The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-04-04
ANUIKHIN'S STATEMENT

Anuikhin introduced himself as "a re- leased iailbird." He said:
 ANUIKHIN'S STATEMENT
 After one year in Europan convict
 prisons l spent 10 years in the AleXan-
 drovsk prison, 50 miles from Irkutsk. This is the biggest convict jail in Russia and contained 12.000 ordinary criminals, and about 500 political prisoners mostly sentenced to lives katroga," the severese
 form of Russian punishment short of death. l spent the first five years in the
 so-caled probation class with hands and
 feet manacled and chained to a wheel
 barrow which l had to take everywhere.
 In addition l was repeatedly flogged.
 "The badly overcrowded prison was di-
 vided into dormitories, each of which was
 intended for 90 prisoners, but usually con-
 tained from 60 to S0 half of whom had
 consumption, or rheumatism. We con-
 victs had a secret organization which we called the Collective The occupants of
 the different dormitories communicated
 by means of tappings and other systems
 of signalling. We knew nothing of the
 revolution until the morning of our re-
 lease. The provincial state attorney sud- denly appeared and announced to our amazement:
 Russia is a republic and you are freed"
 EXPERIENCE OF POPOFF Among the political prisoners from Tobosk is Alexander Popoff, who was sentenced to death for an alleged plot against the Emperor. Popoff, who IS highly intelligent artisan, was chained by the wrists and ankles for four years. In describing his release he said A most remarkable feature of Am nesty Day in Tobosk was the sudden de- mand for blacksmiths. The prison black smith, fearing the vengeance of the con- yicts, fled, and private blacksmiths in the general orgie could not be found. The newly formed committee of public safety drove the still chained convicts to the dis missed governors palace, where banquet had been prepared, and we had our first free meal. Above the din of speeches and cheers for the republic could be heard the jingling of shackles.' From Tobosk prison there were also re- leased 50 soldiers, sentenced to life for mutiny during the revolution of 1905, lead- l CTS in the Livonan peasants riots, and others who were sentenced for agrarian | offenses Another liberated exile was Sophia Lijnaitzky, pretty girl of 1s, iron, Vitebsk, who was arrested a year ago on suspicion of being engaged in political propaganda and was spirited away to the remote Siberian village of Kiutun. She was allowed $2 a month for living ex- penses and managed to exist by teaching adult peasants to read and write. She said
 ANNOUNCE REVOLT Tn my village the police wearing red badges announced the revolution There was frantic competition among the exiles to get home. The first two girls who started were without proper equip
 ment, and were overtaken by blizzard near Vrekolensk and were frozen to death.'
 Another girl, exiled to a place near Lake Bakal, said that the news of the revolution was first given out by the village priest in church. At once 90 eXiles who were in the congregation rushed out determined on vengeance on the local l captain who was wanton tyrant. The
 polceman's 10-year-old daughter standing before her father exclaimed: Kill me | first.n
 | The child's action saved the captain $ | life.
 1 In Tyumen are convicts and admins 1 trative exiles on their way to exile when l the revolution occurred. These immed-
 lately started back. Among them was Basil Muravin, sentenced to Siberia in | 1907 for belonging to the militant organi- zation of the social revolutionary party Muravin spent the first five years in 1 the Schlusselburg fortress on Lake Ladoga then four years in other Euro | pean prisons. He was then dispatched | to Siberia to and his days as an exile on | the Upper Lena. Muravin said: LONG LOST HOPE l "When the revolution occurred, I was | in the small Udinsk transport prison waiting the arrival of other convicts for dispatch together to the east I had long
 lost hope of pardon when I learned l was free. The discovery came .in most
 dramatic way l was in chains as new conner of unknown character. I heard a sudden shouting, and afterward terrific firing. It sounded as if million cart
 ridges had exploded. Next bullets began to fly over the prison yard Finally a Ibullet cut the haliyard of the Russian flas which waved over the prison building. The flag dropped on the roof and shortly afterward a crowd stormed the prison
 and hoisted there revolutionary en- l sign. My last experience of the old regime was a visit by the former governor of the jail who fearing retaliation begged me to sign statement acquitting him \ of ill treatment. Though his treatment
 had been bad, I agreed not desiring to
 mar Russa's new freedom by acts of /, petty yengeance.'