The Savannah morning news., 1901-12-15

men six feet high, and those who are
not that length must accommodate them
selves as best they can, and ludlcrous
do the short fellows looh-there was
nothing to distinguish 1t from an ordi-
nary workyard. Here the men were of
more intelligent type, and looked
contented and Industrious, though, I
dare say, they were not so energetic
when the governor had turned his back.
These men receive small wage, which
is placed to their account, and draw
1t on leaving the jail-that is, If they
have not spent 1t, for one of the odd
things / came across was a prison
shop where men who would like some
delicacy beyond prison fare can get
French bread, cheese, sausages. sar-
dimes and other things, but neither
drink nor tobacco. No money passes,
but any money the prisoner has, or
earns. or has sent to him by friends, is
kept in an account book, and the men
can feast to their hearts content till
funds are exhausted.
After that we went to the kitchen.
Dinner was in preparation, 'borch," a
thick vegetable soup, with about a
quarter of a pound of meat floating in
each plate-the ordinary Russian fare.
A bowl of 1t was brought me, with
a wooden spoon, and / found it as
good as have had at Russian rail-
way stations. Each prisoner gets some
such dish as this every midday. Also
he gets three pounds of bread and
tea to drink morning and evening.
Next we visited the part of the prison
where were the worst criminals sent
from European Russia. They were on
their way to work in the mines, and
to spend their years in Saghalien, the
prison island in the Far East, which is
the Russian Botany Bay. Most of them
were murderers. They looked 1t. One
could have no pity for them. They
were desperadoes. They all wore long
gray felt cloaks, nearly touching the
ground, They were all chained, and
walked with a jangle- jangle at every
step. But the most distinctive thing
about them was that the right side of
the head, half of 1t, was clean shaven.
They came into the yard so I might
photograph them. 1t required but quick
action, and they could have slain the
six of us-the Governor, inspector, my
self and interpreter, and two wsrdefs
and made good their escape.
do these men ever escape?" I was
fain- to ask.
Eyes. sometimes. But our police sys-
tenn Is such'-even a Russian cannot
move from one town to another with
out a police granted passport-'that
they are nearly always captured. In
the summer time a man can wander
the country. but when winter comes
he must make for a town. Then, I'M
less he has murdered some travelling
peasant in order to get his passport,
he Is sure to be re-arrested The
usual practice of convicts when the
police lay hold of them because they
have no passport is to be a mystery,
refusing to give their names, to say
where they come from, or, indeed, any
thing. These are hard cases to deal
with, because while they can be sus-
pected, as they have no passport, it is
impossible to fully punish them, be-
cause we have no evidence they are
really escaped convicts. They make for
town long way from their prisons,
SO that recognition is wellnigh impos-
sible."
We had a long talk, the Governor
and myself, on the treatment of pri-
soners. AS far as Irkutsk is concern
ed the Jail could compare favorably
with any of our prisons at home.
We then left the main prison in order
to visit that for women. We walked
through a village of shanties to what
loked the best house in the place. The
Governor turned the handle of the
| gate, he went into the yard-a higgle-
dy-piggledy place. Uttered with old
| bricks and the rubbish of some house
that had been demolished-and T. saw
some rather slatterly women sitting
about. and some children playing with
a kitten.
''11l send for the .matron." said the
Governor.
''Is this the prison?' I asked, IN
some amazement
Yes, this is the only prison we
have in Irkutsk for women"
1t was just a large sized ordinary
house abutting on the street, but not
single soldier to see that no one
opened the gate and made off. / could
MT help laughing.
The matron was a large boned, conf
manding wornan-most suitable for the
post-and was a little flustered at this
unexpected visit. Without ado we walk
ed into a big lower room. There was
not pleasant atmosphere. 1t was
a scorching hot day, and there were
no windows open.
There were three long, slightly slop-
Ing shelves running along either wall.
These did duty as beds. There were
women sprawling about, half of them
with children.
The scene reminded me of a visit I
once made to cheap lodging house
for women in the East End The place
was far behind the mems prison for
cleanliness. The smell was indeed sick
ening. There seemed to be lot of I'M
necessary old clothing lying about the
women, who were sitting in groups
when we disturbed them, were un-
kempt, and most of the children would
have been benefited by wash. There
were forty woman and about twenty
children.
What are these women here for?"
/ asked.
Everything from petty theft to
murder"
SHOW me some of your murderers."
The matron called on five or six
women to stand on one side. There
was nothing to distinguish them from
the ordinary slothful peasant women
One, however, was taller and better
looking. Her features were clean cut
and her hair was dark. There was a
sinister, angry CLEAN In her eyes, as
though she resented our presence.
That" said the matron, ais our re-
cent conner. She is a Jewess, and she
is here because she poisoned her
husband"
The thing, however, that would not
get out Of my mind was the absurdi-
ty of the place as a prison, so far as
we understand prisons. Really" de-
manded, do you mean to say these
women don't go away?"
"Well," was told, zone went away
in the spring. The usual roll-call was
made in the evening, and she did not
answer. We were surprised at her going,
but we were more surprised three days
later when she came back. She ex-
IL.