EXTRAORDINAEY STORY FROM THE ANDAMANS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXV, Issue 129, 2 June 1891, Page 4

EXTRAORDINAEY STORY FROM THE ANDAMANS.

*' Truth has reived the following extraordinary stateiaenta from a resident in the Andaman {elands, Whether they are true ' & ( i|<tt<the editor does not venture to :-"-j. Ta* Andaman Islands' are used as a penal settlement for Indian and Burmese oonviota, who, with the exception of a very limited aboriginal race scattered over the group, form the bulk .of the, , population, Tl ie Uolated eituation of the settlement in the Bay of Bengal, the absence of oommunicaUoVbyiMbUjiht AMI military foVce maiiiI ftain^djand'ithe' faot that about 16,000 conyiotsure here recent,, tenders it necessary to endow the chief commissioner with mo c j<% t&aft - the ordinary • powers extended- o foternore. Heno*!.the,oW?f oommißsionsr of the Andamane, .who iaalßo superintendent -bftSooonTiot^etllecaent at Fort Blair, by ' Tirtae of the almost antopratio authority Tested in l hfm, ; erijoya a uespotio positido „ weU-nigh incredible under the t ßri{Jeh jQatf. fincih powers being concentrated 1 *- in a 'single indiridualj it may well be imagined that from tine to time some rather startling . ., mntotUm !•«* oat « I onlypropoie, how#T?r. to refer (or $be present tp our marriaife 7 " ! «tt»tonwV whioh'bftve novelty, if nothingelße to recommend them. The chief ' oommissioiiir in oonviot matrimonial matters > UpepMt, , registrar, , parson, and witaesies rolled into one. The greater part of the #fe oonviots, who are good characters, Are „; fiell«Bup^6tt€rß"-Tthat is, men out on C Wtotrirf'KAve in the settlement. ; These men ir «M allowed to marry. Xbeconviot women \, waU*! P»h« ;b»nd, are a\ways kept under mk - lIMMPPinUtoB in the female convict gaol, fßwiait " self supporter " is troubled with ktmeittal itfPi^tions, he visit* the gaol and EKMnihooTmsfi, The, latter, Jndlvidaal "■ ordots a.pwa'ae oljboee of tiipse pf'good flOfiwitiWiif'wtio' baie. odmpletea lour years in '-WiSHSSr 1SW } wotfc/iM • then '"' tißSifls along the wfio ifitn a Tiew of sei^>t«

nq eager an th§ faeei tai loving tho glaneeji , beatoirtd oppn Hbini^ as he. doea m. While the ovimft's hiad Ii toracd, tb« WQJBM WgagQ |OL.every variety of panlo« kffi^if U lifipUT'.th'e^fiualUostioi* lo7ft« T p6sl Ihoold tho: o>erßeerV.aole£t himself for a moment, the coveted bachelor, though he be a&jfciogenarian, is aitaUed on alt sides with a JfaMo his conquest', fluoh phra-seVas', u fle^ tt& I " "No, me 1 " •• Why.she^s got redraw ffYl'She'eotosa. eyed 1 ''do not make matters., easier for him, At length, having suited himself, he takes by the band the lady ■ of his qhotae antUeads her from thsranty p The couple are)h|Et'aif6wea half an hoor to dieeuia ' matters, sflei whibh, if they agree, names .are sent into tbe head office. A day. or two later they attend at the oommiwioßer'/f, and jhera put through | an ezaminatlontas to the itatr or their affections and their inclination to many ; but no awkward question*., ardent raised concerning possible existing hubands or wives beyond the seai, , . . And ndw obmos the climax, Bappoiing SAtisfaotory au9««ra have been given as to their matual sentiments, the lady is handed over to the man— net to become nis wile for better pi worse, but fora seven days' vial. During these seven days she lives with him, and the relationship ot the pair is that of a inavjed coopl.e.i. At jshe, .expiration pi 1 the, term of approval, A both are Bgieeable, they return to th* ohiet oomniissionei's oflloe and are mar/ied by thai genjlemjtn, If, on the other hand, either o't tnem does not approve of the other, the man is left to go his way, while the woman jretamsto her old routine of work io the,, female goal. ' The. worst feature of the system is the faot 1 thai) as might be anticipated, children aie occasionally born of these probationary unions, To tnon infants the State assumes the responsibilities of a •tepftUher. Born illegitimate, with the oognisauoe aud sanbiion of the authorities, reared in a convict gaol among the worst class of women, a>l of whom are life convicts, and, fioally, without a relative or friend on the face of the earth, thrown into the world to make their 6Wn living, the position of these ohildred is not pleasant to oontemplale.