The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-04-25
A REMARKABLE ESCAPE.
a Hist orical Parallel to Monte Cristo--
The Narrative of a Conthuusse Cow
Lot
| From the London Times. |

From the London Timcs,1
We were political prisoners-threc hun.
drcd OF us--in the fortress of Port Lonis .
part OF that line Of Notifications which was
pun Ivy Sn'iv TO defrua The French co,st
rom Brcs' to La Rochelle. At hiuh-.ide tho
fortress Is entirely surrounded by tho 60,
ana communicates with the land only bv .
oriasc. Round its circuit runs ramnart on
"oich the easements abut. The entrance il on
p"si'e the bridge; that i. to say, facing the
peninsula on which stands the little town of
fof' Louis. On the lett arc the Offices of the
prison authorities and the residence Of the
"o,efnor; ON the right the quarters of the
,o'"acr>. In the centre Of the fortress are
na'Ta"ks. FORMING square. and having an
| inner cnilrt; and il i hrre that the prisoners
are confined. The soldiers are strictly for
n'dd'n TO speak t. the prisoners Their duty
consists IN mounting guard on the terrace
running along above the classmates. Aroad.
known as the Round road, goes round the
citadel, and separates the clSemates from the
buildings in which the prisoners are confined.
The ground floor, occupied by the prisoners,
Is divided into twenty doriDitores. of ,me.
quail size, containing from seven to thirty
prisoners each.
Inc dormitorics are lighted BY windows
| looHng ont on one side on the Round road.
ana On the other side on the inner court, and
these windows are protected by strong iron
bars. Having observed that the floorboards
were badly Joined the idea occurred to Us of
working out the nails ny which they were
fastened with our. tinger-naiS; and having
done this, we discovered under our room
large excavations without any outlet. which
hmm lrt fpr lnt
On lifting two Of the r-boartlS under nv
bed we wcr" able 10 descend into this cellar,
and then. after working holes in the walls
separating the different compartments, we
reached the foundation wall abutting on the
Round road. Immediately the working
party had descended into the cellar the floor
boards were replaced, and were only lifted
| aSllh Wacn 1t was necessary for those be-
low to rrm0unt. The only tools we had
were large nails or spikes. which had been
used III liking the stand for the arms. these
quarters lavin" formerly been occupied by
soldiers. We had worked out these nails
with our hands, and to do so had cost us
several days labor and no little liberation of
fingers. We then conceived the idea Of ex-
ra'a'ing Il tunnel to run from the cellar to
! tn" Sca. We found we were just OF Il evc!
with the Round road, but this road served as
powder, Hnd for all the vehicles bringing
provisions and other stores into the citadel.
4 WIS therefore necessary, before cxcavat-
NIX the tiunr!, to sink a vertical Shaft about
thirteen feet i'll depth in order that the super
| incumbcrcd weight IF the wagons passing
might not cause the road to fall
! in. Digging with the nails. we loosencd the
! earth. which Wc then scoOped up in Il tin
! plate which we had been able to conceal
! Nh,n We had III this manner filled n dinner
u,pkln we formed sort OF chain and passed
from namd 10 hand The napkin full OF earth.
which WAS deposited in the furthest Of the
underground compartments and well tram
Piled down, 80 That 1t might occupy as small
a >jrlcy * possible. There were only six Of
IL Ia CARY on this work. for the numberleSs
difficulties which stood in the way OF our
escape had discouraged the others. We fol-
lowed 10 tie last the >,,lnc method of diSpos
In, Of !hc earth and the stones, which
we roikc! out enc 10y one after in
credible Ell ,rt-. iiiyin.; finished this
hiatt &c thirteen feet in depth, we
rpinlncucrd III" horizontal tunnel. We
bad in in" iir>t place To pass under the
Eoand roid, which istwcnty-twO ortwrn!y-
tlrcc feet iii width. A. the earth was much
easier Of excavation than stone, we cXc;tra-
-! on gallery wiki a downward slope in u
der Ina, Wc might be able To pass underneath
~" t,und.'ion wall of the easement I:lring
oar ,inrnriury. Thanks To this slope, We:
>Itc""d"d 20 well tl1t for 4 space OF about
toJty--iX ','"i-nat is Ia say, until VIC reached
t!.j W:i! at the r1mrari--Ne bad only 10
work through Garth. This tunnel was just
tli-,'' ~ Ju-h fer one man to creep along IN
! il. We, therefore, took our turns at the en-
caIatioH, lying fit on our flccS. Unforeseen
accidents occurred - increase the difficulties,
already great. Which we had 10 Surmount.
The part Of the tunnel passing under the
tnuud read. notwithstanding The depth
below the surface at winch ii WAS eXcaNatcti,
and nu.Wi LIS :iudnm the care we took To
construct II :tTcl.-SiIapcd, 80 That il might b"
hi!rr al" ~ support the heavy weights
passing above, threat tilru entirety ~ till IN.
ilriyv rti!,~ had !o"Scncd the SOIL alrt, pretty
iaT-,. masses II Garth fell every day. II was
mrc,.~~irr Tia; this part OF the tunnel should
hr prop,rd up. How could it he done :
NHc 81 Our nu!nacr, who had been SAILOR,
aHd Who WAS Il rc>uilltc and cntCrpriSng
Inau. ~ sailors usually are conceived the idea
II supporting Tie earth lay packing against
the sides OF the tunnel stones which we bad
removed from the walls. This was done,
and the downfall from above being thereby
! clirc.lmliy prevented, we were able to con-
tinl!c our llbor>. \ second accident, which
>rrucd ut IirSt much more serious, then
occurred; threw lis into Il fever OF
anxiety, and delayed the accomplishment
, , oil Our project. When our tunnel had ut
!, tanned length Of about tlIiriy-thrcc feet we
could not gel our light to buru We thought
, this phenomenon was caused by want of air,
, and this is what we did To remedy the de-
feet. While one OF our number was kept
, constantly 1T work eXcavatiu", another,
Standing in the shaft at the entrance of the
tunnel, aud mallinG,a sort OF fan OF his
iuckrt, forced Il -;rcnSrulrcnt OF air into the
, tunnel However, after some few days,
" hen the length Of the passage had been IN
creased By Il little more than yard, there
Na, no longer any need Of our improVlSed
yrn'iiator. a> the light burned itself. There
doubtless occurred III this part Of the earth
: 10 ne Las which prevented orr light rom
.urnny. and ihl- ..:l>. having little 10y ilttle
, | I,.rolrc DISPERSED the phenomenon ceased.
AT length. after being distracted by doubts
and tears, after the innumerabc dilhcul-
= ties which every day for three months we
had Observation-Disclosures which we
should never have overcome but bv aunt OF
sheer energy, and thanks 10 that incredible
patience with which prisoners only are en-
dow ed we reached ~ wal OF the i:imlGrl.
\ few mere DAYS OF tabor and suilcrin% ana
we shall he free. Free. The reader VIII
understand what courage and nope tliat
word must have given us to induce lis 10 ull-
drrtakc and enable us 10 accomplish work
which, under any other circumstances,
would have appeared 70 us as simple mad
J OF