The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-10-27
THE RUSSIAN KNOUT.
A BRUTAL PUNISHMENT INFLICTED
IN THE CzAR'S DOMAIN.

One never knows for certain how
much OF the knout is left in modern
Russia. The telegraph wire still ut times
carries the horrid whiz of it from re-
mote Siberia, and only the other day
saw mention i'll news from st. Peters
burg of u now imperial ukase. "ubolish-
ing tho uso of the knout for the punish
ment Of offenSes committed by the peas
antry, which has hitherto been complete
ly ut the mercy of the local Judges in
this respect. was under the impress
sion that the local Judges had been
deprived of their knout for 20 years or
more, but the sender of this message
adds that Statistics were submitted to
tho car, showing that III ten years 5000
persons, mostly guilty of thefts of prod
uce had died after punishment with the
knout.'
Granted the iufiction of the lnout,
the 5000 deaths are easily believed.
The Instrument itself, supposing this re-
port to be true, evidently dies harder
than its victims. But even III Russia,
where the rod and lis equivalents have
had Il more extended and bloody exist
encc than in any other European state,
the humaner spirit of the age has been
felt, and one is disposed to regard as eX-
aggerated the statements just quoted.
Certainly we had been given 10 believe
that the llnout was abolished for all but
the gravcst otfensc rs long ago as 1866
But Russia has never been governed
wholly by its written laws, and there
are regions of that empire where a ullase
may be slow to reach the local Judges"
The merciful edict of 1866, however,
stopped short at the confines of Siberia,
and 1T was with the object of learning
to what extent the knout is used in the
Siberia of today that 1 sought al inter
view with Il distinguished and very in
teresting exile, NJ. Alexander Sochac-
zewski, OH Il visit TO England NJ So
chaczewsl1i, u Pole by birth, III artist
by profession, and in England to ar
range for the exhibition of n picture
which will move the sympathies of ev-
cry friend of the victims of the car,
was political exile III Siberia at the
age of p and suffered 4 u years i'll the
mines, during , - OF which he carried
night and day, chains of which marks
are permanently craven OH his ankles.
Twenty years i'll AL were the days of
his exile, and he counts himself happy
that he did not, like so many of his
comrades i'll oppression, perish under
that cruel yoke Indeed he speaks with
ont bitterness and says that even III ST.
IBERIA one may often forget oneself.
III. Sochaczcwski could say much about
tho imout. He had been many times Il
witness Of its intiiction. The llnout, in
fact, was III use i'll the mines during the
whole of NJ. SCchacZewsli exile, and
thosc who were condemned to it suffered
III public.
AT the present day NJ. Sochaczewski
believed that it WAS practically abolish
ed i'll 1898, but the governor retains Il
certain discretionary power, which may
mean much i'll Siberia. Would NJ. So
chaczewski describe the punishment?
He took IL half sheet of note paper and q
pen and made Il rapid sketch. "That is
tho knout," he said. A band of leather
as is well known, serves the cxecu-
toner for handle, and the knout it.
Eclf Is Il single thong of leather, rough
and very hard, tapering toward the ex-
trcmity, where it is weighted with
ball of lead With this the exccutioner
who is generally q rcprievcd murder
er-can intiict as great or as little suf-
fering rs he pleases
Thus" said NJ. Sochaczcwski. "the
prisoners would sometimes give him a
rublc to prove his skill, when he would
strike one Of them, apparently with full
force, across the palm of the hand, but
the blow would scarcely be felt and
would not leave IL scratch With the
same instrument lie could kill at Il single
stroke, and was occasionally bribed by
Il condemned prisoner to do So breaking
the ribs and almost tearing ont tho
heart.
What number Of strokes, l asked M.
S0chaczcwski, We're ordinarily inflicted?
lie replied that it was of no great con
sequence, lnaslnuch as punishment with
the knout was generally regarded rs Il
sentence OF death. A man under SEN
tcncc of 100 lashes might die at the
third lash, i'll which case the remaining
81 would be given to the corpse. 1t was
possible, II the eXccutioncr did not en-
ploy his whole art or strength, for the
victim to escape death, but he would
then inevitably be IA cripple for the rest
OF HIS HE. There were men in the hos
pit@l i'll his timo whom the llnout had
maiincd forever
asked whether tho knout exhausted
the resources of penal discipline i'll ST.
IBERIA. BY no means" said M. So
chacZewsll.
He took up his pen again, and scratch
ell Inc picture of whip called the
plet, which has three tails of twisted
leather, with bits of metal at tho tips.
7