The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-12-08
FLOGGING IN SIBERIA
FEARFUL TORTURE TO, WHICH CON-
/ vlCTs ARE LIABLE.

vCTs ARE LIABLE.
The Story of the NIercilessly Brutal
Knout RS Told by n Russian Sur
geon-The Worst Criminals Chosen
to WELD the Lash.
Passing along gloomy passage of tho
Alexander prison, whose walls are cover
cd with black moldiness and reek with
the strong scsnt Of pine CODES strewing on
the floor. we find at the end Of the oorri-
dor chairs and tables for the authorities
who witness the infection Of the punish.
ments. Among the officials are lawyer,
the chief Of the prison and the surgeon,
and little way off Is placed the ''blook"
of threatening aspect, behind which stands
the wielder Of the knout, who awaits his
victims with curious look His garb Ia
apparently intended to make the situation
oil the more impressive. He wears tall
white head covering, soft felt Shoes q
blood red shirt with Its sleeves turned up,
and he carries the knout In his hand.
Along the one wall stands row Of con-
victs with smoothly shaved heads, and
facing them is long line Of warders arm
ed with loaded revolversin the hand. The
stiffness, a. Of the grave, which stamps
all present, Is broken from time to time
by the rattling Of the handouts and the
log letters and by furtive cough or the
rustling Of the papers upon the table Of
the prison governor.
"Who will be the nextf" Ia the question
that is oil too clearly to be read upon tho
deathlike features Of the "arrestants.
gCiNovCu1J 10 BALLAD ont hvy Tho
, In quiet, restrained voice. Sidorov steps
unsteadily and with an increasing tottsr
and rafting of his chains out Of the line
Of gray, long felt coats. note his lips
growing pale and the fear in his widely
opened eyes, as though he were hunted
wild beast.
"Lie down" is the command. Hastily
making the sign Of the Cross on his breast,
Eidorov lies down at length on the bench
and throws each arm around II. He IL
then bound by leather thongs to the
bench, and his hands are tied together be-
meath 1t.
"How many" asks the warder charged
with counting the strokes.
'si1ty," is the quiet answer Of the gov
ernor.
"Look out" or "Pull yourself togeth-
err" forms the general remark of the
knout wielder, and the no1t moment the
blows are raining In fearful thnds upon
the baro back of Sidorov, who utters heart
piercing shrieks. One, two three-the
warder calls aloud the tale Of the stripes
every one Of which Kisses and leaves Its
mark on the oulprit. The cry that at first
followed every stroke has gradually be-
come an unbroken howl and roar, and
readers must have strong nerves II they
can picture further all the hideousness Of
this diabolioal form Of punishment.
This sort of oastigation is inflicted upon
convicts whenever 1t Is ordained by the
law or by the police and local authorities.
Tho dispenser Of blows is always fellow
taken from ths prisoners themselves, and
in his hands the fate Of the delinquent
may be said literally to lie. The knout
consists Of thick wooden stick, to which
IL fastened strongly plated lash, about
80 inches long and 2 inches wide, and this
thong is out SO as to form three lashes at
it's end. A convict who retains the small
est degree Of human feeling can never be
induced to undertake this office, and thus
only the most reprobate and hardened
criminals are chosen for the dread work.
To these inhuman creatures tho courts Of
Russia intrust human life. 1t is in their
power to inflict only light punishment
upon the condemned, to make him Grip
pie for the rest Of his days or to send him
to his grave on the spot and yet the off,
oials never deem 1t necessary to put any
restraint on these foggers. The export
enced floggsrs are really skilled at their
work. II they wish to show any mercy to
the delinquent, they rain blows on his
body with the middle part of the whip,
while the cruel tips of 1t fall beyond tho
prisoner and on the bench, but II NO
mercy is to be given, then the knout is
made to do Its fell purpose. In the hands
Of q skilled fogger the motions Of tho
knout are 60 quick that they can scarcely
be rightly followed by an inexperienced
observer. In either case the prisoner nat
urally bowls, but the difference In the re-
suit is very marked. The lightened form
Of punishment can lie bought, and WOO to
him who IL not able to propitiate the
flogger.
The conrts generally condemn to fog
ging confirmed criminals, fugitives from
Siberia and vagabonds, many Of whom
have received altogether from 500 to 600
blows. An old Siberian tramp finished
his curriculum vitae with the following
words, II have received all told l,40O
stripes of the birch rod, 900 blows from
the knout and numberless thrashings by
sticks" As is to be expected, the statis-
tics Of the Siberian prisons show the fu.
tility of these punishments as corrective
measures In proportion as the punish.
ments increase in number and cruelty SO
the relapscs and backslidings into crime
increase. Nostalgia, or intensified home
sickness, is curiously strong in the in
mates of the Siberian prisons and will not
be repressed by tho most cruel system Of
whipping.
Hitherto We have dealt only with the
knout, which Is the rarer form Of punish
ment and must be ordered by a court Of
law. The usual corporal punishment BY
means Of rods and sticks Is somewhat DIFF
ferent, for they form the alpha and omega
Of the corrective measures in use in 81
berlan prisons. This form Of punishment
Is regarded rather as bagatelle, and yet
Its effects are much worse than those Of
the knout, for 1t Is meted out to all in the
same measure. 1t needs not to be ordsin.
ed by court Of law, and the victim I'M
dergoes no previous medical examination
as to his fitness to bear the punishment.
Every governor Of prisons can give 80 and
every district governor 100 Of these blows
ct their sole discretion. 1t 10 the naked
truth that even criminals when grievously
Ill do not escape this punishment. A f.
male prisoner In the district Of Korsakov
was whipped to such an extent that she
fell down dead.
That the governors Of Siberian prisons
are not all monsters, but that there are In
exceptional cases kindly hearted men, Is
seen in the case Of Sipiagin, the former
director Of the prison at Irkutsk. He
went 80 far in his dsuntless reforms as to
entirely abolish punishment by whipping.
And what was the resultf The prison
discipline improved astonishingly, trans
gressicns and crimes almost ceased to be