Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1909-02-12
TRIP TO TIE ORIENT
Clarence r. EdworGS Touring the
Eastern Countries.
he IS OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
INTERESTINGLY WRITTEN IN WEEK
LY LETTERS, WHICH WILL AP.
PEAR IN THE RECORDER.

PEAR IN THE RECORDER.
Noumea, New Caledonia, Au-
gust %: The prison camp at Bou-
rail, and the terrible home OF the
condemned at lie Nou, where the
ouillotine ends the lives of those
who have merited death according
to the French code, are the centers
Of the great blot among the South
Sea Islands. To describe the ter
rors of this penal colony would re-
quire the pen of a Milton, and to
picture them could be done only by
such man as Dore. Such awful
despair, such terrible brutality,
such abject misery cannot be found
elsewhere in all the world. One
forgets that these men have COM
mitted crimes as he looks upon the
punishment. 1t is a veritable hell
on earth to which they have been
condemned, where every trivial in
fraction of the rules brings such
brutal punishment as would not be
-
melted out in civilized lands to the
most hardened and desperate Grim
minal for the worst of crimes.
Accompanied by an officer and
by one of the native guards. one OF
the most savage looking indlvidu-
ais | have ever seen, [ went into
the prison at Bourail to see the life
men who have been sent here to
pass their remaining days Shut of
from all that makes life worth liY-
ing. The native was armed with
heavy, knotted club, and the eX-
preston of savage glee which shone
on his face as he followed the Of
fcer. showed that he was delighted
with his position. Taking advan-
tage Of my desire to know more
about these prisoners the officer
! had the life-men drawn up in line
and he questioned them regarding
their crimes. The first was there
| for shooting his mistress, the Sec
ond for robbery with violence, and
so it went on down the line, but one
seemed to be a hardened criminal
and his response was 'for willful
murder" He looked as if he
would like to commit the crime
again on the person of the officer.
AS we passed along we came
suddenly upon a convict sitting I'M
der shelter, reading a book. The
native bounced upon him and tore
the book from him. 1t was a New
Testament, but reading was an in
fraction of the rules and he was i'm
mediately dragged forth and search
ed. and then thrust into a solitary
cell, with heavy chains fastened tc
his ankles. Here he would have tC
remain for several days without
bread or water. These solitary
cells were shown me, nearly all OF
them having an inmate. Each hac
committed some slight infractior
of the rules. One was there be
cause in his loneliness be had dareC
to secrete a ledgling sparrow in hi;
bosom and was trying 70 rear 1t t(
comfort him.
It is at lie Nou, however, where
the most desperate criminals are
housed and here is the guillotine
ready to finish the work of the sen
tence which is part confinement anC
then death. These convicts do MOI
know when the time of execution
comes, but on theSatal day they are
aroused at 2 o'clock in the morning
and told that it is time to die
They are given a special breakfast
with champagne if they desire it
and then good cigar and they arr
sent on their way to the otheI
world happier than they have beer
since their incarceration.
Surrounded by high, concrete