THE MAN IN THE BOX.

Western Star, Issue 2152, 30 October 1897, Page 6

THE MAN IN THE BOX.

The convicts of West Australia devise many ways to escape from the hard life of the penal coleny, but rarely do they resort to so hazardous and torturing a method as ou a certain occasion not long ago, an account of which is given in the “ Queenslander ” : “ A Port Adelaide Customs officer was badly surprised last Thursday, and his nerves have been unsettled ever since. He was superintending the unloading of the steamer South Auslralian,from West Australia, when he noticed a box three feet six inches long by two feet one inch wide by two feet deep.

“It was a peculiar-looking package. T’ltiug it up on one side, he found it unconscionably heavy, He turned it over, and it fell open, and from it dropped, not a gross of clothespegs, but a man ! —a live man, too —six feet long when standing, but literally doubled up now.

“ The poor fellow gasped for breath, and looked terribly emaciated. The good Catholics standing around piously crossed themselves. The man stretched himself, and crieri—screamed —for water.

“ No one knew at first what to do with him, but at last the happy idea struck somebody that this man had not paid his passage-money, and could, therefore, be indicted for something or other, surely. Anyhow, he had no friends, and should go to the station. He was given over to a policeman, and earned to the station, where fie shrieked for something to eat. “By and by he told his story. He was a West Australian convict, and wanted to get away. He couldn’t book a passage, because the agents and police knew him, so he engaged a friend to put him into this box, with a little water and a few biscuits ; and in addition he bad with him a small saw, pannikin, screwdriver, auger and bits, chisel, matches, tobacco, and a small bottle of oil. He arranged a number of strings to the lid of the box, so that ho might keep it shut when he wished to have it so. “ The box was heaped up with the rest of the luggage, and thrown end over end into the hold, shaking the poor fellow in a terrible manner. He was packed under a lot of other packages, and thus cramped, stifling, starving, lay half-dying during seven days and nights ! “ When he arrived at Port Adelaide he was almost a skeleton. Excruciating agony had ploughed fearfully deep furrows upon his faceHowever, he had, at any rate, the satisfaction of knowing that his arrival had created a greater sensation than the incoming even of any Governor of late years. “ The Customs officer is in a fix. He can scarcely determine to what rate-list of tariff the 1 man in the box ’ belongs. It is thought, however, that he will be included in the ‘ unenumerated ’ articles, and pay ten per cent, ad valorem duty on himself.”