Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1895-04-13
ISLANDS OF SAFETY.
FRANCES PENAL COLONY
WHcNe LIFE - TORTURE.

A sessehIns Climate, Excessively
Hard Labor aNd Q Disease Osssd.
Ing Atmosphere Render Existence
taidseWs.
Graphically portrayed "a the suffer.
ings Of Siberian exiles have been
they cannot surpass the horrors Of
Punishment to the Isles de Salut,
where France has begun to send her
anarchists and hardened felons. 1t
ls here that Captain Dreyfus. the
Fronchman convicted OF treason In
having revealed to German officers
the plans OF French Qualifications,
will be taken to spend the remainder
Of his life.
The fierce tropical sun and ever
humid atmosphere would OF them.
selves kill any but the hardest,
but when to these IL added cruel and
upremitting toll 1t IL no wonder that
the miserable exiles seek swlftcr
death at the hands OF their merciless
guards, whose orders IRE to shoot and
kill Mt the first sign OF insubordi.
nation.
These islands Of safety are three
In number, and lie o few degrees
north Of the equator, OF the coast
Of French Guiana, South America.
They are small In area, and except
for their narrow maritime selvage
are covered with dense tropical for.
ests.
The climate IL murderous. To
stand bareheaded in the blazing sun
for q moments space IL certain deaf h.
The wet season lasts eight months,
from November to June, and the ave-
erage rainfall during this time IL $50
inches. The mercury never drops
below 81 degrees Fahrenheit, and
climbs up to 1l5 degrees during the
four dry months.
The convict transports either soil
from the Isle dc Re, In the Bay Of
Blscay, or from the Isle d AK, In the
Mediterranean, near Toulon. The
voyage lasts q month, and Its hor.
rors are fit preparation for those
to come. The prisoners. already
dressed in their Infamous garb, are
confined pell nell in companies Of
fifty In great iron cages on the spar
deck, the upper deck OF those ex.
tending from stem to stern. These
cages are lined on their four sides by
benches, and ut night hammocks are
slung. Day and night the guards
stand beside loaded miltrailleuses,
ready to fire at the first sign OF re.
bellion.
Day by day 40 the ship nears the
tropics the heat increases, and ut
last becomes intolerable. The foul
cir IL sweetened only at intervals,
when the narrow portfolios are
opened. Those prisoners who have
been orderly are permitted to walk
two hours each day upon the deck.
| Sometimes there are outbreaks on
these convict ships. Eight weeks
ago the transport Vile de Saint
Naxaire took from tho Isle d'Alix 100
felons and 10 who had been con-
demned to Punishment for political
crimes. Among the number were
several we'll known anarchists, named
La,itier, Marpcaux. Catlneaux and
Colombat. As they nesred Guiana
|, an exile named Gaouyer broke the
rules, and when the guard, ordered
by the commandant, came to put him
In irons Gaouyer sprang upon him
) aud attempted to strangle him.
Tho guard, however. succeeded In
,, drawing his revolver and firing, and
|. Gaouyer fell mortally wounded.
, Seeing this the other prisoners, In.
, cited by the anarchists above named
: attempted to break from their cages
. but the officers drenched them will
J water and sufiocated them will
!. steam from pipes especially PLACED
. for such an emergency, and they
were soon subdusd.
On the arrival OF the prisoners oil
, the Hes dc Salut they are taken to tn
!. Camp" a clearing In which ar'
strongly blu lit iron barred huts. II
i these IRE swung double rows OF ham
\ mocks, and at night the fetid atmos
phere within, combined with thu
noisome vaposs OF the outer air an,
the ever present sw arms OF stinginI
!. insects, render any but the sleep o
= exhaustion impossible.
From the moment Of his arriva
the convict has no name. He
known only by the number Of hi
hammock. The work IL excessivel.
= hard. The new arrivals are put o
!. the most severe tasks-drainin
n marshes and clearing ground-"t
break their Spirits" though It woul
seem they would have little inclina
D. ton to rebel after the sufierings Q
D. the voyage.
7. They are conducted to their worl
y by armed guards, who IRE ordere
" to fire ct the least attempt q. flight
Few try to , cape, for they know
they evade the bullets OF the guard
and their pursuit. which seems I'm
-. possible, 1t will b. necessary to tra
n verse the sea and the virgin forest
% At every step will lie In walt for Their
g; death by hunger. by fatigue, by dis
DC ease, or by the poisoned arrows Of tn
r. natives, who receive reward 70
h, every convict they bring back, dea
er or alive.
b, Meanwhile, with bodies broken b.
their awful toll in a climate wher
70 q walk OF q hundred yards is formid
p able task, they labor in the blazin
w. sun with spades and picks. Abou
~ ~ their heads hang clouds OF stingin
- insects whose bites swell their face
q: and hands. Great red ants cove
Dc their bare legs, and sometimes poi