Weekly Mail

THE LAST OF THE PRISON HULKS. TWO WELSHMEN ONCE CONFINED ON THE SHIP. A correspondent wTitves:—Thiwe has just arrived in London the last of the prison hulks which were in use in the early fifties in the penal establishments in Australia. This vessel, the Success, was built of teak, at Moul- main, a rice port on the coast of India, in 1790, and for many years afterwards was used as an East Indian trader and an emigrant shin to Australia. At that colony, during the great gold fever in 1850, her crew deserted her, and she was sold to the Government, and was turned into a convict "dark cell drill ship." She Lad accommodation for 130 prisoners, 50 on the lower deck, and the rest on the 'tween deck. The lower deck cells were absolutely daik, and here the men were kept for the first two vears of t-heir sentences, in little hoies 4ft by 7ft, They were allowed out on the deck one hour out of 24, but always heavily chained, and frequently with a punishment ball, weighing 721b., attached to their leg". In the 'tween decks three prisoners allowed in each of the cells, which were 7ft. by 7ft. There wore ao two large cells, named "Tiger dens," where the most refractory prisoners were placed together, their only amusement being to plot escapes, or rushes" as they were called, and to batter one another with their chains. A coup^'e Welshmen were once confined on board tnis hulk. One, named William Jones, better known as "Black Bill," a native of Cardiff, served part of a sentence of 22 years on board the Success. Jones was transported from Car- diff to Van Diem en's Land to serve ten years for attempted arson. He escaped and went to Melbourne, and in 1853 he, with several others, went to tne> Castlemaine and Forest Creek digging/ Vn the way they took to thieving and "sticking up"—highway robbery in other words—and were having a high old time until the police cap- tured them. Jones, being an escaped convict, was sentenced to 22 years, but lÙ; companions got off with five years apiece. While on hoard the hulk Jones was very refractory, always into some vicious scrape, and, as a re>u • served most of his time in solitary merit, and, indeed, underwent enough P' merit to kill an ordinary man. He was n gang of convicts who hacked to death General John Price at the quarries, Town, but, although fifteen men ,sf tenced to death and seven were executed to the deed. Jones got off and served t »e r mainder of his time at Pentridge, and uiti mately became a free man. Richard Jones was another Welshman « went to the diggings. On the way he a drunken row and cut a man named Conroy with a tumbler. He resisted his aiTest i most violent manner, but was ultimat-elj and tried for several offences, receiving a sen- tence of seven years. Whilst in the lower Ji_ cells he managed to secrete five knives a- him, and set about cutting his way out o ship. For three months he feigned sickness, and kept to his cell, hacking away at the siae. At the expiration of that time he was onl.> about half way through the stout timbers, anc his heart failed him. His plot was jSQ°n afterwards discovered, and he was so awap- | pointed that he died in a short time.

LIFE ON A PILOT BOAT. TRIP DOWN CHANNEL. The breeze, which had been prevalent during the day, now began to freshen, and, whilst we were awaiting the picking up of Clia-lk') brother. I bag-an to feel some inward (malms. Trutlh to tell. the cutter was pitdhine- a.tMut in a most lively fashion, and. although there was really no sea on, the lumpy &ta.te of the oliaiiimel caused our "conveyance" to—as one of *he men on )>oard expressed it— "bury her nose." Unlike the system that in cxrfva.lent in fLshinc fleets, the pilot cutters always carry th.ir rmnt." on deck, in place of towing them and though, doubtless, this may be beneficial from a sailing point- of view. nevertheless, the launching and re-decking of these cockles always, even in fair weather, occasion,- a vast, amount of trouble. To see the punt scoured in its place on deck would lead a landsman to believe that it could not be got overboard in less than ten minutes, but when the order was given the tackle which kept it in its place was cast loose, and within a minute and a half. or two at the outside, dropped sit em foremost in.to the sea, the punt was being rowed off to the steamer, which had now approached uf,. and which was waiting for us to take off che bro- ther I referred to in my lasit. Meanwhile, we "lay to," and I watched with as much interest as I could call forth the nimble manner ;n which Chalk the Second came down the ladder and jumped into 'the punt. He boarded us in the orthodox style, with a bundle of letters, and I was most surprised to learn, in reference to the latter that, although the sailors always stamp or tender money for those which they hand the pilot, yet in some. cases, and, if my information is trustworthy, in too many cases, the masters and officers of vessels hand tiheir missives to the departing pi jot unstamped. "They pay us for bringing the ship out," explained the bro- ther. whom I will in future cull "&,cTindus," "and they think after that we we bound to stamp their letters and post them. i he posting is all right, and we are very careful to carry it out immediately on landing, but I do not see why we should pay for them. If the sailors can stamp theirs the masters and officers should do the same, but what's the use of mentioning the fact?" We were running down Channel at a rapid rate, and it wa.s at this juncture thtt I learnt the "first letter of that experience" to which Chalk referred when I first broached the subject of my intended trip. The cutter 1 was aboard of was very like those of her class in various ports; not as large as some, and a good deal larger than others. She was 45ft. longo-in my opinion, somewhat short for her great breadth— had a beam of 13ft. lAin., and drew about 7ft. lOin. ol water. She was bruit in Cardiff for my host for the pilotage bwuness fourteen years ago, and, to my inexperienced eye*, excepting- the somewhat foul state of her bottom, she ap- peared as good and as new as the day she was launched. She originally cost about JB400, and. though some might be inclined to con- sider this sum exorbitant for a.n eighteen-ton cutter, yet, when it is borne in mind that what is required is a boat that will stand any weather, the moderateness of the charge will become apparent. Standing on the deck, I had but little idea of the accommodation that she possessed below, and when, after having seen that everything was right. and that no ships coming up Cliaunel were in sight, we piped to dinner, I was astonished at the roominess of her living accommodation. The cabin was spacious, and well lighted by the skylight, a.nd possessed two very comfortable bunks running the entire length on each side. In addition to this, there were the seats on which we sat at meal times, which could, without the slightest trouble, be improvised into sofas, and whereon two more wearied, mortals could enjoy their "doloe far nien-te." The cabin, which con- t,ained the fresh water tank- -an indispen■sable article-and a stove, was divided from the foc'sle by a sliding door. In the latter the man and the apprentice, otherwise the orew, slept, amd here it was that our "rations" were cooked. At the foot of each of tne bunks in this part there was a sail locker, and I was more than astonished at the amount of sail that was compressed into thoae spaeea, so small did they look to my "land-lubber" eye. In the foozle at the foot of the mast stood the locker in which we carried our meat and vegetables, whilst underneath was stored the coal which produced the necessary fire. Lead- iner down from the cockpit on either side were two more lookers, in which spare tackle, ropes and blocks, and a hundred other necessaries were stored, whilst one of them—the one on the port side-was divided, in the outer compart- ment bein.g placed a large ca.rd compass, with a receptacle at one side for the binnacle light. I was muoh struck on going my rounds" at the size of the mainsail, and, on mentioning the fact, I was told that it was at one time very much larger. "In fact," remarked Chalk, "I had 2ft. cut off that boom. The other sail was much larger than this one, and this one will have soon to make way for the winter sail—which is somewhat smaller. I observed that we were carrying a new bowsprit, and that it was minus a bobstay, but Chalk accounted for this by explaining at some length that where a bobstay was used the bowsprit could not give, and was kept too rigid, and that he preferred, a.fter his years of experience, to give the spar in question as much freedom for play as possible. Our dinner was waiting all this time, and, as I had recovered from my temporary indisposi- tion, and was feeling remarkably "peckish," I did justice to the good things which were so hospitably provided for me. The talk naturally turned on the skipper we had left, and, referring to the foreign seamen question, I learnt that our men were—slowdv, perhaps, but none the less most surely—being elbowed by degrees out of our mercantile marine. In 1870, out of every hundred seamen sailing under our flag, 10.1 were of foreign nationalities. In 1887 the proportion had risen to 14 94, whilst last year nearly 17 per cent.—16 ■ 95, to quote the actual figures— hailed from Continental countries. Some may argue that, with our immense shipping trade, we should be satisfied at 83 per cent, of the sailors being British, and that the increase in twenty-five vr-ars has been very small. This undoubtedly is the case, but the report.-an official return—from which I extracted these statistics, does not in the foregoing figures take into consideration foreign masters and officers, or La-scars and Asiatics, of whom many thou- sands are employed by some of our best known lines of steamers. All those deriving a living from the sea—I, of course, refer to the toilers, and not the merchant princes, "et hoc genus ornne"—are concerned, and greatly concerned- in the matter, whilst, as if to make things worse, the number of hands employed for every hun- dred tons of shipping has been steadily dimi- nishing year by year for some years past. Since my trip I have been wakinlt diligent inquiries on all sides, and the one question that has been put before me is the number of our seamen out of employment. "Put it down to the stagna- tion of trade," said one prominent dockyard officiab "but" (referring to t-he figures I have quoted) "if for every hundred sailing from Car- diff and Barry sixteen were taken from the boarding-houses and streets there would lie lass misery and drunkenness in large seaport towns than there is now." To return to the Cftttter. After dinner we went on deck so as to allow the "crew" to feed. and now it was that I saw the mannoy in which, after dark, pilots speak to passing ships. "Secundus" observed a large steamer looming up in the distance, and our masthead- ligil t-a, very bright one, by the way—having been hoisted we prepared to show a "flare." A short iron rod, having a sponge on the end, was taken from a large paste-pot contrivance, and the sponge ignited. The effect wa.s most "bizarre." We were enveloped in darkness and could see around us—giving an idea of the "traffic"-the lights of passing vessels. When the flare burst forth our sails and cordage and the water for some distance around us was lit up, giving a very weird appearance to the cutter and its occupants. If the vessel we had shown our flare to had required a pilot she would have shown a light; but, in the absence of the latter, Chalk did not think it worth our while going out of our way to hail her. We repeated this process several times, but, our services not being required, and feeling some- what tired, I turned in and was soon fast asleep, lulled by t.he motion of the boat. Tt was considerably paat midnight when I was sud- denly awakened by trampling on deck. Out I came, very nearly in "puris naturalibus. our flare was shown and "Seoundue" hailrd-and, my goodness what » voice, one that would have qualified him for the Stentor's post in a Roman legion—the steamer: "Where are you «ping to; have you a pilot aboard, sir?" he

DAYLIGHT VERSUS DARKNESS. The Egyptian Pyramids, they say, Were built, to -how the Stars by day; CLARKE'S "PYRAMID" LIGHTS to shine at night, They keep e'en Burglar3 w,11 m sight. Nights dark and drear—we no longtr fear, CLARKE'S "PVJiAMlP" NIGHT LIGHTS burn as clear as—Daylight. IL CL THE URGLA P YRA CLARKEfS PYRAMID & FAIRY Lia H. LIGHT C° LXP. LONDON,^)^i^| THE "BURGLAR'S HORR:JR." CAUTION To Prevent Burglaries.—A "Pyramid" Nijdit Light should be lighted in the front and ba«k of every house as soon a-s it ia (lark. Ho-usebreakers have the greatest dread of a light. The Police recommend a "Pyramid" Nig-ht Light itS the best safe- guard. Almost all the burglaries perpe- trated ixsifdit have been prevented, and much Valuable Property Saved, if tbis simple and inexpensive plan had always been adopted. Tlie "Pvramid" Night Lights are much larger and give Double tli^ Light of the common night lights, and are. therefore, particularly adapted for this pur. pose. Manufactured in Patent Fireproof Plaster Cases. No paraffin or other itnuge, rous material used in their manufacture. 8 Lights in box to burn 9 hours each. 12 Lights in box to burn 6 hours each. PYRAMID LAMPS from 4d. each. NO PARAFFIN OR OTHER 'T DANGEROUS MATERIALS USED IN ANY OF CLARKE'S LIGHTS. Lcl477

AFTER WATERLOO. WHAT TOOK PLACE ON THE FAMOUS FIELD. In CasselPs "Battles of the Nineteenth Cen- tury" appears the following passage from an article by Mr. D. Parry, describing what took place on the field of Waterloo after the fight: "What can I say of the battlefield, after the pur- suit. had rolled away, and it was left to the searcher and the plunderer? If I could re- create one t.ithe of the horror those slopes and roads revealed, you would sicken and turn away in disgust. Prussian, Belgian, and British, there were, out on the plain that night, bent on no errand of mercy; stragglers and camp-followers creeping from group to group. tearing the rings from the fingers and the teeth from the jaws Many a life wa.s foully taken that tender nursing might have saved; but there were some groups that sought for a lost comrade or a favourite officer, and women thi.re were, with woman's gentle sympathy, soothing a^id Ending as only they can soothe! The bulk of the British force had gone to bivouac beyond and about Rosomme, which was behind the F-reneh position; but some detachet. portions remained where thev had tought, too weary to advance with the others. Mercer was one of these, and creeping under the cover of a wagon, worn cut with slaughter he slept-waking to find a. dead man stark and stifi beneath him! His men had come to him in the morning and asked permission to bury one of their comrades. 'Why him in parti- cular?' asked t-he captain, for minv a bearskin- crested helmet was empty in 'G. Troop.' Then -n they showed him the horror of it. The whole of the man's head bad been carried [twav, leaving the fleshy mass of what had been a face, from which the eyes were still staring wil,ily. 'We. have not ,]opt a wiiik, tl,, said. 'Those eyes have haunted us all iiiglit.,

SURGEON SENT TO PRISON. GROSS CRUELTY TO HIS CHILDREN. Leonard George Peters, surgeon, was charged at Jar row last week with cruelty to his three children; aged ten and five years, and one year.Eleanor Peters, defendant's wife, said she was married to defendant in 1880. She had nine children, three of whom were now living—namely, Eleanor, Harold, and Flo- rence. Since they were married defendant had never treated her kindly, and after 1890 he be- came very violent, and she left him, he having brought a young lady to the house whom he persisted in keeping. In 1893 she returned to her husband, and found her daughter looking very poorly. Within the last six months her husband had struck her with a stick, and had beaten the children with it, and kicked them. He had knocked his pipe on their heads, set fire to their hair, and also to hers. He bad even set fire to the baby's hair by putting lighted matches to it. He also got a pin, match, or hairpin, and scratched the soles of the children's feet. When they screamed he hit them. He frequently made the little boy get out of bed during the night to light his pipe, and wait beside the bed till he had finished smoking. He had once put Harold's hand in the fire, saying that would keep him out of mischief. After an inspector called on her defendant's cruelty increased. Witness, having deposed to other acts of cruelty, said her husband was constantly drunk, and they had seldom a fire, and consequently nothing to eat in the house.Defendant, who charac- terised the statements as exaggerated, was sent to prison for three months.

SPURGEON AS A SMOKER. Ihe Rev. W. Williams, in his "Personal I Reminiscence-: of C. Ii. Spurgeon," tells an ane-cdotj concerning the great preacher as a smoker. Some gentleman wrote to Mr. Spur- geon saying "he had heard he smoked, snd could not believe it true. Would Mr. Spurgeon write and tell him if it really was so?" The reply sent was as follows "Dear I cul- tivate my flowers and burn my weeds.—Yours truly, C. H. Spurgeon."

PATTX'S CONTINENTAL TOUR. Shortly after Christmas Madame Patti pro- poses to go on the Continent, and will give in Pari* two concerts for the benefit of the poor. It is then, in all probability, that the musioal pantomime, "Mirka, the Enchantress," in which she played in her private theatre at Craig-y-Nos last July, will be produced in public. The plot, it may be recollected, is by M. Georges Boyer, the well-known French journalist.

"Braithwaites Retrospect of Medicine" says: —"Cadbury's Cocoa, is an invaluable addition, to our dietetic resources in the treatment of all j digestive disordera." Lol237 2

THRASHED BY HIS EX-WIFE DIVORCED PAIR MEET ON A FERRYBOAT. A well-dressed, prosperous-looking man wna walking towards the ferry-house at the Toot of Broadway, Brooklyn, America, the other after- noon. dust before he I eaciled the gate he waa accosted by a shabbily-attired young woma.n who had a child about two yeai's old. She appeared to be greatly excited. "I don't y ant anything from you mvself, you brute!" she .shouted, "but I must have money for this child." i: ou il get nothing from me. I don't knovc you, replied the man, walking on rapidly. The woman followed, talking rapidly,'her voice rising, and the child began to cry. "I can starve she shouted, "but this child can- not." The three passed on into the ferrv- house, the woman shrilly reiterating her de- mand for support for her child. A crowd ffatjherod' around them. The man retorted angrily to the woman's demands. "You've had too many husbands to suit me," he snarled. Site grew furious at this and belaboured him oyer the head' with her umbrella. "For three months I've been trying to reach you," sihe said. "Now that I meet you by accident you'll not. lose me in a hurry." Then she followed him on board the ferry- boat. "You are living in a fine house in Provi- dence," she declared. "You have thousands, while your child has not a cent." "You can't do anything with me," .shouted the enraged man. "If you think you can, just have me arrested'. Why, I don't know that the child is mine: but if you say he is, and you are too poor to keep him. give him to me. I'll take him along, and ghie you £2 to go back to your honw. i "He is yours," sobbed the woman. Then, turning to the passengers crowding about, Bhe asked. "Can't you ]>eople see that that brute I is the father of this boy? Oh, if I only had a gun I would blow his brains out!" Sympathetic women now took side with the woman, and harsh expressions were hurled towards the man, who, becoming frightened, drew out his pocket-book, and handed to one of the crowd a document with a big red seal affixed.^ It was signed "B. S. Blaisdell, Counter Cleric," and set forth thai on May 4, 1895, a divorce had been granted at Providence. R. E. to Ida Sha.piro from her husband, Jacob, on the ground of desertion, and awarded the cus- tody of Leopold Shapiro, three years of age. to the mother. "I gave her £ 100, and she relin- quished all elainis on rnp," lie said. "Y'ou lie!" fehouted Mrs. Shapiro. "Y'ou agreed to give me JBl 5s. a. week for Leopold, and all you have ever done was to send him a suil of clothes." Mrs. Shapiro then followed the man up the street till he escaped by 5umpf».> on a 'dde c rhe. woman told a, reporter HI; she lived a* New York. She was in Pro->nd -Tv>e three years ago, and, shortly after the marriage, she said, she was deserted. Bhe declared tl»a* i)er husband iva,c vt^rv wealthy.

FIENDS IN HUMAN SHAPE. THEY ROASTED AN OLD MAN ALIVE. George Marshall. 67 years of age. a wood, cnopper, vvho^e shanty is on the Raniapo Moun- tains, near Oakland, America, is at the Hac- kemack.Hospital suffering from a horrible burn. From the knee to the ankle of the right leg the fiesli was burned almost to the bone, and for ten days the wcvnd had re- mained practically uncreated. The old man liYed in the hut on the mountain top with his son. On Friday, a week ago, he says, two men came to his shanty in the morning. Thev had a couple of chickens with them and a-sked him to cook them. He knew they were stolen, and refused to do as they wanted. Thev also had with them a gallon of whiskv. When the old man would not comply with their wishes they began to torture him. and he was made to drink some of the whisky. Finally, late in the afternoon, after torturing the old man for several hours, the men built a fire in front of the shanty and began to carry out the old man's few belongings. These they piled on the flames. They then pulled off a. portion of the firomt of the oabin a.nd added this to the fire. The old man was too full of the whisky with which he had been plied to make much resistance. The old m,¡-n says they Picked him up and held his right. leg in the names made by his household goods, and, de- s-pite his pain and struggles, held him. there until his leg was roasted. They left fim, he says, unconscious beside the fire. He was rescued by his son, who started to Oakland, and asked a doctor to accompany him to t'he aid of his father. He says t,hat the doctor relused to make the trip. Failing in obtain- ing a doctor, the SOIli bought a bottle of lini- ment. and walked back to the mountain. He dressed the leg as best he could until one of the sons-in-law of the old man visited the place. He insisted that Marshall should lie taken where 4e might have medical treatment, and in the morning an ox team and a lumlier wagon were obtained, and the man was carted down the mountain side in that rude vehicle to the railroad at Oakland- From that place he was taken by train to Hacltensack. The old man .says the men who tortured him wei-e teter Winters and Jacob Coe. two voung men who live near Oakland, and offi(«rs are look- ing for them. It is doubtful whether the old man will survive. '-=.

THE NATION'S POST-BAG. Mr. Arnold Morley, the late Postinsult*, General, in hrs report for the year ended 31st of ija.rch last, estimates that the delivery of letters, etc., in the United Kingdom for twelv« months was as follows: -Letters, 1,770,900.000, ^lTsnnVn 2'3 P*1' cent"; P°st cards, 312,800,000, increase 25-9 per cent. boole packets, circulars, and samples, 614-,600,000-f increase 7 per cent. newspapers, 151,800,000, decrease 7-9 per cent. parcels, 57,136,000, in- crease 5-7 per cent. The report points out that the decrease in the number of letters ancf newspapers is rather apparent than real ancl is partly due to the fact that. a closer inqu'rv into the amount of correspondence delivered in London has shown that the estimate of the numbers of letters in recent years has pro. ba.bly been exaggerated and partly to the use of post caids. Ihe report includes an exhaus- tive review of the telegraph service during th« lr J2:'Z'n WhlCh the to^Phs have beeo undei the management of the Government. In this department there was a deficit for thf foss £ 30^o?0 rCL'+aati ?f £ 452,803, of whist' £ 300,000 ia credited to press telegram*. ,c

roared. The answer was laconic, "Bound to Bristol." "That is no good to us, anyhow," re- marked. Chalk, so after a. smoke I turned in again but not to sleep. Thinking I might pick up some information, I went out and took up my stand beside the "old hand," who was at the tiller. In spite of passing ships, many of which we SPOktl, I had a regular yarn with Bill. He had sailed round the world in a variety of crafts, none of which appeared to strike him so much as one vessel—a missionary one. Well, to be candid, Bill did not personally think very much of missionaries. Tliev were all very well, he said, for refining and civilising natives, for without them little or no headway could be made with that class. "Give the missionaries a few years in a. place and merchants can always follow and do a good trade," >«id he; "but tliey ought to leave the crew of the vessel they sails in alone. After much questioning Bill told me that the missionary came troubling the crew for their religious beliefs: he was a sailor first, and told his interlocutor that he had signed on to work as a. seaman and not to be converted like a savage. "That man was a good man, and went down well with the Patagonian beggars, but he was too fond of messing with the crew." complained Bill. "I liked the job but for the devotion." Dawn was breaking, and the sight was most impressive. It seemed a.s if a paJl which had been covering us was suddenly lifted, and I soon made out that we were half way between Westward' Ho and I/midy Island. We searched the horizon, but a haze--the promise of a warm day-was springing up, and not being able to see any ships in sight I turned in and was soon in the arms of Morpheus. THE "WANDERING JEW."