The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-08-04
CARS LATEST MOVE.
Reforms Instituted to Show
Mercy to His Prisoners.
CLAIMING ooNv1oTs PnoH1B1TED.

Only Criminals Convicted Of Un-
usually Brutal Conduct In Jail to
Have Heads shaved-Russia's Ruler
Abolishes some Of the Worst Tor
tures-Rcmarkable effect of Blows
Delivered b. : Flogser In siberia.
The car sent a confidential official
to the principal central prisons in Euro
pean Russia and In Siberia last Febru-
airy to get nm absolutely impartial, un- |
colored report about the state Of the
prisons and the nature Of the punish
ments inflicted on prisoners for refrac-
tory conduct.
This official, a former colonel in the
guards, named Z~abelnikoR, has now re-
turned to st. Petersburg and made a
full and fearless report to his imperial
master, az a result Of which some i'm
provement In the condition Of things
has already been made. says the New
York World.
For instance, no political prisoners
head Is to be shaved-only those Of
criminals convicted Of unusually brutal
conduct while in jail.
No woman and no male under
eighteen is to be subjected to blows or
stripes from a stick or whip for any
o6ense, and in all cases where whip
ping is regarded as necessary by the
prison authorities the consent Of the
governor Of the province must be f1rst
obtained and full reports Of circum-
stances be sent to st. Petersburg.
The practice Of claiming refractory
convicts to cars in mines or elsewhere
has been abolished.
The minor punishments, such as con-
dining a prisoner in a totally dark cell
underground, have been much modified.
No prisoner Is to suffer this punish
ment for more than three days. The
doctor who accompanied Colonel label
nikon on his journey says a weeks
confinement In a totally dark under
ground cell Injuries the eyes beyond re-
covery.
Colonel Zabelnikof's attention vas
especially directed to complaints which
had reached his imperial masters ears
that in the military prisons Jewish SOL
diers suffered far worse treatment than
Christians. Zabelnikon found this to
be the case in only isolated instances
and that any difference in the treat
ment Of the two religions was due
rather to the attitude of the lower
ranks of wardens than to the action
of the prison directors.
A Russian traveller and litterateur
named D~oroshevltch recently returned
from Sakhalin, a penal island of the
east coast Of Siberia. While there he
had an interview with one Komlef, q
man employed to fog prisoners. Kom-
LEFT is an ARTIST with the whip.
D~oroshevitch asked him with how
many blows he could kill a man.
Komleff answered, 1.-TWO" Then. re-
fecting, he said, with one" explain
ing that he thought he could break the
backbone.
Komlef distinguished between ap-
parent blows and real blows. He told
D%oroshevitch to lay his thick notebook
on the hogging block. The traveller
did SO, and with one whizzing blow
Komlef shattered 1t into q thousand
fragments.
"Now put your hand on the block
said Komleff.
Doroshevitch complied and heard the
same dreadful. whizzing sound, but his
hand was only gently touched by the
whip.
It is optional with Komlef what sort
of blow to inflict. He said:
II can either torture or tickle. as II
pleases me-.
When D%oroshevitch told this terrible
man that sort Of punishment would
now be abolished the executioner re
.sponded ~fervently:
"God grant 1t may be SOL"