Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 March 1893 — EXILE AND HEATH. [ARTICLE]

EXILE AND HEATH.

Wholesale Sacrifice ||f Russian Convicts It On Their Wav to Siberia T®ty Were Over taken by a Great Saofl Storm— -- Guards Abandon Th urn to Their Fate. ■% Advices from St. Petersbuf&giye details of a sad loss of life among aJapid of convicts bound for Siberiantjrlsons, The band numbered 37 4 persoii f including a large number of people sen Inced to exile for political crimes. In al jtordance with the custom the convicts wife marching te their various destination p. They had spent the night at Tomsk. iostern Siberia, and continued their jrunf jv early in the morning, A snow storm was prevailing, and when six hours’ march from T jmsk the storm became so severe that allllhe' roads were obliberated. Chained toJSther, the convicts struggled, and gradually the weaker ones fell in the defefl snow, dragging the stronger di If down with them. Despite th< Jr efforts of of the Cossack guards. tHriexhaustod people could make no attenJlß to save themselves, and they were abpMdoned to freeze to death while the otfjsrs were driven forward, those in chargf'lof them hoping to get them to storm continued to increase in viWnce and traveling became worse andSjlbrse. Now and then prisoners would dr|'| by the wayside, where they would soonpS; covered by the rapidly falling and drlf|'|g snow. When the guards mag-wed to get what few remained of their dArge to a place of safety they found thatlf the 374 persons they“liad started wlthgfnfr ~<t»u»vivmfc Sixty-one of those whjf&nd perished were political prisoners. / fciong those lost were Mme. Lazarow, si> women and four children.