The L'Anse sentinel., 1905-08-05

dened. and clear traces Of former
punishments became visible.
| stood near the doctor. whose facs
was flushed with shame. e.
| Ivan Wassjutin." Ivan neared the
"horse."
ION with all clothes.v said the exc
cutioner. II was q long while before
he grasped the meaning OF the words.
Lie down." wassjutin mounted
the horse" astride.
Take your hands on, lie down:
put your arms around the horse"
Wassjutin embraced the "horse." II
was humiliating. horribly humiliating.
to see naked man stretched on that
horse" and awaiting the cruel lash.
Chruspel, the executloner. looked like
a dog into the inspectors face.
Thirty rods" Chruspel picked up
a bundle Of rods, drew one out OF
the bundle with astonishing agility.
retired step. and waited.
60 ahead!" The rod whistled
through the air once or twice before
the inspector counted one. Then an
other whistling sound, and red stripe
was seen on the quaking body. Two.
three. four. five."
Chruspel threw the rod away and
took up another. He walked over to
the other side of the horse. Five
more blows fell on the other side OF
the body.
Every five blows required another
rod, and Chruspel changed his position
for eac.i rod. The sound of the rod
whistling through the air almost broke
ones heart, and the interval between
two blows seemed like an eternity.
The inspector counted: Twenty
nine, thirty"
Wassjutin rose on the horse and sat
astride. His eyes were filled with
tears. Get off,"
1.-TWO and a half minutes" said the
doctor.
thought It had lasted an hour.
Then came the Caucasians' turn.
Chruspel laid them down on the horse
one after another. He used the knout
on them 'in accordance with the YER
Dict A look at the inspector ex-
planned to Chruspel what he was to
do. He grasped the knout in the
middle, which is the punishment of
the half knout"
Bardunoff trembled and shivered.
He looked helpless like hunted rab.
bit. and attempted to smile. Chruspel
poked him in the ribs. Lie down"
Bardunoff convulsively clasped the
horse and pulled himself together.
Chruspel swung the knout with an
ominous movement. This was not q
punishment "in accordance with the
| verdict OF the court" this was a
| private transaction. according to
the customs Of the Sakhalin prison in
| spectors.
The room was perfectly still; not
breath was heard.
Chruspel gazed inquiringly at the
inspector. The latter looked about
for moment in confusion, glanced at
the doctor and me. and finally made
a sign to the executioner. Chruspel
grasped the half knout" A sigh of
relief was heard from everyone in the
room. Bardunoff's body trembled con-
vulsively. Heaven knows what ter
rible blows the man had expected. For
the Comparatively weak. yet cruel, lash
seemed to him child's play.
Former Methods.
when | used to come to roll call"
boasted X, II was In the habit of say
Ing: Good morning, dogs. Good morn
Ing. jailbirds.' And they always re-
piled, joyfully: Good morning, your
honor For they knew that I was In
good humor. II l came and did not
call them dogs they knew that some
thing was brewing. When I ordered
knouting they tainted with fear. fused to
say: "Knouts and spades to dig grave
wanted to make them believe that
some one would be knouted to death.
My assistants pretended that they were
calming me. The convicts were wal
lowing In the dust before me, and
wept for mercy. But corporal pun
ishment is no good. In my opinion
nothing beats solitary confinement.
Worse than knouting. Two weeks of
solitary brings them all to their
senses. Come. and will show YOU"
We entered gangway which was
narrow and dark. On both sides were
narrow cages. with tiny windows In
each door. The air In the gangway
made breathing impossible 1t smelled
like dog kennel The moment we
entered the gangway blood-curdling
oaths and cries were heard on all
sides. The convicts howled In frenzy
| and attempted to burst their doors.
was reminded Of a madhouse and OF
Dante's Inferno.
Let Gussoff out" commanded the
| inspector.
The guard approached his cage.
From the cell arose maddened roar:
Don't come near, don't come near:
l will murder you!"
well, perhaps you'd better leave
him." calmly remarked X.
Don't you see now that this Is more
effective than knoutIng? Knouting is
nothing"
w. DORASHEvITSCH
Not for the Drawinr-Room