IN THE BASTILE OF PETROGRAD

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 93, 12 January 1918, Page 8

IN THE BASTILE OF PETROGRAD

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM OF REVOLUTION

EIGHT PROMINENT FIGURES

In Petrograd's baatile aro imprisoned—or, as the Government describes it, interned—eight men who played important parts in Russian affairs until the wheel of fortune swung against them. They are Goneral Rennenkampf, military judge during the attempted revolution of 1906, whosci record is described as constituting a "hangman's progress" to Siberia; Mr. Bieletsky, former director of police and tho accomplice of agents provocateurs; Mr. Makaroff, who is said to have procured tho election of a burglar to the Duma to act as a spy; Mr. Sikreroieff, former chief of the Army Motor Supply Office; J. ChtcheglovitofT, former Minister of Justice, whom Count "Witt© called the "most clever and most corrupt man-in Europe"; Prince Alexander Dolgorukoff, the cavalry commander seized as a supporter of General KornilofF; Goneral Voycikoff, palace commander of the former Tsar, and last, but not least, the notorious Alexander Protopopoff. dupe and slave of the mystic monk, Rasputin. The place* of "detention" of these formerly distinguished gentlemen is the notorious Traubetskoi bastion of the Fortress of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, where for two centuries of Russian unrest there havo been imprisoned highborn traitors, pretenders to the throne, assassins, nihilists, and bomb-throwers in general. As the result of a month's negotiations, which were finally endorsed by Premier Kerenskv, a correspondent of the Associated Press was permitted to visit the historic prison, which ho thus describes in the Salt Lnko "Tribuno": —

"The bastion, which js a part of the obsolete fortification, is on the banks of tho Neva. It is a two-story hexagonal building surrounding a cojirtyanl along five sides of which runs a double tier of low. arched windows,

securely barred. The sixth side is a high wall.

"According to popular belief tlie bastion cells are 'stone sacks,' which, boiiifr below tlio level of the river, are liable to inundation, but this idea is erroneous. The lower row, in wliich there are thirty-six cells, is on the ground level, but there are no prisoners here, and the upper story, with the same number of cells, is out of the reach of the recurring river floods." Protopopoff. The correspondent made his visit accompanied by the Assistant Procurator of the High- Court of Petrograd. Before inspecting the cells they visited the prison chancellery, and the writer continues'

"Pointing to one of two doors, the Procurator said; 'Inside are prisoners under examination.' He opened the first door immediately, showing a st-outish, gray-bearded man, who was Bieletsky, gesticulating to an examining magistrate, wlv.ie through the other door, ivnc-« si opened, could be seen'only''a regular aquiline profile silhouetted against a barred window.

"That is Protopopoff," said the procurator, closing the door. The correspondent was then conducted to the cells on the upper story, in which the prisoners are confined at present. Tiiey open on a corridor which follows the hexagonal construction of the building. On one side of the corridor are barred windows opening out on the court-yard, while on the other side is a row of red-painted, ironbound, oaken doors, .with slots for peering and pigeon-holes, which may 'be closed at will, for handing in food to the occunants.

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 prisoners. "All the eight prisoners who.formerly were compelled to wear prison clothing now wear their oym, 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 he is the cause of Russia's misfortunes, persists in eating a private fare. "The prisoners' friends, who may visit them twice weekly, are allowed to bring certain 'authorised foods, among which ono may find caviar. The prisoners are permitted to smoke, but are allowed no alcohol. .

"Most of the prisoners, among whom are three of Russia's most cultivated citizens, read all day under no reatrations, except that newspapers,are not allowed. They receive letters and may write them three times a- week. The letters are examined by the procurator, but after the revolution the prison administration ceased the practise of testing for invisible ink, which had been in vogue continuously since the reign of Peter the Great. .

"The prisoners exercise in the courtyard twice daily with only their guards for company. They never see one another. The doctor visits each cell daily, but in case of serious sickness the_ prisoners are sent to hospitals outside, as were, for instance, tho lato Premier Sturmer and the former Empress's friend, Mile. Virubova, as there is, no hospital within the fortress. The prisoners behave extremely well, and are never querulous now. Immediately after the revolution, however, we had 'Black Hundred' Jew Baiter Orloff, who raised trouble daily. The only request we have received lately was from General Rennenkampf, who, being afraid of lynching, begged us not to transfer him to another prison."

Escape from the prison would seem to be well-nigh impossible—indeed Governor Kurindin assured the correspondent that there was no record of such an occurrence in modern times— for the guards consist, first of a regular military unit, and, secondly, of two representatives of every regiment in Potrograd. The latter, who are stationed inside, carefully watch the prisoners, while the other guard is posted outsido on the bastion. Continuing the description of tho prison, the "Tribuno" says:— ' In the library the correspondent found volumes in Russian French, English, German, Italian, and even Finnish, the last for the use of tho Finnish patriots who, under former Premier Stolypin's oppressive "equality law," wore tried and imprisoned in Russia.

The courtyard, in which, because of the rain that was falling at tho time, no one was exercising, makes an incongruous impression, because, though overlooked by the forbidding barred windows, it can be reached only through a metal cage in which the prisoners wait. Returning to the chancellery, the correspondent examined the roll <.f past captives, among whom were the terrorist assassin, Gersliuni, and tho chemist, Nicholas Morosoff, held in tho bastion for twenty-five years under suspicion of complicitv in the 'assassination of Alexander 11. In the roll were two other entries of a striking character in a different wav. The first reads: "1905, Januarv 12: Pieshkolf Alexis Maximoviteli." This is the real r.amo of Maxim Gnrkv. The second entry reads: "Gillik Issye, identity wieertain ; believed surname Mazantzeff; handed over for execution, February 7, 1MB." x A Striking Incident. One of the most striking incidents

of the visit cccurrcd while tho roll was being examined, and is thus described by tho correspondent:

After putting Lis head into one of the side rooms ilie procurator announced that tho examination within tho room had been finished.' Into tho chancellery, with two soldiers behind him, walked, well dressed but collarljss, a man of middle height, slight figure, small features, and a short, greyish beard, 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 tho room. "Wo can speak English," he began, at which the procurator intervened. "Please do not," he said. On this Mr. Protopopoff, with a smile apparently intended _to express sarcasm, began speaking in Russian. Asked regarding his health, he answered enigmatically, "It is too good." Asked whether he had any complaints to make, ho replied: "I have no complaints of any kind. Would any of your Americans complain if they know they were desperate criminals?" Here Mr. Protopopoff smiled again, apparently in sarcasm, and the correspondent, thinking the words were intended as an oblinue protest against his treatment, said: "You mean that as irony?"

"It is not irony." answered Mr. Protopopoff. "1 have 110 right to complain because I am guilty of. ciime."

"That," said the correspondent, "is a strange remark in the presence of the procurator, whoso duty is to pile up evidence against you." The former Minister's head again was thrust quickly to one side as ho said, without a smile:

"I supply tho evidence myself. 1 am guilty of the most awful crime of not understanding the spirit of my age." Repeating the words, "spirit of mv age" in Russian, Protopopoff, followed by his soldier guards, went out of thi room.