A POLISH LADY KNOUTED. (Telegraph.)

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 112, 23 January 1873, Page 3

A POLISH LADY KNOUTED. (Telegraph.)

At a gathering of Poles in the little village of Kernst, on the Southern Nieman, on tho 29th July la«t, when nil thought themselves secure from the intrusion of any of the numerous spies who keep tho Russian officials informed of the malcontents among the n, A'cTandrnm Kosson itz, a young lady whoso father, tho youngest son of a formerly noble Polish family, was killed in tho recent trouble* in Warsaw, expressed her sympathy with the unfortunates whom Russian severity had murdered or sent into exile. The meeting was a purely social one, and none dreamed that anything said there would reach the ears of the spies, for all present were known to be Poles, and firm haters of the harsh rule under which they then lited. Still as the young girl in her passionate remembrance of a father's "love dopl ired his death, expressed her sympathy with rebellion, anil her detestation of her oppressors, she was cautioned le«t h-r loud tone should enable people at the window to hear hor. With it hasty glance, as though to read in the faces of thosu about her who would betray her, the young larly ceased her execrations and relapsed into silence. When ten oYlrc\nrrived, the latest hour o£ Polish gatherings the compuiy separated, and Alexandrma, accompanied by her affianced, Julian Temensky, ■went to her home. If, mjpassing from the house of the ( a hcring, she had been more observant, Alexandrina would have seen the maliciously triumphant glances cast after her by Catherino MerdolF, a woman about 35 yean, a Pole bv birth, and a sympathiser with unhappy countrywomtn wVnevcr her oh a passion was not conccrncl, and, from tho subsequent proceedings, it seems that in this case she had been superseded in tho affections of the youn.r Dr Tcmen*ky by iho more beautiful and younger Alexandria. Ko«.ao«it-. On the following day, shortly afrcr rising, Alexandrma was seized in her own home, n short distance from Kermt, by two Cossacks of the guard at the garrison, and taken before tho petty judgo Tho young lady of 19, handsome ard trembling, produced no feeling of pity. Having first denied tho accusation she wtw confronted w itU Catherine Merdoff, anrl then acknowledged her offence. In passing sentence, te petty Judie said that hor s-editious utterances might have warranted him ] in sending 1 c • before a higher tribunal, where the penalty would be death ; but, in view of her youth and contrition, he would order her to receive thirtv-fivc lashes of t e knout. Almost benumbed with shame and terror, the girl was led aw ay to be prepared for puirshment, for in Ru^ia all sentence, save that of death, are carried out immediately after tiny hive been pronounced. • Word having been sent to the officer co nmnnding tho troops, a guard of 200 men were ordered into tho garrison square, and the e-ecutioner of the troop was called upon to be ready to carry out the duties of lim office. In ha f-i labour after the sentence had been given, the troop* had been formed into a hollow squire, in the centre of which had been placed a scaffold, standing on four lee, the top of which was an inclined plane. Bc^ido this s ord ih» executioner, having in his muscular hand t e knout. Tin's weanon consists of a stick or a handle, two feet Ion;*, with a In9h furf >ur feet long of soft leather, to the end of which is attached by a loop a piece of raw hide, two inches wide ai.d two feet long In the hands of an experienced man, the piece of rawhide ( a ibe made to cu l like a knife. _ As the executioner stood facing the scaffold, Alcxandrii a Kossowitz was brought to him by the guard, and in a few moments her clothing was removed to her waist, despite her almost mute appeals to be saved the shame. As she pleaded she was bent on the plane, her hands strapped to the fwo upper corners, and hor ankles secured at tl o foo^ of tho foot of the structure. One of the executioner 1 * assistants held her head, and the petty judge gave the order for the whipping to commence. Twirling tho long Ir.sh in tho air tho executioner stepped suddenly backward, and with a sharp crack tho tlionn fell on the back of the sobbing girl, cutting a livid streak from her right shoulder to her wnist. A terrible tremor passed over her, and a quick low cry escaped her lips, but it was the only sound she uttered, and wero it not for the blood which soon commenced to flow, it might have scorned that tho whipping was being done on tho naked back of a corpse. When the lash had been given the young lady was unfastened, and with her clothing rudely thrown over her she was taken to prison, and there, after thanking the judge for lm mercy according to tho ncccssury formula, she was delivered over to her friends. Five dayi afcerwards tic Gasetle of Wilno ontained this announcement : — ' Tho Polish criminal, Aloxandrina Kojso•witz, daughter of the rebel Peter Kossowitz, irho was knoutcd for seditious uttcrancss on the 29th of July, at Kernst, while submitting her lacerations to medical treatment in tho house of tho physician, stole a vial of prussic a,'id, with which sho ended her days.