The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1898-01-12
I5BI g4(F7O CoNVIC7S
vrSED TOUELL MUTINY ON
FRENCH 'RIS0N SHIP.

FRENCH RISON SHIP.
..,o Grim Masters of the Sea Now
o,f Tampa. Vessel just from
the LivinGOmb of Cap
tainrey fus.
o,pA, FLA, 4. 8.-The French
Eosnorr ship, Cadonic, now lying at
# Tampa, is an0ject of much curl
Nv This grim S prisoner annually
,ravs about 2,00souls from the land
+be Iiying-tho Y French republic
an enduring dea on the Safety Is.
,1s A great deaf interest has been
Infested in this ip by tie people
.rs On account OF : having just ar
,sl from the sliviI tomb of Captain
fred Dreyfus, wise guilt appears
o quite so conclue in the face of
,,eDt events which We agitated Paris.
The officers of thaip, with the easy
,arity of all Frencbn, appear to find
much pleasure inhowing visitors
through the vessel anheerfully answer
noaeStOns until inqies are made of
aptain Dreyfus, whitley reply, with
rofuse apologies, th5heY are not per-
artted to speak If hi
The Caledonia is ann ship of q, 400
ms. For the past ten Ars she has been
the employ of the Fbh government,
aasporting criminals,m France and
Algeria to the penal cnies on Safety
sa1d, thirty miles the coast of
French Guiana. These taken aboard
rRochefort and Algiand consist of
gSons convicted Curious crimes
whose sentences are ness than five
rars
-Four steel cages, each.h a capacity
tl50 are ready for thelle prisoners
they come aboard, lie a much
mailer one, capable Qolding only
airty-one persons, is suhilt for the fe-
male convicts. This iatthge is in the
Aft of the ship and is Wv removed
from the others. The Wol are treated
with a great deal more cOnration than
the men, having regular BIS and bel
ter fare, The men sleep hnvas ham
n2cks and are given the mary sea-
mans fare, which is subsial if not
elaborate, The ship is pred with Il
we'll arranged hospital, pInacy and
two physicians, Drs. RonaRnd Val
let, who are ever watchover the
health of the convicts entru to their
care.
A very interesting featuhnd on
horrible to contemplate, is facility
with which steam can be useould the
Nnyicts attempt to take PISTON OF
tie ship. Pipes are so arid that
we're such an effort made iould be
possible for the officers of tship t.
sal3 every prisoner to dean less
time than it would take to c them.
Steam can be turned upon { while
they are in their cages, or sl they
Escape from them it can be slrected
that they would be forced to al for
mercy. The Law gives the offiGf this
ship great latitude and when they
deem it prudent that the convi0ould
be put TO death in this manner with.
in their power to do so. CaptDano
has never had such a case toe on
board his ship, but it often becenec-
esSary to give them a little of team
toquell discomfort. As a rule, liver.
the eighty guards who are regu de-
jailed for service on board are Sent
to keep the prisoners docile.
Should an outbreak at any tineur
aSignal of alarm calls all handsbe
nidship section of the ship, and all
the ladders leading to the upper tof
this section are drawn up, and tier
doors barricaded and the rightfrtn-
handlers have a quickly improvish t
aStrong fort, which embraces the1
and engine rooms, the arsenal at,
vision rooms, the officers quaVteie
Clart and steering room and the /
The convicts cannot come near d,
TO scale the walls or batter dow
doors on account of the scalding 1
While from the fortress the guard
crew can shoot them as they d
ABOVE decks, and as the steam doc
allow them to remain long below
are forced to quickly call for term
individuals become unruly the
promptly put In chains, the steam
LtSorted to only when there is a g
disturbance.
The officers quarters are comic
ntted up, and it is a rare treat to