Omaha daily bee., 1911-01-08
FLOGGNG A COMMON PRACTICE
Physician Resigns Rather Than Be a
Party to Cruelty.
sAzONOFF SAID TO BE LIVING
Reported Suicide of RevolutiOnist is
Denied.
DIARY EXPOSES POLICE METHODS
Chief and Governor of Prison said to
Have Been Summoned 60 the
Palace 20 Receive order
SO
for Release,
BY GEORGE FRASER.

ST. PETERSBURG, Jan. 7-(Special 70
The Bee)-Once in a while the lid Is lifted
and the outside public gets glimpse OF
the horrors OF the Russian prison system
and the method OF the Russian secret po-
lice Several of these instances have re-
Gently become public. The newspapers the
other day printed detailed accounts OF the
flogging OF 100 prisoners In the Vologda
fail because they complained OF their food.
It was stated that the prison physician re-
signed because he declared many of the
prisoners were In no condition to undergo
flogging.
The prisons administration state that
there was a conspiracy among the prison
ers to rise en- masse, and that after the
discovery Of the plot the governor ot the
prison gave orders for corporal punishment
to be administered to two convicts. As a
protest against this three convicts severed
an artery and three others took overdoses
Of morphia.
In consequence Of further rioting fifty
nine convicts were ordered to be chastened
with rods The minister of justice has or
dered a strict inquiry into the whole affair.
sazOnOfF May He Living.
One Of the prisoners who committed sui
ClQ0 was dlA6keu 70 nave btGh odNoubAls
the man who was at the bottom OF the
successful plot to assassinate NJ de Plehve.
Despite the official prison statements OF
Sazonoff's death revolutionar1es deny that
sazonoff had died, and still claim that he
was never imprisoned, but escaped imme-
diately after De Plehves death.
M. de Plehve was killed in st Peters
burg street by a bomb on July rs. 1904 1t
T.. IL
noff and that he was assisted by a man
named Sikovsky. 1t is also known that a
man, who was found wounded at the time
Of the assassination, was arrested
The mystery began to get deep when the
police endeavofed to prove that SazonofF,
who was generally reputed to be the as
sassin and the prisoner were really one
and the same person. The prisoners name
had been given out as Porozneff and the
following diary gives some idea of Rus
sian police ingenuity.
July 2s-Assassin caught red-handed
| July 29-1dentified as Porozneff.
| July 30-Died of hemorrhage
July 3l-Made confession causing 1000 ar
rests.
August 1-Died unidentified.
August 4-EffOrts made to keep him alive.
August 5-Identified again and two more
arrests.
August 1O-Identified as sazonoff.
August 2l-Identified as Matveyeff and
death sentence committed.
| August 22-Reidentified as Sazonoff
August 22-Ofhcially declared not dead,
According TO the best informed revolu-
tionary circles the truth of the matter was
that, although the police had arrested
saEonoff the latter. by the aid of his col
Leagues, was enabled to escape and for
some time. while the police were sending
out official messages. they were without a
prisoner.
Order for Delivery.
II was the night OF August 20 that
both the chief of police and the governor
OF the prison where Sazonoff was confined
were called by special summons to repair
TO the palace Ten minutes later two
gendarmes presented to the deputy gov
ernor of the prison an order to deliver over
to them the person OF Sazonoff. The order
was OF course carefully scrutinized, but as
It bore the signature OF the chief OF police,
! together with the official cipher the
prisoner, heavily manacled, was handed
over to the two gendarmes. who bore loaded
revolyers in their hands An hour later
the governor of the prison returned hot
and angry from his FOOLS errand, only to
be followed by the chief OF police, who
asked 10 be confronted with Sazonoff. The
order was shown to him and was instantly
pronounced to be forgery.
subsequently the police produced a per-
son whom they declared was Sazonoff, and
in that name the man was sentenced to be
sent TO Siberia Unfortunately for the
police, sazonoff was said to have been seen
in Geneva, Paris and in London, and
friends Of his declare that he has been seen
quite recently.