IN THE BASTILE OF PETROGEAD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17215, 18 January 1918, Page 8

IN THE BASTILE OF PETROGEAD.

;<LOT3AM AND .7KPSAM OF REVOLUTiON. BIGHT PKOMINENT FIGURES. In Petrograd's bostilo aro imprisoned— or as'thu Government describes it, interned —eight mwi wlio played important parts iu liussiiuii affairs until tho wJicol of fortune swuug against them. They aro General ituimenkanipf, military judgo during this attempted revolution of i9oo, whose record is described as constituting a ''haugraan's progress" to Siberia; Mr iiioletsky, lonner director of police) and the accomplice- of. agents provocateurs; Mr Makaroil, who is .said to liavc procured tiio (jlection of a burglar to the Duma to act as a spy; Mr .SikremieiT, fnrmiT chief of tho Army Motor Supply Oittce; J. Chtoheglovitoff, former Minister of Justice, whom Count Witto called tho " most clever and most corrupt man in Europe"; Prince Alexander Dol-, gorukotf, tho "cavalry commander seized as a supporter of General Korniloff; General Voyoikoff, palaco commander of tho former Czar, and last, but not least, tho notorious Alexander ProtoDopofi, dui)e and slave of the mystic monk, J.taeputin. 'Die place of '" detention" of these formerly distinguished gentlemen is the notorious Troubetskoi bastion of the Fortress of Saint Peter and .Saint Paul, where for two centuries of Russian unrest there h.ivo boon imprisoned high-born traitors, pretenders to the throne, assassins, nihilißts, and bomb-throwers in general.

As tho result of a month's negotiations, which wero finally endorsed by Premier Kcrensky. a correspondent of th* Associated Press was permitted to -visit tho historic prison, which he thus describes in the Salt Lake Tribune: —

"Tho bastion, which is a part of the ob?olcte fortification, is on tho banks of tho Neva. It is .a two-storey hexagonal building, surrounding a courtyard along five sack's of which runs a double tier of low, arched windows, securely barred. The sixth s-kle is a high wall. " According to popular belief, the bastion colls aro ' stone- sacks,' which, being below tho level of the river, are liable to inundation, but this idea is erroneous. The lower row, in which there are 36 cells, is on the ground level, but there aro no prisoners hero, and tho upper storey, with the (same number of cells, is out of tho reach of the recurring river floods." PROTOPOPOFF. The correspondent made his visit accompani<x3 by the Assistant Procurator of tho High Court of Pctrograd. Before inspecting tho oe-lLs they visited the prison chantfcllery. and' tho iwrfber dontiimicß :— " Pointing to one of two doors, tho Procurator said: ' Inside are prisoners under examination. . Ho opened the first door immediately, showing a stoutish, grey-bearded •man, who was Bieletsky, gesticulating to an examining magistrate, whilo through the other door when it was opened could be seen only a regular aquiline profile silhouetted against a barred window.

" That is Protopopoff," said tho Procurator, closing the door.

Tho correspondent was then ccndiucted to the colls on the upper storey, in which tho prisoners arc confined at present. They open on a corridor which follows the hexagonal construction of the building , . On one side of tho corridor are barred windows opening out on tho courtyard, while on the other side is ; a row of red-painted iron-bound, oaken door.s, with slots for peering and pigeon-holes, which may be closed at will, for handing in food to the occupants.

From an examination of the prison regulations and the statements made by Assistant Governor Kurindin, the correspondent obtained an idea of the treatment accorded the nrisoners.;

" All the eight prisoners who formerly were compelled to wear prison clothing now wear their own," said Mr Kurindin. " We supply gratis the ration of a soldier, but the prisoners are allowed to purchase an officer's ration, which all of them do except Protopopoff, who, declaring that ho is the cause of Russia's misfortunes, persists in eating a private's fare. "The prisoners' friends, who may visit them twice weekly, are allowed to bring certain authorised foods, among which one may find caviar. The prisoners are permitted to smoke, but are allowed no alcohol.

" Most of tho prisoners, among whom are threo of Russia's most cultivated citizens, read all day under no restrictions, except that newspapers are not allowed. They recoivo letters and may write them three times a week. The letters are examined by the procurator, but after tho revolution tho prison administration ceased the practice of testing for invisible ink, which had boon in vogue continuously eince the reign of Poter the Great.

'"Hie prisoners exercise in the courtyard twice daily with only their guards for company. They never see one another. Tho doctor visits each cell daily, but in case of serious sickness the prisoners are sent to hospitals outside, as were, for instance, the late Premier Sturmer and the former Empress's friend. Mile. Virubova, as there is no hospital within the fortress. The prisoners behave extremely wcll._ and aro never querulous now. Immediately after the revolution, however, wo had 'Black Hundred' Jew Baiter Orloff, who raised trouble daily. The only request wo have received lately was from General Rennenkampf, who, being afraid of lynching, bogged us not to transfer him to anotner prison." Escape from prison would seem to bo well-nigh impossible — indeed Governor Kurindin assured tho correspondent that there was no record of such an occurrence in modern times—for tho guards consist, first of a regular military unit, and, secondly, of two representatives of every reiment in Petrograd. The latter, who are stationed inside, carefully Watch tho prisoners, while tho other guard is posted outside on tho bastion. Continuing tho description of tho prison, tho Tribune Bays: — In the library the correspondent found volumes in Russian, French, English, German, Italian, and oven Finnish, tne last for the use of the Finnish patriots who, under former Premier Stoiypin's oppressive "equality law," were tried and imprisoned in Russia. The courtyard, in whioh, because of tho rain that was falling at the time, no ono was exercising, makes an. incongruous impression, because, though overlooked by the forbidding barred windows, it can bo reached only through a metal cage in which tbe prisoners wait. Returning to the chancellery, the correspondent examined tho roll of past captives, among whom were the terrorist assassin, Gershuni, and the chemist, Nioholas Morosoff, held in tho bastion _ for 25 years under suspicion of complicity in the assassination of Alexander 11. , In the roll were two other entries of a striking character in a different way. The first reads: — ' "1905, January 12: Pieshkoff Alexis Maximovitcli." This is tho real name of Maxim Gorky. Tho second entry reads: "Gillik Issye, identity uncertain; believed surname Mazantzeff; handed over for execution, February 7, 1908." A STRIKING INCIDENT. Ono of the most striking incidents of tho visit occurred while- the roll was being examined, and is thus described by tho correspondent : — After putting his head into on© of tho side rooms the procurator announced that the examination within tho room, had been finished. Into the chancellery, with two soldiers behind him, walked, well dressed but collarless, a man of middle height, slight figure, small features, and a short, greyish board, with eyes unnaturally bright and almost feverish and an expression of extraordinary refinement and dignity. "That," said the procurator, "is Mr Protopopoff." The former Minister of the Interior stopped in the middle of the room. "Wo can speak English," ho bogan, at which tho procurator intervened. "Please do not," he said. On this Mr Protopopoff, with a smile apparently intended to oxpress sarcasm, begun speaking in Russian. Asked regarding his health, ho answered enigmatically, '"It is too good." Asked whether ho had any complaints to make, he replied: "I havo no complaints of any kind. Would any of your Americans complain if they knew they were desperate criminals?" lioro. Mr Protopopoff smiled again, apporrntly in sarcasm, and tho correspondent, thinking tho words wore intended as an oblique protest against his treatment, said : "Yon mean that as irony?" "It is not irouy," answered Mr Protopopoff. "I have no right to complain bo-ca-'.tsn I am guilty of crime." "That." said the correspondent, a is a stmngo remark in tho presence of the procurator, whoso duty is to pile up evidence ap.vnsi you." The former Minister's head again was thrust quickly to one sido as he said, without a srnile:

"I supply the evidence mysolf. lam piiilfcy of tho most nwful rrimo of not undprstanrlinpr tho spirit of my aeo."

Ropoating , thn words, "spirit of r»v apro" in Tlassinn, Protopopoff, followed by his soldier t sards, went out of the room.