The Opelousas courier., 1903-02-14
A RUSSIAN CONVICT CAMP.
Conditions Which Prevail in the "e:tle-
Inent ina Sakha!in.

Inent ina Saklla!in.
Reuters representative has had al
Interview with Mr.. Charles H. Halves
who is believed to be the last English
mar to visit the Russian penal settle
ment of Sakhalin and the only to ex'
plore the interior and northeastern
coast Of the island. Mr.. Halves hat
been travelling in Korea when he de,
cided to visit the island with a view
to studying the natives and also OF
observing the condition of the Grimm,
al settlers. My object" said Mr..
HaWes, was to proceed to the extreme
northeast part Of the island to study
some unknown tribes there and to
see for myself by personal visits to
the prisons the real condition Of the
once that this is nearly as bad as pop
u!a Imagination paints it. On the
mainland, however, things are not SO
bad. Indeed, the Russian penal system
per Sc compares On the whole favora-
bly, with other European systems.
Ihere are five great penal establish
ments in this convict island, and, with
the exception of the cleaIings round
these, practically the whole of Sakha-
lin is covered with forest SO dense that
even the natives cannot penetrate it.
They, therefore, travel as we did, by
the rivers, in dug-out canoes in sum-
mer, in dog or reindeer sleighs in win
ter. Such journeyings are highly dan
gerous, as huge bears abound, and one
is never safe from the escaped convicts.
nearly all of whom manage to arm
themselves with guns. During my stay
four people whom l met were muir
dered, including a boy who was liv-
ing in the same house with me.
Almost everyone in the streets is
a criminal, for, with few exceptions,
only the worse type of prisoners are
sent to Sakhalin-ceItainly besides
convicts, eX-convicts, their wives and
children, and the officials, there are
probably not a dozen free-born indi-
viduals on the island. Of murderers
alone there are at least 5000, and n
morning l passed a man in the street
OF whom | was warned to be careful,
as he had already killed eight people.
In -Siberia-apart from the Arctic set
tlement of which l know Iittle-the
exiles, as is now we'll known, are not
cruelty treated, but their lot in SAX
halin is indeed bad, this being due not
so much to the system itself as to the
condition of life and the great distance
from any central controlling influence.
1t is no exaggeration to say that the
majority Of the officials are the dre2s
of the service-in too many cases
drunken and brutal. In Alexanddrovsk
prison there were 600 convicts packed
in four apartments, each constructed
to hold about SO persons. While |
was on the island nearly 1900 fresh
prisoners arrived, mostly for this rea
son, SO it's subsequent condition can
perhaps be imagined.
"As the result OF inquiry found
that the three-thoEged whip with
LUZ SAoS hdO"H DIS lHS pet, LuS use
OF which is forbidden in Russia and is
dying out in Siberia, is in general en-
and also the birch rod
dipped in salt. With this instrument
two women were fogged in February
last, whose accusers, two overseers, il
report be true, ought rather to have
been punished. The whole of SAX
hahn is under martial law. In one of
the prisons, out of a total Of 600 pris-
oners, 500, mostly chained, are kept in
enforced idleness, so that many go
mad. The one bright spot on this
island is the presence CT a heroic wom-
an, Eugene de Meyer, a young, at
and enthusiastic lady who is
working alone amid these terrible sur
She has no regard for dan
ger, and lately spent a long time in the
far interior with a band of 200 con-
victs. 1t is known that the t~saritsa is
interested in her work, and
probably this is the reason why she
does not meet with as much active
hostility from the officials in Sakhalin
might be expected."-London Times.