THE TSAR'S PRISONS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 224, 15 June 1908, Page 7

THE TSAR'S PRISONS.

GRAPHIC DETAILS. THE MOTLEY CROWDS OF INMATES. A "HUNGER STRIKE." ' ; (Br TBLEGEAPB.—BPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) Auckland, June. 13. The publication, of ..the terrible,,experiences of a political prisoner who,escaped from tho mines in Siberia; and reached. Auckland after many hardships, has led to the discovery of tho interesting fact that there iB quite' a little I Igroup of Russian ex-prisoners who havo' sought the shelter of the British flag, in this , outpost of . tho Empire—almost enough of,.,them,, to . small club. In Auckland city, at present there are four, if not five, men who havo got away from Siberia, and in the north of Auckland there are thrca or four others who have escaped from' exile. Moreover,' : all of them aro men- highly respected in tho community—fine, sturdy; wellread, and highly intelligent'people, and tho sort of colonists that' any country should- be glad to have. • .

" -A " Herald " representative met two Rus-. sians last evening; One of them was an escaped "political" and the other had come out to get away from the tyranny the peoplo of Russia aro subjected to. Tho latter hasboon some years here, has secured naturalisation, .and enjoys tho liberty and privileges of a British subject.- Ho-is a man in tho full vigour of the prime of life, : doing .hard i work'- every, day, -but; taking a keen interest ■ in the affairs of. his, adoptedcountry. Ho, has his wife with him now, and his children are British subjects, but he has not forgotten his fatherland. - A FRIENDLY GAOL COVERNOR. , The otliejc , man,;. young , and - of athlotic ' build, who.might any day be taken for a Now Zealander, born of British parents—except that his speech indicates the foreigner—lino been horo for rather over a year, and ho iB > waiting to procure naturalisation , rights, 111 Russia, in the ,town of Bobriy.sk, ho \ dared .to advocate-liberty for tho people, and ■ to form a union of lio was arrested arid lodged in gaol. Then the unexpected happened. The Government of i Russia,. .of destined him for the living death in Siberia, but tho jgaolmaster was ' a man whose.sympathies were with the prisoners. He aided and abetted tho escape of sovoral, among them the young man refolded to,> dna. also escaped himself from tho vengeanco .ho khew tho Government : would. take, and they all got clear of tho . country. The member, of that party -now in j Auckland convoyed tho news of nis escape to his wife,- and-she is now on her ; way to join -' him. .

' I havo a lotter," he said. "You might * 4ike to have a translation of it. It is from',,a friendj a civil engineer, who was arrested at Vladivostok, and sent to Siberia;'and the letter was smuggled out of the country." SUFFERINGS ON .THE WAY TO GAOL. Tho writer began'.by saying ho had been' arrested i at Vladivostock, and sentenced to;'' hard.labour in the gold mines at Gornejzer?' ensky, being regarded as a "political"' prisoner. Ho. described his offence as teaching the peoplo the rights they ought to claim. The arrest took place on October 2, .1907,. and tho same day ho was -sentenced to the mines, but ho did; not know for bow long. Each; man had a girdle of chain, and. to this his wrists wore chained, and a chain was passed';.down to either anklo.' The chains hampered their .movements, but 1 tho guards pressed them on 'quickly, displaying a callous; indifference' to their sufferings. " Accompanying -the gang- -wore the wives ; of a number of tho prisoners, and many of tho women had. littlo children- -with them; Tho. first day's, walk was. thirty versts, and the first'night was spent at Stratensk,where' the 54 men and tho women.and children were horded < into one 'room. . It was a bitterly.. cold riight,'and ; all that night the/prisoners, the women,: and'the children were allowed ; nothing to oat, and all had to sleep huddled / up on tho floor.. For eleven days tho pris- - oners were on the road, driven along like cattle, ■ and ; then' they camo in sight of tho .prisons'. , . A CIRL ANARCHIST. They arrived on November 8. In tho same jprison was the young girl, Mario Spiridoneff, ' who assassinated tho; Governor of Saratoff, and she was very ill. There was no doctor at the:prison, aijd the girl was-receiving no ! medical attention. A number of tho politi- , car prisoners petitioned the governor of tho ! gaol to send her to the hospital, but ho > refused. ■ v

The prisoners then declared 1 a " hunger strike," refusing to take food. (A similar' "strike" was reported in the Russian, cable-:; grams last month.) - The,'strike' started on. ' December 21, and the prisoners went hungry for three days/ and then the' governor gave >vay, and .sent Mario Spiridoueif to the hos-' pital. For having given way the governor of the gaol and one or two- of the officers ■ were.dismissed,, and- the prisoners wero punished by • being .; kept in close confinement. Somo, of them were.very weak after'their' . fast,' and had to' Bo' sent into hospital. Sazonov, a leader ; of tho Duma at the . timo of tho'great outbreak inSt. -Peters- . ; burg, was also in the prison, being kept ' - in close confinement in a small cell in which . he had not room to stand-up. His diet was black bread, and ■ water, other food, ! principally soup, being only supplied to him on ;. two days' a. week. were 132 prisoners ' •in the."hunger striko," audi altogether'about 232"politicals" were in-that/gaol, ; :tho'wo-''' : men and children briuging the total up to ' : over 300. No papors or books were allowed tho -.prisoners.' •• The "now -gaol. governor or /{■ "gaolmaster was, at , tho timo the letter : was " ■ .written, expected from Bobriysk, and boro a bad reputation. ,

" % ONE DAY OF LIBERTY. . ■Tho gaol staff was a little bit frightened of tho' political prisoners, they having, killed two of the guards- prior to vthe time-tho writer of. tho lottor reached' there. Each , prisoner was allowed "Jib. of black-bread per day, which was too little, and onco. a day - received some soup' and a. sort of pudding. Nothing at- all was given them till mid-, day. and they were allowed no tea. ".Tho life is terrible," said the writer. "I : don't know, when it will end. Tho' desire for.'liberty; is; so :gr6at" that'if I couldiohly be freo for. ono day, to be hanged- tho next;, I', would' cheerfully' bo hanged, and • I would bo:satisfied. It .is such a; lonely, life, and I ; au\ weaker every day. . "The pnsohors educate each other. Wo teach each other arithmetic;-- history, geography, 'algebra, and theology, aiid tho different parties keep to themselves.- - The Democrats don't mix with the Monarchists, of whom thero are very , few.' There are twelve anarchists'in the gaol. 'The guards are cruel sometimes,, and they tried to stop tho education .that was going on:' Tho new governor, it' is l said, is going to stop, it alto- ' 'gather.. If he does try we'-will, causo wo would rather die than be deprived ' i of that ono which keeps us from I going mad. wo will fight for the right even if wo aro all to be killed. HARD LABOUR AT EIGHTY-FIVE.* "Tlicro is one man we have heard of in the neighbouring prison of Khabarovsk who ' is 85 years of ago, and lie is sentenced to hard labour for life. Ho lias only a few •weeks to live in any case. His son and his ,son-in-law, woro put in gaol with him,, but tho gaolmaster was bribed with 300; roubles and tho son-in-law was allowed to'go free. Tho old man's' wife went ma.d,' and is how in a lunatic asylum in Vladivostok. - : "A Gorman electrical engineer named Henri Kallornech was forming a union of railway workers-and ho was put in gaol,- hut was released bccauso lie was a German, and was ordered to leave Russia in twentv-four hours Tho writer concluded by saying that he .had mado arrangements to have the lettei smuggled through, but did not know if it would, over reach his friend in' New : Zealand. It was •appar<m% 'written -early in January of this yeax„ and it reached Auck.knd 8 4ow dajs a®». i A