The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1894-08-16
A HUGE PENAL SETTLEMENT.
The Andamnn islands, Where Eight Thou
sand ..llfera. Alone Arc Imprlaoned.

The Andaman islands, Where Eight Thou
sand "Lif~rs" Alone Are Imprisoned.
Thirteen thousand convicts are liv-
ing at Port Blair, In the Andaman
islands, which is probably the largest
penal settlement in the world, says the
New York Sun. The Andaman islands
are in the Bay of Bengal, and to Port
Blair is sent the refuse of two hundred
and fifty million people. The worst
criminals of British India and Burmah,
If they incur long sentences Of impris-
onment, are sent to Port Blair. Over
eight thousand of them are serving life
sentences. The attack upon the chief
official of the islands is all the more
noteworthy because, since the settle
ment of Port Blair was started in 1857,
with the mutinous Sepoys as the first
colonists. there have been only two
murderous assaults on Europeans by
convicts; and yet to guard this army
of evil-doers only one company of Brit
ish infantry and several hundred
Punjab police are employed, a very
small force when it is considered that
there are no prison walls, and that the
convict barracks are scattered all over
square. The hundred or more boats
and canoes required for the work of
the settlement are far more carefully
guarded than the prisoners them
selves. There is no chance to escape,
except by capturing these boats. Even
then there would be little hope of free
dom, for the Andamans are far from
land and lie in region of tempests.
The only refuge is the forest, where
runaways are sure to die of starvation,
if they are not shot by the natives. The
authorities, therefore, have so little
fear of any attempt to escape that as
many as five hundred of the convicts
are often sent ten miles away without
any guards except their own officers
Even in this isolated place remark
able incident occurs now and then to
vary the monotony of incessant road
making and forest telling. Nearly
eleven years ago sounds were heard
like the firing of big guns, and it was
thought a warship had gone ashore on
South Andaman. The station steamer
was sent to carry relief to the crew,
but no wreck was found. The noises
came from Krakatoa, one thousand
five hundred miles away, where the
most tremendous volcanic disturbance
of modern times was in progress.
Years ago the ship Runnymede sailed
from Australia and the ship Briton
from England, each having on board
battalion of the Eightieth Foot. The
regiment was to be reunited at Ran
goon. One dark night a terrible storm
caught both vessels near the Anda-
mans, and a great wave carried them
high on the shore. Next morning the
regiment, without man missing, was
reunited on the island. The battalions
had travelled around the world to meet,
and a stranger meeting never occurred.
The administration of this penal col
ony is remarkable system of rewards
and punishments. Invariable good
conduct secures better food, increased
comforts and finally wages for days
work. Twenty years of obedience to
the rules secures a pardon for life con-
victs. .Pardons are often granted for
deeds of gallantry, and murderers,
red-handed and with weapons ready,
have been seized by their fellows, who
risked their lives to gain the coveted
freedom. The attempt to assassinate
the chief official of the colony may re-
suit in restrictions that the convicts
have hitherto escaped.