The Express.
London, England, 1847-11-15 00:00:00

MUTINY OF CONVICTS.

In some of the daily journals of Saturday there
appeared a brief allusion to a riot which broke out on Wed-
nesday evening last on board the Warrior ecnviet hulk,
attached to the dockyard at Woolwich, concerning which
the following particulars have transpired :—Mr. Mtsterman,
overseer of the Warrior, issued an order for the removal of
one of the wardsmen, or heads of the chum s of twelve into
which the convicts are divided, the men of each class sleep-
ing together in one cell. When the guards went to the cell
to enforce the order and remove Graham (the wardsman
referred to) the prisoners at once began to resist them, and,
accompanying their threats with the most horrid oaths,
swore that Graham should not be taken away. Finding that
the guards were about to remove their wardsmao, three of
the most determined prisoners demolished a tabl that was
is the cell, and, arming themselvee with the legs, dared the
guards to interfere and remove Grabens, who Mao threatened
the guards and brandished a knife. The guards retired from
the cell, and as one of them, named Frazer, was p i•sing the
bars, Graham struck at him through them with his knife,
which touched the man's clothes as he drew tisck. Mr.
Golden, the chief mate, then went down to the prisoners,
and remonstrated with them, advising them to allow Graham
to be removed, and if they had any grievaace to complain m
to.go up to the quarter-deck and state it to the overseer. This
the prisoners peremptorily refused to do, and, after abusing
the overseer, a rid if he wanted to say anything to them he
must come down. The guards then retired, and represented
the case to Mr. lefesterman ; but no further notice was
taken of the matter that night, the prisoner Graham being
allowed to remain in charge of the men. On the following
morning the refractory prisoners were allowed to go to their
work as usual, and from that time to the present no punish-
ment has been inflicted upon any of them, and Graham still
remains in charge of his class. As it was alleged by the
overseer that the men were in liquor, they were questioned
by some of the guards the nest day as to the fact, when one
of the most refractory, named Ward, declared that they were
all sober, and that they still adhered to their determination
not to allow Graham to be removed. So the matter rests till
Capt. Voules, the newly appointed superintendent, has in-
vestigated the cireumstances. Two other instances of insub-
ordination are worthy of mention. At the dinner hour on
Friday, a guard named Williams, who had received some
provocation from a quarter-master, named IVhite, under
the influence of his irritated feeling., committed a
violent assault upon the latter as he was ascending the
brow of the ship. This was observed by all the prisoners,
who were mustered outside the ship for afternoon labour, and
the assault was immediste!ygreeted by them with loud cheers.
Mr. Field, the chief inspector of the dockyard police, who
happened to be near the spot, immediately repaired to
the ship to 11/10ertftill the cause. Williams was suspended,
and will be discharged. On the same day a convict, named
Buckingham, who was at work with several others, on board
the Unite convict hospital ship, which is at present under
repair in the basin, came on deck with his face streaming
with blood. On inquiry, it turned out that he had some
time previously reported a fellow prisoner, named Bilis, who
had been slightly punished in consequence, and who had
taken this opportunity of resenting the injury. The guard
in charge of the prisoners sent them both to the convict ship
in charge of the sentry. Shortly afterwards the offender re-
turned with the sentry (the injured man having been sent
to the doctor), boasting to his fellow-convicts how he had
served Buckingham out. Ilia punishment consisted in the
addition of another iron or chain round the leg.

PENSION TO THE WIDOW OF THE LATE. JAMES
Ildsztax.—The Board of Ordnance have, after repeated ap-
plications, awarded a pension of 201. per annual to the widow
of the late J. Marsh, whose test for the detection of minute
quantities of arsenic and other discoveries in chemistry, had '
given to his name an European reputation.
CHARING-CROSS BRIDGE COMPANY.— A special
general meeting of the shareholders in this company was
held on Saturday, at the offices, Villiers-street, Strand. Mr.
W. Hawes, the deputy-Chairman of the company, presided.
The object of the meeting was to confirm the resolutions of a
former meeting for rescinding a contract for the sale of the
bridge, and for raising 20,0001. by the creation of 3,200
quarter shares. About thirty gentlemen were present.
Resolutions carrying out these objects were snored by the
chairman, seconded, and unanimously agreed to without re-
mark.—The Chairman then stated that the amount of tons
up to the 13th of this month was greater than for the cor-
responding period of last year, and was very satisfactory,
lbs. 24. Of the one-eighth shares, 698 were yet un-
appropriated, and would be again offered to the shareholders
by circular. After a little conversation as to the issue of the
new shares the chairman was about to declare the business
of the meeting concluded, when Mr. Brown complained that
the directors had not informed the shareholders of legal pro-
ceedings having been commenced against the company on
the part of certain shareholders—The Chairman admitted
the receipt of a communication on the subject, but declined
to state what had been done in consequence.—Mr. Brown
c3ntended that 1,2001. or 1,5001. had been spent in useless
litigation, and said that a very heavy bill of costs would have
to be paid out of the 20,0001. about to be raised. He wished
to have a committee appointed to look into the mattes—The
Chairman repelled the charge which had been made against
him of unduly biassing his colleagues; and in reference to
the law charges, referred to the last printed accounts, in
which the costs were stated to be about I,oool.—The pro-
ceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the chairman.
REFORMATION OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS.—One
of the two anniversary meetings of the Philanthropic
Society was held yesterday, at the Institution, St. George's-
fields, on which occasion • sermon was preached by the
Rev. William Harrison, lately preacher to the Magdalen
Hospital, before Sir G. Grey, Secreter_y. of State for the
Home Department; the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Sir
Richard Vyvyan, the Earl of Denbigh, and several other
noblemen and gentlemen interested in the institution. The
unusually large collection of 16.51. was made. Upwards of
ninety lads placed out from the institution during the last
three years attended an the occasion. They and the boys
now in the institution, amounting to 114 in number, were
addressed by Sir G. Grey, Mr. Harrison, Dr. Rice, Mr.
Gladstone, and others.
CLEANSING AND FORMING THE DWELLINGS OP
Toe Poon.—At a general meeting of the Committee of the
Baths and Wash-houses for the Labouring Classes, held at
the institution in George-street, Burton-square, on Satur-
day, it was resolved, in addition to the benefits conferred on
the poor by the baths and wash-houses, that the poorer classes
in the north-west district of London be 'applied by the
society with disinfecting agents, lime-wash, brushes, pails,
and other necessary means to enable them to cleanse and
purify their dwellings. The report respecting the baths and
wash-houses states that since the opening of the establish-
ment, in August, 1846, up to the present period, 131,968
males and 14,377 females have bathed, and that the present
average of women and their families provided with clean
linen, I y means of their washing, drying, and mangling,
and getting up the same, is 4,000 weekly, or nearly 40,000
articles of clothing.
FATAL SHIPWRECK.—Captain Wheeler, of the
ship Fanny, belonging to Chepstow, arrived at Gloucester
on Friday, from Milford, and reports that on clearing out of
that port on Tuesday morning last, when off the Crown Point,
he fell in with a quantity of cork, evidently part of the
cargo of some ill-fated vessel. On making towards it, he
discovered a man floating in the water, lashed to three
bundles of cork, and much exhausted. Captain Wheeler
took him on hoard, and learned from him that he was the
mate of the brigantine Deaden, of London, from Faro in
Portugal, with • cargo dank ; that the vessel had suffered
severely from heavy gales, and for four or five days and
nights the crew had been working hard to keep her afloat,
when at last, on Monday night, she foundered about ten
miles west of St. Ann's Light*, and the captain and his wife
were drowned. The crew, five in number, finding the bri-
gantine breaking up, got on the cork, which was floating near
the ship, and in a few minutes afterwards the vessel sunk
The men then lashed themselves to the bundles of cork, and
remained at the mercy of the waves during the night, being
near enough to hear each other speak for some hours ; but
after about two in the morning the mate heard no more of
his miserable companions. He, however, requested Captain
Wheeler to look out and see whether any of them were
alive. The captain, in consequence, continued his search,
and in about half an hour he discovered one of the crew
about half a mile to the eastward, to whom he bore down
and took on hoard. The sufferer was greatly exhausted,
and had no clothes except his flannel shirt and drawers, and.
his naked feet were bleeding from the bites of fish. lie was
warty insensible from cold and exhaustion. Both the suf-

form had beat Seating in A. water for sixteen hours.
Captain Wheeler continued to tack about the cork during
the whole ads. night, but sew nothing of the other semen,
who, like the captain and hie wife, no doubt perished. The
two whom be had taken oa beard he supplied with clothing
and nutriment, and brought thence toGloncester.—Sunday
Paper.