The Morning herald., 1876-06-08
A BOLD sEsCuE.
r.. renian Prisoners in western
INV Australia Set Free.
,r.w YORK Herald OF yesterday.


pllso1 created considerable excitement
eseaii s,apo ibe Irish portion of the population,
AniVo ro,ch anxiety WAS manifested to learn
ana in,sils ,n Of the affair. As nothing was
'n1 '1b,;shed however, but the bare fact that
puubd an nod escaped and had got on board an
lucy ,aysriran I whaler, much speculation was in
any s.,',sd in a. to the means by which they
noi7 aoS succeeded in eluding the vigilance OF
The British .iailors and regainlng thelr 'loer-
w W. Nothing definite or even probable seem
"a to be known, and the very absence OF de-
tsn added to the interest IN the affair.
several prominent Irish nationalist, sup
nossd TO be in the secrets OF the revolution.
l,y marty, were visited by Herald reporter
reterday evening, with view TO discover
,rhelber any preconcerted plan had been
tormel to effect the release OF the prisoners
."d whether any Irish American national
,.,s n had anything to do with it, but 1t was
toInd S,I very difficult TO get any definite In
. formation.
Al length, however, gentleman was
fo,pl who ia cognizant Of cbe whole affair,
,nl who, though very reticent on the prin-
rinIe POINTS, was quite willing 10 communi-
cate certain facts which would, as he said,
~show Mr.. Disraeli the extent ofthe mistake
os had made In refusing to grant an am
nasty.n The following is his statement
slnatantially -
Although do not think it would serve
snv good purpose to have all the facts in my
ro.sesson concerning this affair published
IN tbe Herald, and the safety Of those who
effected the rescue of those prisoners de-
mauds that | should be reticent, ! still
think there are many things that can be
civen with safety, and that may be of some
interest to the public. Of course this news
requires confirmation but feel certain it
is t1ue because / have been looking out for
the news for some time, and certain things
in conusction with 1t carry conviction to my
,n,nd for reasons am not prepared to men
,Iap. Now if you want the names of the
men who did the work, or any such infor-
nation as that tell you frankly you she'll
not have it, and no newspaper has the
slightest chance Of getting it for the present,
bu; the general features of the affair ! am
r!t?aTed to give you.
lhe American public must be aware that
several humble members OF the late Fenian
movement, mostly soldiers Of he British
srmy, nave been detained in prison for the
last .en years, although the leaders have
been long ago released. They were tried by
court martial for mutiny, desertion and
other military crimes, and all direct men,
non Of Fenis nism was scrupulously omitted
from the indictments, so that the untOrtu-
nate men might fall in for none of the bene-
fits Of an amnesty to political prisoners.
They we're not recognized as political prison
ers al ALL Petitions for their release have
been time and again sent TO the British gov.
einment, thousands of people have attended
meetings to advocate amnesty, and every
possible effort has been made to procure
their release, but all to no purpose. Final
Iy, tired of waiting and hopeless of any
good coming from appeals to England s
mercy, some OF the prisoners friends made
up their minds to
SEE WHAT FORCE COULD DO,
and commenced to organize for rescue. 1t
is now over four years ago since lady in
this city, who is now dead and who was a
devoted friend to the prisoners, received
letter from one of them, asking that some
thing might be done for them, and pointing
OUT the fact that rescue was possible. The
letter was, of course, smuggled out of the
prison. From this point-a regular cores
pondence was started, and after careful iu-
curry it was found that the prisoners could
all be rescued If money enough could be got
10 defray necessary expenses. How TO get
tnat money without exposing the object
was the problem to be solved, and consider
shle difficulty was experienced in procuring
Y. 1t would be the easiest thing in the
world to raise money for such purpose
among the Irish people here. but such an
enterprise demands the most absolute &C.
y.ecy, and it would ruin the project to con-
tde it to too many people. Finally, after
long delays, a plan of raising the money
was hit upon and two years ago the move
ment was definitely started. How the
money was raised who subscribed 1t or how
1t was applied, am not prepared to make
public Just now, but a time will come when
1t can be done, and the facts will rebound
more to the credit of the Irish revolution
ary party than anything that has occurred
Tor many years. Thousands Of men knew
ol the fact that an attempt was to be made,
though the details were known to very
limited number--possibly fifteen at the out
eide. A great deal had to be risked and
many personal sacrifices had to be made by
individuals, but finally the thing was got
into shape and over twelve months ago a
gentleman eminently qualified to carry out
the enterprise started from here for Aus
traa and commenced operations. 1t was
peculiarly difficult and delicate task and
required man of unusual ability and tact to
perform it. The prisoners were often
separated from each other and scattered
among gangs of convicts through the bush
working at various kinds of employment
and were liable to be changed at any mo-
meat to another working party or sent tc
Inc chief ponuict eat a h! !iShment ut Fireman
tie. 1t was a very difficult matter to ar
range everything so that simultaneous
dash might be made all the prisoners and
that they might all be safely conducted tc
the point of embarkation. Fortunately
THERE ARE NO TROOPS IN WESTERN
AUSTRALIA,
but there is a very strong police force, and