The Sun. — 1861-02-16 (London, England)

TEE CONVICT REVOLT AT CHATHAM.  CHATHAM, Friday.—The rigorous measures adopted by Sir J. Jebb to suppress the revolt among the convicts of St Mary's Prison, and the severe and prompt punishment inflicted on those men who were proved to have taken a leading part in the terrible scenes of riot which recently occurred at that establishment, have had the effect of restoring comparative order and subordination within the prison walls, nothing approaching the least disturbance having occurred among the prisoners durinr, the last three days to lead the authorities at the prison to fear a repetition of the outbreak. Ever since the military were called in on Monday afternoon, to put down the mutiny, a strong body of troops from the garrison have been kept on duty within the prison day and night, the soldiers selected for the duty being relieved at the proper times, similar to the other guards of the garrison. From the fact of there being only about 150 convict keepers employed at the establishment to guard upwards of 1,100 prisoners, and recent events having clearly shown that on the occasion of any sudden uprising of the convicts this small number of warders are quite at the mercy of the infuriated ruffians, there is no doubt that a body of troops will for the future be regularly quartered at the prison, or at all events will be stationed there until every symptom of mutiny has entirely disappeared. It now seems to be almost a providential circumstance that the troops of the garrison were all at their quarters at the time of the outbreak, and not absent brigading, in which latter case considerable time must of necessity have been lost before they could have been marched to the prison, by which period the convicts would have succeeded in escaping from the prison, when the probable sacrifice of life And property would have been appalling, as there is no doubt that 1,100 convicts loose would have completely sacked Chatham and Brompton. Since the revolt on Monday the whole of the convicts, with the exception of about 150, have been kept confined to their cells and supplied with nothing but bread and water. A certain number are allowed to take exercise at stated intervals in the prison yard, under the strict guard of the keepers. Only a small number have been permitted to attend the daily prayers in the prison chapel, and those are men of generally good character, who refrained from taking any part in the late mutiny. Up to Wednesday evening 48 prisoners had been severely flogged, and the punishment inflicted on them is described by those whose duty compelled them to be witnesses of the sickening spectacle, as being of the severest character, the strongest farriers from the Royal Engineer Train, and drummers from the various corps in garrison having been purposely selected to administer the punishment, for which each of the men engags'd will receive ss. Contrary to the practice always observed in the army, where after a soldier has received corporal punishment, he is immediately conveyed to the military hospital for treatment, each convict after receiving his punishment had his clothes thrown over him, and he was then marched to his cell, which -he was not allowed to leave again. No floggings took place at the prison yesterday, but there are still 7-6 of the convicts in irons and securely chained, with a strong guard over them, waiting the decision of Sir Joshua Jebb and Capt. Gambier as to the amount of punishment to be inflicted on them. For the first time since the revolt a portion of the convicts, to the number of about 150, resumed work yesterday in the dockyards and on St. Mary's Island, and comh_tc otw. themselves with great decorum. It should, scarcely cted on concerned in the riotous proceedirnegesly circulated Monday. Rumours have been f that one of the keepers died hfronmdsthoefetffheectcsonovfiethtse injuries he received at the, day or two had It isa qu.ite trued that one but such is not the case. osifntehee, hkneetpneirss,deanatmhed t ee austiionny 0, fa tnh de he was not even in the p arosFerfa.rso_emr,_and7d a illness no connection whatever rvirsonothnethlae o em outbreak on Monday. At an early hour this morning a convict named nudge, who is under sentence of four years' penal servitude, attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself to the ventilator in the ceiling of his cell, by means of his handkerchief. He was, however, discovered by one of the keepers before life was quite extinct, and on being cut down, and the usual remedies applied, he was restored to consciousness. Budge is one of the men who were prominently concernedh inna t jheeb rbe ca eendt riot. Captain Gambier are both expected at the prison to make an investigation into the cause of this last outbreak, and otigdaectiiodne on what course ought to be taken with the prisoners now awaiting punishment.  The Map,:netic needle does not point to the north with greater certainty than is the effect produced by Herring's magnetic brushes, &c. Dr. Hassan states—" I regard them as the most perfect brushes hitherto made, as respects their mechanical construction and their magnetical action." They are the remedy for grey hair, neuralgia, rheumatism, &c. N.B.—Counteri cite are being made. Offices, 32, Basinghallstreet, London.