Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 310, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 December 1920 — DEVIL’S ISLAND WORST PRISON [ARTICLE]

DEVIL’S ISLAND WORST PRISON

Nothing to Match, for Horror, French Convict Settlement in South America. FEW SURVIVE IMPRISONMENT Punishments Are Frequent and of Fearful Severity, and if Man Lays Hand on Warder the Penalty la Death. « London—We have heard ugly tales of Siberia. The Spanish penal settlement at Fernando Po is no health resort, while Italy was obliged to close up her prison colony at Massowah because wardens as well as convicts were dying by the score.. But of all prisons existing today, there Is nothing to match, for horror, the French convict settlement of Devil’s island, a writer in London Tit-Bits asserts. Devil’s island lies off the coast of French Guiana or Cayenne, the one colony which France owns In South America. This settlement is reserved tot the worst cases, and few survive a term of imprisonment there. A prisoner sentenced to Cayenne Is usually given six months’ solitary confinement in a French prison before being sent away. The term varies according to the length of time required to collect a cargo of unfortunates. Arrive at Devil's Island. For a week or two before leaving the prisoners are given some meat and wine to prepare them for the ordeal of the voyage in a convict ship. The ’tween decks of the ship are made Into one long passage with cells on either side closely barred In front. Near the boilers are two punishment cells in which a man can neither lie nor stand and where the heat Is almost unendurable. Arrived at Devil’s island the prisoners are stripped and searched. They are then divided into large barracks, each- of which holds 50 prisoners. These large rooms are perfectly bare, and paved with stone, and the unfortunate prisoners are obliged to lie on the floors all through the sweating nights, tormented by mosquitoes and other insects. The fbod consists of provisions con-~ demned by the military and naval authorities. The only exception Is the flour, which is of fair quality. Roll call sounds ajt five in the morning, after breakfast the gangs go out to work in the sweltering sun. They clear the land and cultivate It Yet If one Is caught picking up a coconut or any other fruit he Is at once ordered 60 days in the cells. “Cells” means confinement in an airless place, sleeping on a plank bed. and only one meal a day, that being bread and water. Pnnishments are frequent and of fearful severity, and If a man lays hands on a warder the penalty Is death. Devil’s island was first used as a

prison about 70 years ago. At that time there were no guards. Since the tepid sea teems with man-eating the authorities thought it needl'ess to take other precautions. Then came the escape of Henri Chabanne, one of the most wonderful instances of'prison breaking on record. Under his directions his companions built a large raft. They made oars, a mast and sail; they even constructed casks to hold fresh water. Seven in all started away. They left at eight in the evening, and next morning were out of sight of land and in" a rough sea. They were up to their waists in water, with hordes of sharks around. After four days and four nights of Indescribable horror, they landed on the .coast of Dutch Guiana, but there was no fresh water. Ghabanne and another plunged into the forest, and after five days reached a plantation where the owner received them kindly. Chabanne asked for assistance to go back and fetch his friends. This was.

granted, but of the five only three were alive. This was the first of a long series of escapes, or attempted-escapes. One man, Adrian Demerian, possesses the amazing record of having made three separate escapes from Devil’s island.