Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-26

irons, crushed down by impenetrable walls
of earth, in utter darkness, starved and
beaten by their cruel guards, with no living
soul to pity and no hope of release but in
death
"By the aid Of torches we saw deep holes
scratched In one of the walls, bearing the
impress of human fingers. Perhaps some
unhappy murderer, goaded to madness by
such tortures of mind and body as drives
men to tear their own flesh when buried be-
fore the vital spark is extinct, had grasped
out the earth In his desperation and left
marks Of his death agonies upon the clay
that entombed him. As we sounded the
walls, deep echoes breaking upon the heavy
air seemed yet to mingle with his curses,
and its last sephulchral throb was Like the
dying moan of a maniac"
Wholesale Prison Delivery.
At last, about 30 years after the founding
of the colony, some 800 prisoners broke
loose from their chains, murdered the
guards and escaped. They seized the gar
rison and for several days held possession
of the island. Just then a Nantucket whale
ship happened to put into Cumberland Bay
for food and water. The convicts seized the
captain aud compelled him to put on board
as many of their number as his vessel could
possibly carry. Two hundred Of them
officers with instant death in case of failure
to land them on the coast of Peru, whittier
| they determined to go to escape the veng-
| eance of the Chilean Government.
The captain of the whaler ran over to the
nearest land on the coast of Chile, and, lead:
! ing the convicts to believe that it was Peru,
put them ashore only about 80 miles north
from Valparaiso. They soon found out their
dangerous situation; but if is said that
| every one of them succeeded in eluding the
| Chilean authorities and eventually Joined
the Peruvian arny, which was at that time
| advancing upon Santiago. Most of the
| prisoners left upon the island escaped by
different vessels and were scattered over the
globe. But very few of those engaged in
! the massacre were recaptured, and they were
shot in the central square of Chile's capital
All this occurred less than 40 years ago.
Story of q Frightened Governor.
Speaking of those days brings to mind the
| story of a former Governor of Juan Fernan-
dee, which is still told and believed by
everybody on the island. Looking up to
the uppermost peak of Yonka-an abrupt
precipice on all sides, rising 5000 feet into
| the blue-one sees the dim outlines Of q
! black cross, and wonders how in the world
it got there, Many attempts have been
made, by sailors and others, to scale this
peak, but always without success, except in
single instance. One day the Governor Of
the convict island went out riding, as was
his usual after dinner custom, and when
near to Yonka ne beheld SO remarkable q
vision that he galloped back to the village
in hot haste and related that he saw, away
down in the valley, very tall man, dressed
all in black and mounted on q very tall
| white horse.
The strange rider had face of chastity
whiteness, and turning, he looked steadily
at the Governor, with eyes of fire, the
glare of which made the air hot all around. I"
Trembling with fear, the Governor made
the sign of the cross, whereupon the phan-
tom put spurs to his horse and rode straight
up the precipice to the top of the peak,
where he paused and looked back. Seeing
the sign OF the blessed cross repeated, the
mysterious hCrseman lifted his hands wild
ly as if in despair, and plunged out of sight
on the other side
a Cross Built by Criminals.
Being a devout man and believer in
spooks, the Governor recognized this as an
omen of impending calamity, which could
only be averted by planting cross on top
of the peak. For this purpose he selected
two criminals who were under sentence of
death and offered them their liberty if they
would make the ascent and erect the cross.
The prisoners resolved to hazard the at
tempt, as on the other hand there was the
certainty of death. Tools, ropes, ladders
and provisions were furnished, and they
were sent of with the warning that if they
had not succeeded in the course of ten days,
they would be Immediately executed.
For more than a week they toiled in
cessantly, driving spikes into the cliff; and
day by day went up little higher, letting
themselves down by night by ropes to the
base of tie precipice. On the eighth day
they reached the summit. almost dead from