The state herald., 1892-11-11
IN CONVICT COLONIES.
HOW ExILED MALEFAcTORS
ARE TORTURED.
Tho Horrors OF Mozambique and Cay
cnne-Tho spanish Government
lnferno on tho Isle of Pines
Worked to Death.

Worked to Death.
Whom tho London philanthropists
urged an international protest against
the barbaritles OF tho Siberian prison
system tho silence OF tho French press
was ascribed TO political considera-
tions but the residents OF u certain
French colony on the east coast OF
South America might have suggested
different motive.
'SiberiaP Why have envied
that country" said Henri Rochefort
when his friends compared his luck 10
that OF II Russian refugee. Cayenne
is worie than Siberia by Just as much
rs hell Is worse than IN leo. pit"
II might indeed. be questioned IL
the habits OF modern civilization do
not make au excess OF heat greater
a.liiction than Siberian winter storm.
writes +. l. Oswald In tho Sun Fran
cisco Chronicle. Tho convict miners
OF Irkutsk aro sheltered from the in
clomency Of tho weather and the
sable hunters OF the lower Lena wear
heavy furs, and are permitted to
make their cabins us weather. tight rs
an NIX and plenty OF lumber will do IT.
while the oxiles OF Cayenne are
kept at work twelve hours n day In
climate that can rival tho brooding
heat OF tho lower Senegal and the in
sect plaques OF the Bengal coast
swamps.
The charges OF tho Gaulols (hint-
ing ut deliberate methods for shorten
ing the lives OF obnoxious convicts)
have mover been proved. but 1t has
been admitted that open mir work is
continued at time of year when the
guards have to bo relieved three
times n day while tho laborers are
permitted only n half hour recess for
dinner and that malingering is dis
couragod by an expediont as apt to kill
| q bona-iide invalid us to deter simu-
| lator.
But Cayenne. with all Its swamps
and mosquito swarms is pleasant
| summer resort compared with the
penal colony OF Mozambique, whore
tho Portuguese government permits II
| gang OF malfactors to lessen tho misery
OF their exile by working their fellow
prisoners 10 death. With the oxcep-
ton OF hail dozen commissioned
officers the entire garrison OF 700 men
consists OF convicts; and convlcts
boosting the rudiments OF education.
arc put in charge of chain gangs OF
less accomplished criminals who wear
out their lives tilling rice fields aud
digging irrigation bitches under the
rays Of the iiercest iun OF tho East
| African tropics.
AT night the poor wretches are
| locked up in barracks built OF mud
bricks and covered with sheets OF
rolled lead. wood being apt 10 disap-
| pear In n few weeks under the attacks
OF the tcrmitc ants. A low door OF
heavy iron CRATES and one or two
grated loopholes near the center of
the opposite wall arc the only means
FOR vcntilating these dormitoricS
which IN midsummer become 80 often
sivo that tho guards hesitate 10 APP
proach the door even in answer to
the appeals OF sick or dying man.
In mere solf-dcfonso TO prev .nt con.
slant epidcmics. tho ovorseor1 permit
undoubted invalids to sleep In the
open mir but ms long us n convict can
walk Mt all ho Is driven nj sunset 10 n
den OF atmospheric horrors that must
mako him dread night us the most
n llictivo part OF tho two ity-four
hours
On Sundays and tho principal
church festivals tho convi.,s get
strip with their rico rations but are
obliged TO pass the entire day In the
barracks TO give tho guards n chance
for recreation. On week days their
rntions consist OF boiled rec and sun
dried beef To lessen the chance OF
escape nearly all ablo-bodlcd prison
ers wear balls and chains and on
journeys to nm inland port are chained
march In front Of a mounted picador
Privileged couvic,s or 'f-ustieS I"
as our pcnitcntiary wardcns would
call them. have n chance to graduate
from tho position OF n field guard 10
that OF custom-houso sentry and
tho fate OF tho chain gang luborcrs
rlny DO imagined from the fact that
tho TRUSTEES are encouraged 10 earn
their promotion by extra severity and
n zeal for denunciation.
Tho Spanish government maintains
similar inferno on tho Isle OF Pines
some ility miles southwest OF Cape
Corrienios on the south coast OF
Cuba As Viewed from the sea tho
Island with IL, blue siefras ind mag
niilccnt forests OF pines ard forest
eycrgrocns Is tho worry idcll OF an
earthly paradise. but IL Is doubtful II
any other equal area OF tho oarths
surface has witnessed more bloodshcd
md deods Of violence.