The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-08-16


/ far away island of Saghalien.
Nlcholas went to ST. Petersburg TO
| try to make his living. There he found
men who, like himself, had grievances
against the government They were
| nihiliSts, and he joined them. To him
| the creed that he had adopted repre-
I scented only a possible means of obtain
Ing just revenge. He lived in St.
Petersburg for three years, and during
that time he became connected with the
press. He worked hard and saved his
small pay. With the money that he
/ accumulated he studied the art of pho
Biography and bought himself a camera
and outfit.
1t was in December. 1889. that he
landed upon the Island of Saghalien.
The first person that he met there was
man named Kiroff, who, like himself,
was nihilist. He was familiar with
the country, and when Ivanhoe impart-
ed to him the object of his coming to
Saghalien he told him that it would be
impossible for him to obtain a position
such as he desired.
Kiron advised Nicholas to go to Nico-
laievsk, which is at the mouth of the
Omogoon river, in Siberia, just across
the Gulf of Tartary, which is several
hundred miles wide and which sepa-
rates Saghalien from the mainland.
Thtther he went and obtained employ
ment as sailor on one Of the vessels
that ply between that port and Sag
halien. The vessel upon which he sailed
was one Of the government transports
used to carry the exiles over to Sag
halien. Thus he became acquainted with
some of the jailers and assistant !afl-
ers who guarded the prisoners.
After he had worked as sailor for
two years he obtained the position of
assistant jailer at AlexandrOvskii.
which is the name of the town upon the
island where the prison is located. So
well did he perform his duty and with
such apparent indifference did he strike
a prisoner over the head whenever one
Jagged on the march that he made a
favorable impression on the chief Jail
er.
He was placed in charge of one of
the wards in the prison. His duties were
to lock up the prisoners when they re-
turned from the mines at night and to
take them out in the morning. He also
had to feed them every morning and
night, and he was required to make
two rounds every night to each cell in
order to see that all of the prisoners in
his ward were secure.
One of the first things that he dis
covered was that his father had been
killed few months prior to his obtain
ing his position. He was one of those
that worked in the coal mines, and one
day he had been crushed to death by
the falling of a car that was used to
raise the coal from the pits. IvanhOe
made UP his mind to stay at Alexan-
drOvshii and to secure everything that
would be of help to his one object in
Iife-the exposing of the tOrtures and
cruelties that were being inflicted on
the unfortunate people that were con-
fined at the prison.
After two years sOjourn upon the is
land he was promoted to be full jailer,
and in his new position he had access
to the torture chamber. He made
careful study of everything about him,
and every night it was his custom to
compile a lot Of notes of what had hap
pened during the day. Daily he record
ed the death Of one or more OF the
unfortunate wretches who had found
liberty and freedom in death. Many of
these died from disease contracted for
lack of medical attention; many, COM
p1etely worn out and only half fed, died
beneath the horrible torture that was
inflicted upon them. More than once
IVanhOe saw some poor creature utter
his last groans upon the hogging board.
These barbarOuS tOrtures he was forced
to witness. and when some prisoner
would faint from sheer pain while be-
ing dashed he would have to apply re-
storatives in order to bring him to con-
seriousness that he might receive the
full sentence Of his punishment.
Nicholas awaited himself of his position
to take photographs of these scenes.
This he was able to do because he was
generally the official in charge of the
torture chamber. He declares that of
the 200, 600 exiles supposed to be upon
the Island of Saghalein. over One-third
have disappeared, and that the greater
proportion Of these have been done to
death by the inhuman cruelties to which
they have been subjected.
It was about this time that Ivanhoe
journals for which he was working de-
scriptions of what he Witnessed, and
pictures of some of the scenes he had
taken. These were published, along
with the pictures but the identity of
the author was kept a secret. Then it
was that the government officials began
to put in operation that perfect and
mercileSS machinery of surveillance,
with the hope of finding who 1t was that
was disclosing the secrets of the state
Very naturally their search took them
to the prison at Alexandrovski, for they
knew that the traitor, whoever he might
be, was within the walls of the prison.
Kononovitch determined to have Ivan
hoes mail watched and to intercept his
corresp ondence. This he did and one
of the letters that fell into his possess
sion contained some Instructions from
one Of the nihiliist societies to which
Ivanhoe belonged. This was all that
was needed. The governor determined
upon the arrest Of the jailer.
The governor had employed in his house
who had served out her term. She had yet
been a convict when Ivanhoe came to the
her a kindness. The woman had never
forgotten this and she risked her life to
When Kononovitch was discussing the ar
rest with the officials of the secret serv-
that he had intercepted. the woman over
heard their conversation and went secret
There was no time to lose 1t was nee
essary to act and act quickly if he hoped
to get away from the island. It was in
December, 1896. The mountains were COW
cred with snow and the only transpOrta-
ton was by the means of dog sleds Mich
olas determined to try to get to Langra.
which is in the extreme northern part of
the island. If he could reach this point
before the police there was. a chance for
him to cross the gulf, reach Siberia, and
work his way down to Corea, and there
take q steamer to Yokohama, from which
point he hoped to sail for America.
He quickly changed his Jailer's uniform
for other clothes, and, taking with him his
photographs and notes, he silently Slipped
out of the prison. He left Alexandrov-
ski about 10 O'Clock at night and arrived
had to travel necessarily. only stopping
to change teams and urging the driver to