New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-05-23
RESCUER Of FEN|ANS
DIES IN NEW BEDFORD
Captain George S. Anthony
Commanded Ship Which Took
IriShmen from Australia.
GOFF LEADER IN THE PLOT
New York Justice and John
Dewey Planned Expedition
Success of Which Caused
Excitement in 1876.

Excitement in 1876.
New Bedford. Mass. MAJ 22-Captain
George :. Anthony. who. az commander
Of the bark Catalpa. rescued six Fenian
prisoners from a British penal colony In
Australia i'm 1876 died to-day at the age
of seventy years.
Tho Catalra sailed ostensbly for a
whaling voyage. and after cruising abou;
FOR several months made dash for the
Australian coast. took the prisoners on
hoard and carried them 10 New York.
Justice John ". Goff Of the Supreme
Court was ono Of the party that assist Il
Captain Anthony In the rescue OF the po-
liucal prisoners John BOYLE O'Reilly in
duccd Con To- 20 into tie venture and
the young lrlshman then not many years
from his native county Of Wcxford en-
tered into the venture with all the fire
and spirit ~ youth.
Go6. an the time OReilly got his ear.
was working I'm commercial house ia the
daytime and studying law al night lie
had become head II club OF the clan
ua-Gael. Another man who became in
terostcd In the delivery OF tho Australian
prisoners was John Dewey. who had been
released from prison I'm England.
GOff and Dewey were at the head OF an
executive committee the members Of
which planned the rescue The other
members were James REYNOLDS. Of New
Haven. and John v. Talbot. OF San Fran
cisco They worked in conjunction with
the Australian Prisoners Rescue COM
mittee. which included men who. though
Of varying classes. were bound together
for the maintenance Of secret propa ganda
10 raise The necessary funds But -
Con and Dewey was due most Of the
credit for the PLOT and the raising OF
funds.
BY the summer Of 1873 the committee
decided 10 buy a ship. equip IT as whal-
or and send II 10 the western coast or
Australia. O'Reilly had escaped on the
American whaler Gazelle. commanded by
Captain Henry g. Hathaway OF New
Bedford. and Hathaway told the com
mittec that Captain Anthony who was a
descendant Of an Old line OF whalers, was
test htted to command the expedition.
The men Anthony took along with him
az officers were all Americans. and the
crew was composed entirely Of Kanakas.
There was only enc lrishman In the entire
ships company-John J. Breslin. lie had
helped James Stevens escape from Dublin
prison In 1915, and he went as supercarsV,
representing the ostensible owner. Mr..
Reynolds There were two other active
members of the expedition-Thomas Des-
mond. vino Joined the ship at Bunbury,
and Thomas Brennan. who was picked up
at the Azores. Brennan liz now an at
tendant in tn Supreme Court where Jus
tice Gof presdcs
The men who were rescued we're mill
tary prisoners: soldiers in British regi-
ments-Sorgeant Thomas Da:rage. Martin
J. Hogan and James McNally. of the 9th
Dragons, Thomas Hassett. OF the 2ith
Foot. and Michael Harrington and Robert
Cranston. Of the 6lst Foot.
The bark Catapa was purchased for
$1,000 chartered and cleared through the
Custom House at New Bedford. Golf and
few other Irishmen went TO New Bed
ford TO wish the expedition GOdspeed
Among the little company that gathered
TO say goodby was the minister OF the
church which Captain Anthony attended
He did not know the real destination OF
the Catalpa. and prayed that she might
have a good catch
Captain Anthony spent some months in
the Catalpa whaling In reality and got
aboard about $4,000 worth of oil Then
he headed Lis ship for the western coast
Of Australia.
Breslin had left the vessel at Sydney.
and. posing as an Englshman with money
10 invest I'm sheep lands. had reached Bun
bury without exciting suspicion lie man
aged 10 notify the prisoners Of the expedi-
ton
on Easter night. 1876. Captain Anthony
and his followers brought the boats OF the
CataIpa ashore, covered them with sand.
and hid themselves. Soon after dawn the
prisoners came out TO go 10 their work.
The men were chained together and there
were no guards. The prison authorities
knew there was only the bush on one side
and the ocean on the other The shackles
were soon filed off the prisoners. the boats
were dug from the sand and the party
started for the Catalp3.
II happened that on Easter Monday
there was a regatta. and when the whale
boats were seen racing to the bark. an
chored outside the three-mile limit. there
was a chase by a gunboat. The com
mander of the gunboat ordered Captain
Anthony 10 surrender the prisoners when
ne came alongside the Catalpa, but Cap
tain Anthony ran up the United States
flag and dared the British officer to fire
on the whaler.
The men were placed AT the gangway to
repel boarders, but no one tried TO 90
aboard and the British gunboat steamed
slowly back into the harbor The Catalpa
pointed her nose toward New YORK and
the rescued men were landed here in
August. 1875