CONVICT LIFE IN NORFOLK ISLAND.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1815, 25 July 1891, Page 2 (Supplement)

CONVICT LIFE IN NORFOLK ISLAND.

AUTHENTIC RECORDS. [all bights beserved.]

•CHE CHAIN GAJKJ'S PLOT.

The fatal mistakes whioh the authorities of the conviot sattlemanta made in their treatment of prisoners placed under them was in exercising their power in an inhuman and cruel fashion. They treated the convicts as utterly hardened and depraved monsters, quite beyond the reaoh of kindly and human influences, and only to bo disciplined by the lash, gag, spread-eagle, gibbet, or semi-starvation. The home authorities were prhnarly responsible for this, for they clearly Btated in j thait official documents that oonvict punishment should be of "a vdry formidable obaraoter." In a regulation drawn op by the Comptrollar General of Van Dieman's ! Land in 1813, and assented to by the I Lieutenant Governor, Sir Eardley Wilmot, j regarding the first stage of conviot proba- : tion, thia phrase was laid down as the basis ■ of the rules, but as the " very formidable \ punishment " was not defined, it was left to j the caprio9 of the individual commandants to ; interpret it. And, as has already been shown, ' the interpretation was generally of a oruei and blood-thirsty character. This excessive severity was bad and un- ' fortunate in every sense. It deprived the ' prisoner of hope, and killed the better , qaalitias within him. It simply turned him ' into a wild beast, always eager to r6nd hia , captor 3, and this was proved on innumerj able occasions. la spite of ail precautions > they had a complete system of intelligence established, and ono aided another in the prosecution of their designs. It should be understood that a chain gang frequently consisted of a hundred or mora conviots, but they were divided into small parties as required. The same men were generally kept together, and this did much to aid conspiracy. Oa Norfolk Island, in addition to the chief gaol near Sydney Bay, there were two branch penal Battlements \ about a oouple of miles a*ay— the island is I not more than seven miles broad in any part these were called Cascade and Longridge , respectively, and at the time of Comman- ! dant Hobson's visit, there were six hundred ' felons on the former station, and three hundred at the latter, making, with the nine hundred at iha main settlement, a total of t eighteen hundred oonvicta on the small isJ land. 1 They were regarded as the very dregs of oonviotdom, and, no doubt, the Btriotesk discipline was nsceasary to miinfcaia order and 1 prevent outbreak. In addition to the usual ' chain gangs employed on the reef at the entrance to Sydney Bay, and the various roads and quarries, a largo number were at work , amongst the gigantus pine 3, and in the oulti- '. vation and manufacture of flax. Having ! more liberty, thß3e prisoners were not 80 hard to manage as tho3e in the gangs, which was a ol9ar proof that the chain system was 1 bad. i The party that had been told off to draw the pleasure seekers to the oummit of the tramway, had been drafted from number ,' two lime kiln gang, which was considered ■ the worst on. the island. The dray party consisted of five oonvicta named Andrews, , Thompson, Schmidt, Eobsrts and Soanlon'The first four were unmitigated villains, and 'had been nearly two yeara on the island, 'having been transferred there from Van ' Dieman's Land. ' Amongst innumerable minor sentences 'Thompson had twice received the death penalty, but had been reprieved on eaoh i occasion, and hi 3 three companions were fit , mates for him. Saanlon was quite a different character. Ha was a prisoner who had .suffered something like Dutton, and through I the malice of a gaoler had been forced into .company that certainly was abhoirent to jhim, and a parfeot source of torture. Not only did-theoonstablea treat him badly, but I his fellow conviots despised him because he was not a past master .in prime like them1 selves, and snnoyed him in every possible j manner. j The night previous to the excursion, the .' five men named had been informed by suboverseer Whiff an of the duty that would be I required of them next day, and he had : scarcely left when Thompson's eoheming and evil brain began to consider the possibility of doing signal mischief to those whom he {regarded a 3 hia natural enemies. Most of i the gangs Blept in large dormitories, in rows, I with a slight partition between eaoh mat. > The authorities could not possibly separate 1 them, aa there was only four hundred cells on the whole island. A strict watch was , Bupposed to be kept in these dormitories, but it was frequently relaxed according to the humor of the turnkey, and even with the utmost vigilance it was impossible to prevent tha prisoners communicating with , eaoh other through the secret code of signals 1 they had in the shape ot knocks, coughs or '■ Bighß. This night, everything favoured Thompson. His three incorrigible comrades were in the adjoining " stall " as they were called, and there waa no difficulty in opening a conversation. Oi course Saanlon was disre- , garded. The men well knew that the ohief , officials of the island would accompany the visitors, and there might never be such an • opportunity of carrying out a plot that had already been formed amongst the chain ; gang. This was, in short, the murder of the ' Civil Commandant. That gentlemann, during his short rale on •Jhe UUjJ, hart m-vle himself paoaliarly I obnoxious to the c evicts by his extraordinarily severe treatment of them, and subsequent svice investigations proved that ; the new Commandant exercised his power in a vary severe aad arbitrary manner. . Matters had co coma to the point that • twenty of the worst felons had bound ' themselves by a terrible oath to oom- , pass his death, and the four men ; herein named were amongst them. It might .be stated here, as showing the saoredneßS 1 with which these twenty conviots regarded their oath, thai although the attempt made on the Commandant's life the following day 1 failed, yet eleven years afterwards, when i Norfolk Island and all the eastern parts of Australia had ceased to be convict s t lements, seven of theaa " old bands " carried oat their oath by brutally slaying the Commandant in one of the Australian oolo- ; Dies. I Thompson and his three companions k.new the tram line perfectly well. It was built on r terribly steep incline, and was a mistake in tha first instanos, as a "shoot" would have answered the purpoae for which it waa intended much batter and more safely. If the oar waa heavily loaded, as it probably would be, the task of dragging it up would {ba a severe one— it usually asoended empty — , and it was quite possible that their wishes I might ba gratified, and yet the whole affair Ibe regarded as a disastrous accident. E?j garding that point everything would depend i on bow they worked together, as if one of I the four were put as leader he could not disengage himself from tha pola unless he did bo 4. intentionally, but if Soanlon was placed in 1 that position the plot was complete, and j would, without doubi, work satisfactorily. 1 In thii way the convicts reasoned, and though thay were tally prepared, if necessary to forfeit their lives in the attempt, yet there would baa grim satisfaction in slaying their hard taskmaster by " aooident. The fate of Soanlon, aa leader in such an event, did not oanee them a eeoond thought. He was not one of them, and therefore not to be considered. Under sub-overseer Whiff en, who was a favorite with the Commandant, the party prooeeded to their destination next morning, and the four conspirators felt some anxiety as to their positions in the team. These wore soon difpelled, (or, after they retched

the ground, the sub-overseer ordered Thompson and Sahr&idt with Andrews and Roberts to couple to, whilst Saanlon was pat as leader to make a trial trip and see that everything worked smoothly. It will be reoolleoted that Whiff an had a peculiar dislike to mild, well behaved prisoners, and a sort of fellow feeling toward the depraved and visions, and in placing S union in the most dangerous position he wafl only carrying oat his usual practice. The leader was secured to the pole in suoh a manner that if, by aooident or design, the two couples behind oeaßed their exertions and let go whilst ascending the incline, it would mean almost certain death to the attached oonvict, as his single strength would not b 3 sufficient to stay the backward course of the vehicle, which, gathering momentum and Bpoed as it went down, would soon dash him to pieces. It was nearly two hours after the trial trip tb-\t the visitors and their attendants mado i-beir appearanca at the tram, and Whiffcn had everything in apple pie order for the distinguished guests. The sub-over-seer had an eye to future promotion, and left nothing undone to e^ure the comfort and safety of the expected paßsengere. ' Da your w^rk well to day, bojs, and I shall ask the Cimniiadant to grai t you all 10 ac indulgence. You kno.v it is a great honor to bring us hero to e\»y for this work.'" ••Nsver fear, sir," answered Thompson, " we will give no cause for complaint, and if you w ju'.d ask the Commandant for a bit of 'baccy, we wouldn't soon forget it." He gave a meaning glance at his companions as he spoko, for not only were they qaite decided in their plot, but they well Jinew what Whiffon's promises were, When the day's work was done— and it probably would not,be a long one that day— the auboverseer would tell them that on account of the light nature of their duties they would not receive full rations. The first party to enter the rough vehicle were Commandant Hobson, the Civil Comm indant with two ladies and three gentlemen visitors. Dr. Everetthad got in, but goodnaturedly retired to make room lor a gentleman from SydDey, who seemed anxious to have suoh a novel ride. Ho had doubtless heard of the honor done to great men and famous women by being dragged along in their carriages by enthusiastic admirers, and though by no stretch of imagination could the sullen, ferocious-looking mop attaohed to the oar be regarded as enthusiastic admirers, yet Mr. Raginald Blakiston was impressed with the unique t.'am, and eager to try their metal. Toe four oonviots were rather pleased that the doctor and the clergyman did not become passengers on that trip, for these gentlemen wera generally kind to them, and > they would rather prefer killing strangers. ■ All they wanted was the Commandant, but when Mr. Hobson stepped in they concluded that if such a high official met bia death on the island it might draw more attention to the settlement, and perhaps do some good. Oa the signal boing given the team started, W hiffen. walking alongside to see that each man did his fair share of the haulage. He still carried hia long thonged whip, which oaused one of the ladies to ask the Commandant what it was required for. " Oh, these fellows require the whip more than horses," wa« the grim answer, whereat the lady laughed at the notion. They had now ascended more than hal! way to the summit, and a ourve being in the line the pirty below were lost to view. About throa parts up there was an' exceptional "pinch " about ten yards in length. The formation was solid rock, and as it would have been a very difficult job to out it down the road was simply run over the surface. When near the top of this sleep Blope Thompson looked at his companions, and that glanoe spoke volumes, It meant life or death to their passengers and the poor wretoh in front of them. The car was Bcaraely moving, and the conviots were actually putting forth all their strength. Whiffan was in the aot of going behind the vehicle to help, when suddenly, Thompson slipped down, dragging hia companion with him. The slip might have been the result of aooident, for at the spot the foothold was not good, but whether accident or design, in an instant the vehicle started backwards, and the first oouple, unable to oheok it, freed themselves from the pole, and let it rush away. j If the Commandant had not been blinded with rage at the oocurrenoe there would certainly have been time to seize ih9 ladieß and jump from the vehicle, with nothing more 3erious than a fall on the rock. Bat when he saw Thompson fell he instinctively guessed that it was the result of a plot, and as the oar ran baok he drew a pistol from his bslt and fired at the aroh villain. The unfortunate oonviofc, Saanlon, who was securely attached to the pole, had been dragged backwards whan the four conspirators released themselves, and a horrible death appeared to bo his doom. When the Commandant fired, Saanlon, who was being dragged and bumped along (he ground, made a supreme effort to regain his feet. H9 bad half risen when the piscol was discharged, and instead of striking Thompson, for whom it waa intended, the bullet lodged in Soaalon's breast, in&tantly killing him. The motion of the car made the officer's aim uncertain. It waa better bo, for the unfortunate prisoner meet a mercifully instant death, instead of being slowly torn to pieces, as he otherwise inevitably would have been. All this happened in a few seoonds, but the delay was almost fatal to the occupants, for the oar was gaining speed in an astonishing manner. At the present day it is hardly possible to oonoeive that an institution, under the benign ru\u ojt Great Britain — who has always been foremost in humane efforts to ameliorate the Bufferings and sorrows of even the vilest — should be allowed to do such brutal and tyrannical acts^as to ohaio a man to the pole of a cart under suoh oiroumstances as those where Soanlon met hia death. Very few of the dark deeds perpetrated by tha vilest of slaveownerß could vie with this diabolical act of brutality in ita refinement of cruelty and utter disregard for human life. E^oognizing his mistake, the Commandant called out to jump, ati the same time b izing on j of the ladies. The other gentlemen — with the exception of one who sprang out at the summons and escaped with a severe fall — simultaneously tried to rescue the other lady, but the four men only hindered eaoh other, snd the ladies, not knowing the terrible danger they were in, refused to leave the car. The male visitors were in a similarly blissful state of ignorance, regarding their danger, until the warning voice of the Commandant rang ouS. The delay prevented the poesibility of jumping ouS, for the vehiole was now shooting down like an express engine. " Sit where you are," the Commandant said. "We mast only trust to Providence for oar livee:" S3aroely twenty seoonds elapsed from the time that Thompson slipped until the car struck the brave oonviot, Dat ton, aad being thrown off the rail* gradually oame to a stop ia the soft earth, with the terror-Btricken occupants uninjured. S^anlon'g body was terribly battered, and as the Commandant jumped put he took off bia light cost and reverently placed it over the face of Datton, who bad saved all their lives. There is little doubt that had he lived the Commissioner would have used his influenoe in getting him a free pardon, for saving the life of his beloved daughter. But Datton and Soanlon were both beyond human help, and it is to be hoped had found the rest denied them on earth.

No. 9of the " Conviot Bsoords " which will appear next week, will be entitled " The Whisper in the Pines," and will give th 9 reader a thrilling aooount of the strange manner in which the guilt of Thompson and his companions was sheeted home to them,