Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-07-16

No story, however. but that of Miss
Malecka's which she related to me- con-
tains so much interesting data. Here
is her story:
Recalling some of her prison expe-
riences, Miss Malecka, sale.
Naturally, it is the latter days that
my ordeal that stand out now most Wv
idly IN my memory. May Is? At
o'clock on that day 1 was told to gel
up for l was going to court to have
my sentence announced.
ION arrival at court we were taken
to waiting room. packed with con-
victs and soldiers. The air was abso-
lutely pestilent, and it was difficult to
keep from faintlng After a long wait
nv name was called out, and in went
to hear my sentence read. was met
by my kind attorney, NJ. Papleski, ana
some friends who could not, however,
approach me- Miss Roszkowika, my
fellow prisoner, was also there We
were conducted upstairs to an ofnce
where an official sat before large Ia
| BILE He read out the verdict, ana
was again escorted back to the wait
two roses into my hand. but soldler
ling room. On my way friend thrust
| in the waiting room saw them he
tore the flowers from my hand and
threw them away The sentence passed
upon me took me completely by sur
prise. for, although / felt that l was
condemned in advance, l never mag
! ined that they would dare 20 pass such
an utterly outrageous sentence. Ihose
awful words: -Four years penal servl-
tude,' rang like death-kneH through
my BRAIN"
IN SIBERIA.
Following this, Miss Malacka de-
scribed the experiences she had in the
prison at Siberia:
There are in Siberia nine cells for
political prisoners, all long and narrow
They have a grated window so high up
that it is impossible to look out. one
could get just glimpse OF the SKY
and the top of a tree-a tiny specK Oh
radiant nature which was welcome
enough. The furniture consisted or an
iron bedstead which could be folded up
against the wall during the day. a
wooden bench on which to Sit and an
other upon which to place a Wash-pa-
sin and jug. That was ala.
"At o'clock in the morning the first
bell rang, and that meant that
criminals must rise. 'Pohucals coulu
sleep as long as they liked, but after
/ q muCn noise CdInG up AAOAA NhC -
ridors that further sleep was impossible.
! About s o'clock hot water for tea was
brought. and milk rolls. All those lux
uries are provided at our own expense
the prison providing only the hot water
Between and 10 o'clock our cells were
cleaned, and we could walk In the cor
ridor in the meantime.
'tAt 10 o'clock we we're locked up again
until /. and from that time till 2:45 we
/ Il In ha
Dinner we had at 3, and at $50 another
hours exercise in the corridor. At $50
we were shut up for the night. Once In
| two weeks we had hot baths, and on
Sunday we went to chapel, where 1
PLAYED the harmonium. L must confess
| that my playing was quite futile pro-
ceeding, for the members of the congre-
CATION never by any chance sang In the
same key.
MY fellow 'politicals' were all very
sympathetic. some belonging to the edu-
Gated classes. Others were working wom-
en-. One girl was undergoing SEN
tence of 10 years hard labor. She was
caught escaping from Siberia. The au-
thorities invented a lot of fresh evil
dence against her and doubled her SEN
tence. She has now been three years
I'm prison She looked so broken down
in health and so frail that it was dif1-
| cult to believe that she could hold out
to the end Of her terrible term. Al
though she had received but little educa-
| ton her natural intelligence overcame
the lack of instruction. Her beautiful
unselhshness was most touching. She
was constantly thinking of others and do
| ing kindnesses to her fellow prisoners.
FELLOW PRISONERS.
Another prisoner was a girl of %
years of age, the daughter of barris-
| ter She had been four years in prison
| awaiting trial. She is a poet, and has
true poets temperament. The accusation
against her is that she belonged to the
Terrorist party, and had taken part in
several outrages. All the evidence in
her case is provided by informers Of the
| Sukiennik type, and she will most GER
tainly be convicted and sentenced to
something like ten years hard labor
| She awaits the judgment with supreme
| calmness, though she is weak with ILL
ness
ION one occasion I wrote two post
| cards to friends, in which 1 complained
Of the severe way in which 1 was be-
ing treated. A little later I learned
that they had been confscated A Sc
ries of visits by prison authorities fol-
lowed. First came the directorate of the
prison. then the sub-procateur. and final
| ly the chief inspector of the prisons. On
| his second visit the last named was most
polite He had heard he said, that 1
had made several requests, and he prom
| Used to endeavor to have them granted.
! zone day 1 was told a most romantic
story. Some years ago a young man
fell in love, apparently at first sight.
with a young girl then already betrothed
| to another. After she had been mar
| ried he began to send her anonymous
| letters avowing his hopeless attachment.
| For several years he continued to send
such letters, but he did not disclose his
identity. The girl and her husband were
eventually arrested and most cruelty
beaten by Cossacks. AS a result their
health was so seriously undermined that
they were released. Shortly afterwards
| the husband die, and the bereaved wife
returned to her home, believing that she
was safe. She was. however, re-arrest-
ed, and. on the flimsiest evidence, SEN
| fenced to two years and eight months
| hard labor.
A STRANGE ROMANCE.
NV men in prison she was greatly sur
prised to receive a letter from her I'M
known admirer who was in the same
| jail. The two began a correspondence
which ended in their becoming engaged.
But. alas he was soon taken away to
another prison pending his trial, and on
his return he found out that she had
also been removed and taken to Siberia,
the woman's prison where 1 was