The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1872-06-01
AN UNPARALLELED HORROR,

AN UNPARALLELED HORROR.
Five Hundred Human Beings Meet
q Horrible Death.
4 catastrophe almost unparallel
ed in horror, disclosing the gross
cruelties of the Macao tmigrant
trade by one last and most terrific
demonstration. happened in the
China seas last May, and is record
ed in a Parliamentary report just
reciveed by the House of Com
mons to be printed. A vessel
called the Don Juan, sailing under
the flag and with the authority of
the Portuguese Government, set
sail on the 4th of May, with $50
coolies on board. These poor
wretchcs. it appears, were lidnap-
ped and shipped 10 the most
shameful! manner. Once on board
this large multitude was placed
literally in prison-penced on the
main deck and fastened down by
three iron gratings. which closed
the matches, ten coolies a. q time
only being allowed to come on
deck. The ship sailed in fair
weather from Macao. On the
second day of the voyage. as de-
clared by Heaker, an Austrian sea
man, the captain selected twenty
coolies and put them in irons. as
an example for others. On the
third day difficulty arose about
the food passed down to the emf
grants. The interpreter got angry
and struck those who complained
with his cane, whereupon the
wretched coolies made q dash at
their European jailers. The iron
matches we're Immediately slam
med back upon them. and,
when the poor creatures beat upon
the beams and planks to get air,
lnuskets werefired down into the
crowd. 1t then appears, that in
desperation, some few of the cool
les set fire to store room forward
hoping, no doubt, to force the crew
to throw their prison open. The
sailors tried to pump water down
upon the seatof conflagration, but
frenzied men below passed the
hose oat of the port holes, so that
pumping became useless. Then
the fire spread beyond control, and
volumps oethick smoke rolled into
the main deck choaking the mass
OF coolies at the other end, who
had taken no part in the previous
proceedings. Red tongues of fame
and sufocating clouds filled the
the ship below matches. while the
miserable prisoners beat at the iron
grating, tore at the fastenings oil
the deck: and even endeavored te
J get up 10 the air through the ven
Ftilato-s. The port holes however
were fastened, and the headlights
were too small to allow Of man:
body passing, and the ventilator.
were barred, so that there was M
escape.
In two hours time the fire wa.
established on the main deck
which means that scores of tn
Chinese had already been roastes
Or smothcred--yet the crew neve
took single step towards savin!
the'liges Of the imprisoned wretch
es. They merely lowered tire
boats on their own account, an
pushed off from the burning YES
t sci, leaving all that mass of huma
, creatures pent up in a floating bel
Of fear and agony. The sea wa
calm; the matches might sureI
!. have been opened at the last mo
ment, yet the Don Juanss capital
i and hands showed off, while th
Q ship blazed, and while the coolie
I persisted inside with trightfui erie
o and screams The scoundrel mas
o ter and crew saved their villain
T Gus lives, a junk picked them u
and the same witness vino tells I
this says, that when the twent
: Chinese in irons, who were upo
the forecastle, broke away the
;. letters and swan towards the Jun
= they were pushed off into the 81
: to drown. Meantime, In the
v awful terror, the survivors of tt
t six hundred and fifty below four
y some means OF bursting the for,
.r hatch. Scores by this time we
: killed by the flames or the smok
> scores had been trampled down
the frenzied rush for life to tt
1t upper deck. About a hundred
- all at last emerged from that &c
SO gothA of anguish, and leaped
IL once into the sea. A few mana.
)! ed to get hold of spars and foa
g ing gear, and hung upon these t
,s s some fishing boats picked them I
:, next morning. The majority we
~ already MORALLY injured when til,
: escaped, or crushed by the falliu
r. chains and spars of the ship. B
~ at least five hundred we've fiji
nd scorched to death. or choaked 81
Of trampled dead, before the intern
pison gate was forced by the bre
up ing open of the matches, which t
ag captain and crew had SO shameful
a left fast.
he
he STATE NEWS
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