Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-07
ccNvIcTs ABDUCTION
Prisoners Sold to Hids Bidders at West
Palm Beach, Fh.
Purchasers Are FsAit krow.r. who
Will Employ the Cunvicts On
Their Fsta3es.

A dispatch to the New York Herald yes
terday from West Palm Beach, Fla, says:
The state of Florida today auctioned of
40 human beings. bringing to mind the
old slavery times the only difference be-
ing, perhaps. that in those olden days the
black chattels were worth money In this
case the persons sold were only Temporary.
siaves-convicts. They had been brought
here from the western part OF the state to
be sold to the growers of tropical fruits
The convicts were In charge of fifty
guards. all CT them Of the cowboy 'crack-
err pattern, armed With revolvers, rifles
and whips. A rough stockade had been
erected inclosing an acre. On one side the
convfcts were ranged in lines, most Of them
chained, and all of them miserable objects
Misery of the Convicts.
The men were miserabiy clothed and most
OF them were emaciated and thin. Their
old employers had gotten all they could out
of them and sent them here with the cheap
est of outfits In the way of clothing. The
women had only single skirt. Nearly all
were bare-headed.
When the ccnvicts marched in from the
old warehouse where they had been kept
the night previous, they flung themselves
on the ground, seemingly careless of what
fate had in store for them. A few negro
IOyS laughed and told stories as If they
enjoyed the situation.
The auctioneer. Jack Gundy, called the
bidders to the front at 10 o'clock and began
the sale. The bidders had inspected the
convicts as If they were cattle. The bid
oing was different from auctions generally.
One man would bid for ten men, and If no
one else bid higher he had the choice.
William Slower of Fort Pierce bid in the
first ten men. To the negroes the sale
seemed a sort Of picnic, but the whites
He'd 1r6 yn0S Of
cast faces and limping gait. Others boldly
faced the crowd, and seemed totally indif-
ferent to the scene. Men having a record
for even tempers were first chosen, while
the unruly cnes were the last to go.
Sale of Women and Girls.
After the able-bodied men all had been
disposed of the boys were chosen, the wo-
men and girls going last. There were only
ten white women in the crowd, and they
were most miserable creatures, holIow-eyed,
wan and sallow. They were in for two
years, most of them. and they secured
fairly good masters, according to the Way
things were. A bystander, rich man
from New York, 1t is said. bought two boys
and liberated them. His name could not
be obtained.
For half a day this scene continued. and
then the auctioneers and bidders adjourned
for dinner. After dinner the crowd came
back, and the auction was finished in an
hour. Then the men were told off in gangs,
the chains adjusted and the new masters
took charge of their labogers and set off
for home. Wv
The convicts will probably have an easier
time than heretofore; 5,as fthe men on the
east coast will take Better care of them.
The turpentine camps, IN the western part
Of Florida where the eanvicts had been
were miserable. and, from stories told by
some CT the men, Death was a welcome re-
lease They were kepS,at work from day
light until dark in chains fed only twice
daily and then upon the cheapest and the
poorest food. They will now be employed
on the big pineapple plantations, orange
groves and gardens and on railroad work
and canal cutting near Lake Worth.