MODERN JEAN VALJEAN.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 13090, 2 June 1913, Page 8

MODERN JEAN VALJEAN.

GAOL-BREAKER'S EXPERIENCE.

SEVEN DAYS IN GREASE AND . WATER. ..[ FREMANTLE, May 23. At the- Fremantle Police Court Albert Pearce, the prisoner who escaped from Fremantle Gaol on March 11, was presented on a ' charge of having escaped from legal custody. He pleaded guilty. The Magistrate, after having read a statement handed to him from the prisoner, said he would" order him to forfeit three months of his good conduct remission. The following is the statement j put m by Pearce : — "■'-■" Your Honor, I would Like to state m 'regard to my escape from Fremantle Gaol on March 11 that — Firstly, the ! facilities of escape were k> glaring, and the thoughts of having my liberty once again overcame me for a moment, that I | could not resist the temptation, and I i did not actually realise that I had committed a breach of the prison regulations ■until I was some distance from the gaol. I there and then made up my mind to go to another State and lead a better life, as *_ would then be away from ths temptation of old companions. Although lat -first hunger and thirst — which meant almost starvation — stared me m the face, j I Would like to point out to you that even under those trying circumstances for two weeks m the bush, which was a wilderness to me, opportunities of obtaining other than prison clothes did not tempt me to break my resolution to lead a better life. . My privations were so bad that I lived on raw carrots for fourteen days until able to stow away to another State. I would like to point out. to you the conditions, under which I did .so. It was on .the. steamer Rive,rina, bound 'for. Victoria, and to. prevent being found I secreted myself under the | engine-room m the bilges,, which, meant to me lying, m. grease and water, being wet through all the time, Tor fullylseven days- without a- morsel of food inside my. lips. '* -■'■'■•■ i. \ ■ •, "Your ■'• Honor, you can, imagine the state of my health on my arrival m Victoria after what I had gone through. I had friends there -who provided me with the clothes I am wearing at present; and food and a few shillings pocket money. The trials I have gone through, I assure you, have been a lesson to me. T would like to point out to you that I had obtained employment on the Mount Lyell Mine, Tasmania, and was- leaving for there on April 17, where I would have been amongst my own relatives, who are well-respected residents there. But I was arrested on the 9th of April."