The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1897-10-15
o., a RUSSIAN CONVEX s4lr,
Horror 81 the voyage from odcsIa ~
t.e Island Of saghnIin.


G.e Island Of saghniin.
The sailing Of a Russian convict shig
from Odessa for the Island Of saghalin,
In the japan Sea. is always an impress.
siye sight The motley crowd. indigo
nous to al countries Is Of course pres
ent, but there are In addition many
government officials. full OF Importance
In their emblazoned uniforms. and
more numerous members OF the clergy
attending 10 perform the ceremony OF
sprlnkling the ship with holy water.
aud TO give the inmates a parting bless.
ing and a godspeed Nothing Is done
In Russia without the help OF priests.
aud a Russian is bathed In holy water
from the cradle to the grave,
The religious ceremony over. II IL
with cargo OF heavy hearts that the
convict ship-usuaily built at Glasgow.
by the weighs anchor and de-
parts. for even hardened convict
would prefer serving his sentence on
MS native soil to dragging out bis ex-
istence in IL foreign land. But. how
ever that may be, the accommodation
Tor the thousand or more convicts on
board 10 ample and the arrangements
for their well-being complete. The
food provided Is good and wholesome.
and II Is not an infreuuent thing for
people In the saloon-the convict ship
carries ordinary passengers as well as
state prlEoners-to ask for convict soup
and rye bread
All the conyicts are in letters. wrls,
and ankle bracelets. with a connecting
chain. These and their half-shaved
heads present most hideous appear
ance. The daily routine on board Is I'M
varying therefore. TO change the mo-
notony. the prisoners have resort to all
Kinds OF devices to make the time pass
away as pleasantly as the clrcum-
stances will allow.
Most lower class Russians are horn
card players. 80 the convicts collect all
the odd scraps Of paper they can lay
their hands on. Clubs and spades are
roughly scrubbed on these slips with
the ink supplied for letter writing pur-
poses. while to provide hearts and dia-
monds OF the requisite color one or
more OF the company consents to have
a vein opened This delicate operation
Is performed with the aid OF the tin
spout Of a tea can. ground TO a sharp
edge on the iron deck. This impro-
vlsed lancet also does duty az razor.
serving 70 remove the remaining hair
from the head Of some devout follower
OF Islam. The stakes Of the card play
ers are knobs Of sugar. saved by rigor-
Gus economy at the tea table. when
these fa'l. bones and odds and ends are
substituted
On thu fifteenth day at sea the letters
are removed. This is. indeed. day OF
rejoicing. and the most hardened Grim
lnal gives vent TO sigh Of relief at
being released from these hateful EN-.
blems OF bondage.
The coveted freedom IN not, however.
OF long duration. A poor. inoffensiye
Crleman Tartar accidentally treads on
the foot Of regular cut throat villain.
to be seired Immediately by the throat.
The cry is instantly raised that the
Mohammedans are killing the Chris
tians. A general melee enaues, In
which racial hatred Ia given full play.
The guard Ia called out. and. turning
on the bot water hose pipes. which are
kept really for any emergency. soon
cows tho oombatants. The rlngloader is
placed In Irons and put on dry bread
and winter for fourteen days The Tar
tar is carried moro dead than alive to
the hospital, and the rest. guilty and
Innocent alike. are kept In chains and
shacklcs Ger the rest OF the voyage
From tho London Mail