The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-04-24

From ''In Search Of Siberian KIondike."
Copyright 1908. The Century Coz
"HREE DAYS of uneventful steam
ing at ten knots an hour brought
the shores Of Saghalien above
the horizon. We saw a long, curved
beach backed by low-Iying hills COW
cred with fields and woodland. AS the
place could boast no harbor,w we dropped
anchor in the open roadstead a mile
from shore. Our whistle had long since
walked to life an asthmatic little steam
launch, which soon came alongside.
We forthwith invaded her stuffy little
cabin and she waddled shereward
AS We approached the rough stone
quay, we had our first glimpse of Rus
sian convict life. A gang of prisoners
were at work mending the sea wall.
Some of them wore heavy iron balls
at their ankles, which they had to lift
and carry as they walked, else they
dragged ponderously along the ground.
These balls would weigh about a hun
dred pounds apiece. The convicts
seemed to be well fed, but were eX-
cessiyely dirty and unkempt. They
appeared to be men Of the very lowest
grade Of mental development. 1t must
be remembered that no political con-
victs are confined on the island of
Saghalien. They are kept In the far
interior of Siberia, where the chances
of escape are much less, and where
there is no possibility of contact with
others than their own jailers. The
convicts on Saghalien are almost all
desperate criminals. AS there is no
such thing as capital punishment in
Siberia, Saghalien is the terrestrial
ValhaIla of these doomed men, a sort
of ante-mortem purgatory.
We stepped out upon the quay and
walked up into the town. The street
was about fifty feet wide, with q neat
plank walk on either side The houses
were all log structures, but not the
kind we are accustomed to associate
with that name. The Russian makes
the best log house in the world The
logs are squared and carefully fitted
together. The windows are mostly
double, and the houses, all Of one story,
are warm enough to be habitable. The
streets are lined with small shops and
stores. The entire population outside
Of the officials consists Of convicts,
most Of whom enjoy almost complete
freedom within the limits of the town.
1t gives one a queer feeling to walk
through the streets Of a town and
know that all the storekeepers, earpen-
terS blacksmithS, clerks, butchers and
bakers are or have been desperate
criminals. This town of Korsakovsk
contains about two thousand people, of
whom nineteen are convicts.
asked if 1 might inspect the prison,
expecting a prompt refusal, and was
surprised when informed that / could
go wherever l pleased. Approaching
the main entrance to the prison, /
found the two heavy gates off their
hinges and the convicts coming and
going at their own pleasure. A sleepy
Cossack was on guard, and he did not
even challenge me. The prison build
ings were arranged around a large
quadrangle. The prisoners were talk
ing, lying about at their ease with a
few at work on little wood carvings.
l was astonished to see no prison
bars anywhere, but after I had looked
about at my leisure, one Of the officers
took me in charge and led me into an
other part of the grounds, where we
found sentry on guard, armed only
with a revolver. This guard took us in
hand and conducted us to e small
building which appeared to be heavily
barred. Inside were rows Of clean,
dry, whitewashed cells. half a dozen of
which were occupied by convicts who
had recently committed murder on the
island, and were about to be sent north
to the dreaded coal mines, where they
would be chained to WheelbarroWS.
These would be their constant COM
panions for seven years, night and day,
summer and winter.
In the workshops the convicts seemed