SEA ADVENTURE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18760, 17 July 1935, Page 2

SEA ADVENTURE

WELLINGTON YOUTHS

HID IN CROWS NEST

- .ESCAPADE ENDS IN GAOL

The story of an escapade which began

•" sit Wellington and led to a prison in •; Cristobal, Panama Canal, was related by * two Wellington voutlis who arrived al ■ Auckland by the steamer Canadian Victor The lads are L. JlcCann, 19,

* and .1. Boyle, 18. Willi the sum of 27s- between them $ they said" thev decided to forsake then, • employment ami see the world. McCaini <* was employed by a, radio firm ;and Boyle * was an apprentice in the Hiitt Railway •- workshops. At 3 o'clock in '..the morning - of -May 9 I hey went voir board the | steamer Canadian Constructor 'at Welj 2 lington and hid themselves in the cVott '• nest. Exposed to the cold air and inter £ mittent rain, they soon became wei ? through' and miserable, hut they re ' mained in their hiding-place. At V 4 o'clock in the morning the ship sailed Jj for New, York, Boston and Montreal, but not until 7, o'clock in the afternoon did! - the lads emerge and give themselves up, They were put to work on deck and. helped to work the ship across the ■ Pacific. At Panama a launch was sent off to take them ashore, but for some reason not known to themselves it wan decided to take them on to Cristobal, nt 8 the other end of the canal, in the Canadian - Constructor. At Cristobal they werV-aalen ashore" and put in gaol to ;' await the arrival of a ship bound for New Zealand

SHARED A CELL , Between them they shared a cell Bft. hv 12ft.. oae of a row of cells facing! the. corridor and containing a variety oi criminals of all nationalities and colors. The gaoler was a native of Panama. - Everv morning for breakfast they were w i':acy given half a loaf of bread and hall <*-» Jjinfc of coffee; for dinner and ten '}. :was the. same with the addition i'-'nf-%iTett rice;-' "*, ',■.'•.■'. • .';-.The,, i mqnotOliy of the confinement and >.of won began to pall, anil days they decided to invest! possibilities* of escaping. They one of the iron bars of the V *JMow had' 'been partly sawn through • torirformer inmate of the cell, and after ». seaaefiiflg they found hidden in a niche "*in t'hSjf.brickwork a piece of hacksaw Made iibout four inches long. They ~ cowinencefd to work with the saw on ' two>window bars with the hope that in % time ""they would be able to make a pass;ige large to squeeze through. In - ■ addition they said they were able to saw the head off,a rivet in the lock of the door, "and this enabled them to open the door at will by removing the rivet. After doing so. however, I hey found that, although they had the freedom of the corridor, they were not able to get any farther. PLANS DISCOVERED pVfter nine .days in prison their activities with the saw were discovered, and for punishment they were put in a "blnck" cell. This was a chamber about • Sit. square with no access to daylight. Through a small ventilation hole in the roof they could see a dim electric light burning in the room above, but the rays of the lamp were not strong enough tn penetrate the gloom of their own quarters.

After five days "in the "black" cell they were released and taken on board the Canadian Victor, bound for New Zealand, and allowed to work their passage bai'k to the Dominion.