. !"
Wilson could speak the Swedish
language, and in this horrible place
they found a Swede, who acted as
interpreter. They had to write sep
arate accounts and stand long ex-
animation separately, each answer
being translated from English to
Swedish and thence to Russian. Of
course some trilling discrepancies
were found, and so they were told
that they had not cleared them
selves and must remain until neat
spring. Every Wednesday all the
5000 prisoners were mustered, 400
of them women and girls, to wit
ness the floggings.
The first day Paradyce saw it
seven prisoners, six men and a
woman, were the victims. The men
were ordered to strip, and then one
of them was seized by half a dozen
soldiers and dragged to the fogging
board. This is a stout plank IL
inches wide, with one end resting on
the ground and the other supported
by two legs, so that it reclines at an
angle of about 45 degrees. To this
the victim was securely strapped, +,
and then the convict who did the
fogging stepped to the front.
The knout, as often described,
has nine leather thongs, on which
sharp brass cleats or buttons are
rivited here and there. The execu-
toner brings it down with a sharp,
slanting blow, which cuts the flesh
into scores of bloody furrows. One
of the men died under the lash, but
the horror of horrors was to come.
Paradyce says:
"Then came the woman. The
poor creature was soon about to be-
come mother, and as she was led
past the Governor she threw herself
at his feet and begged that he would
postpone her fogging until after hel
baby was born. Her appeal was
in vain, for the Governor replied
that the laws made by the Car
must be obeyed, and she was or
dered to strip. The woman gave
one look at thc sea of faces around
her, and then with the assistance o1
one of the soldiers removed bel
clothing.
Like the men, she was stripped
naked and strapped to the board
At the third stroke she became in
sensible and remained so until the
full 50 lashes had been admins
tered, when she was taken from the
board and carried to the prison hos
pital. Three hours afterwards she
gave birth to dead baby. This
learned from the Swede, who Wis
tied the hospital every day. The
woman's body was in tatters."
i And this was only the beginning
Of horrors. Paradyce declares tha
in some cases the young womer
and girls, especially those of goot
families and accused of nihilism
are handed over to the common
soldiers to be dealt with at thei
l Al 4 -