Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1900-11-14
!. 4 CONVICT'S ODD LIFE.
WON FAVOR OF a caNNtsAl CHIEF
BY HIS. SURGERY. rrl'
EXCITING Adventures Through Which an
sunoffending Young Man May be Obliged
TO Pass When Fate Seems Against
Him.
- 81 !

Georges Lascelles Latroune was i'll
Yankton, South Dakota. recently,
on his way from the Trench. penal col
Soay in New Caledonia, where he bare,
sss:aIsilir u
:Eals. to- ascattle e ranch. owned by his
ibrotherson thc. White River.
,rhe story that Latroune tells shows
the exciting adventures, through which
an unolfending young man may be
obliged to pass when fate seems to DE
against him. Il was born and edn-
Gated in Southern France" said L;l-
troune III broken English and
through the. wrong idea held by my
lather Of life in the French navy. L
was forced to, enter the service. From
the beginning dislikcd it, and dc
:-ciared that the first opportunity l had
l would desert and so 70 South Amer
icas.or come to, the United States to
see my brother This opportunity came
to me ou"aa long voyage in the Med
iterranean, but had been away from
the naval officers Only three days when
1. was caught. l made the most of this,
for knew it meant some kind Of pun
islirrent. 3 was accordingly sent on a
foreign cruise, hut the utter hatred /
had4of naval liffesStGok entire possession
or me. and when the vessel reached
CadiZ decided TO make another break
for liberty. knocked down the senti-
mel. bound his hands. and set out
again for point beyond French coli
troll. I knew If I was caught l would
receive severe punishment for this Of
fense. 1 seemed justified, for to me
the naval vessel was a prison.
This tiIne%I lad four days Of free
dom, and had nearly completed plans
fora successful escape from cadiz
when the French detectives found ME
at my lodging place, and | was aGai'!
taken, prisoner. This tine was sent
TO the penal colony in New Caledonia
forsa2term, of five years, during which
time I wastpractically prisoner in the
nickel mines. During my confinement
1 worked faithfully and obeyed all
rules, thinking that this was the best
way in which to get my entire freedom
at an early date. At the end of my
term was much disheartened to learn
that because of my former escapadcs
l would be obliged to spend five years
more in the mines serving what is call
cd ticket of leave which meant five
years during which 1 would prove that
I was thoroughly reformed. l acted
on the same plan rs before, deciding
that proper conduct was the surest
road to freedom, and as a result two
years were taken from the sentence.
when 1 was set free l had neither
money nor means Of escape from the
island. I found no means by which L
could earn living among the whites,
SO I entered the woods, hoping to find
some way by which could escape. For
"a week or more ! lived on nuts and
such animals as l could kill witt a
club, but at the end of this time had
the misfortune. to fall in with one Of
the few cannibal tribes that still re-
main on the island. 1 knew that these
tribes had whites among them most
Of the time, and that it did not neces'
sarily follow that because 4 man fell
into their hands he would be served NJ
for dinner. I was made q member of
Chief Masou.s- body guard. Life passed
very pleasantly for seSeral weeks
when one of their festivals occurred
and two of the young native women
were killed, gainst my strongest pro
testatlons, and served to the chief and
. those, connected. with his household. ]
refused TO partake of the human fesf
and thereby incurred the displeasure
of Masou. For this l was placed un
der arrest and it was decided that
would be served up at the next festi,
saLswhieh would soon oce .r.i While
vas Under guard Y Happened that The