Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1900-12-25
DARK SIBERIA'S LIFE
a RUSSIAN SURGEON TELLS OF Ex.
iSTENcE IN SAoHALlEu.

In the FIogging of the Conviets the
Worst Criminals are Generally Chooses
TO Weld the Terrible Knout-Escape il
Out of the Question.
Passing a gloomy passage OF the
Alexander prison, whose walls are
covered with black moIdiness and reek
with the strong scent OF pine cones
strewing on the foor. we ind at the
end OF the corridor chairs and tables
for the authorities who witness the
infection Of the punishments; among
the officials are . lawyer, the chief of
the prison, and the surgeon, and a lit
tie way on is placed the block" OF
threatening aspect, behind which
stands the wielder OF the knout, who
awaits his victims with a curious look.
His garb is apparently intended to
make the situation all the more Inn
pressive; he wears a tall white head
covering, soft felt shoes. bloodered
shirt with its sleeves turned up, and
carries the knout in his hand. Along
the wall stands row OF convicts with
smoothly shaved heads and facing
them is long line of warders armed
with loaded. revolvers in the hand
The stillness.ias of the grave, which
stamps all present Is broken from time
to time by the rafting of the hand
Guns and the leg letters and by fur
tive cough or rrsting of the papers
upon the. table of the prison governor.
VfraS xxxf1I y y
question that is all too clearly to be
read upon the deathlike feat es of
the "arrestants
"Sidoroy'' is called out by the COVER
nor in quiet, restrained voice, Sid
ORGY steps unsteadily and with an In
creasing totter and rafting of his
chains out of the line of gray, long
felt coats. I note his lips growing
pale and the fear in his widely open
ed eyes. as though he were bounded
wild beast.
'Aie down." is the command.
Hastily making the sign OF the cross
on his breast. Sidoroy lies down at
length on the bench, and throws each
|. arm around it; he is then bound by
leathern thongs to the bench, and
his hands are tied together beneath 1t.
How many?" asks the warder
charged with counting the strokes
Sixty" is the quiet answer OF the
governor.
Look out" or pull yourself to-
gether," forms the general remarks OF
the knout wielder. and che next mo-
ment the blows are raining in fearful
thuds upon the bare back OF Sidoroy,
who utters heart-piercing shrieks. One,
two, three-the warder calls off the
tale of the stripes, everyone of which
missed and leaves its mark on the Gull
| prit. The cry that at first followed
every stroke has gradually become an
unbroken howl and roar. and readers
must have strong nerves If they can
| picture further all the hideousness of
this diabolical form of punishment.
This sort Of castigation is inflicted
upon eonvicss whenever it is ordained
by the law or by the police and local
authorities The dispenser Of blows
is always a fellow taken from tho
| prisoners themselves. and in his hands
the fate of the delinQuents may be
said literally to lie. The knout con-
sists of thick wooden stick. to which
is fastened strongly plated lash.
about thirty inches long and two
inches wide. and this thong Is cut so
as to form three lashes as it's end. A
convict who retains the smallest de-
gree Of human feeling can nevec be
INDUCED to undertake this office, and
thus only the most reprobate and har2
dened criminals are chosen for the
| dread work. To these inhuman cred
lures the courts of Russia intrust hu-
man life. II is in their power to in
fiict only light punishment upon the
condemned. to make him a cripple for
the rest Of hts days. or to send him to
his grave on the spot, and yet the Of
dcials never deem it necessary to put
any restraint on these ioggers
The courts generally condemn to
logging confirmed criminals. fugitives
| from Siberia and vagabonds, many Of
whom have received altogether from
nve hundred to six hundred blows. An
old Siberian tramp finished his curri-
culum vitae with the following words:
Il have received all told fourteen hun
dred stripes of the birch rod. six hun
dred blows from the knout and num-
berless thraahings by sticks" AS is to
be expected. the statistics of the Sibe-
rian prisons show the futiIity of these
punishments as corrective measures.
In proportion as the punishments In
crease in number and cruelty SO the
the relapses and backslidings into
crime increase Nostalgia, or inten-
sihed home sickness, AZ curiously
strong in the inmates Of the Siberian
prisons and will not be suppressed by
the most cruel system OF whipping.
Hitherto we have dealt only with the
knout. which is the rarer form of pun
ishment. and must be ordered by /
court of law. The usual corporal pun
ishment by means of rods and sticks
is somewhat different, for thy form
the Alpha and Omega OF the corrective
measures in use in Siberian prisons.
This form Of punishment is regarded
rather as bagatelle, and yet it's eff
fects are much worse than those of the
knout. for 1t is melted out to ail in the
same measure; 1t needs nc. to be ~.
dained by court of law, and the VIC
tim undergoes no previous medical ex-
animation as to his fitness to bear the
punishment. Every governor OF prfs-
ons can give thirty and every district
governor one hundred of these blows,
at their sole discretion. 1t is the
naked truth that even criminals when
grievously III do not escape this pan
ishment. A female prisoner in his
district or Korsakov was whipped TO
such an extent that she fell down dead.
~zS.- Petersburg Medical Record.
The bunko man doesn't waste any