Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 September 1882 — Well-Behaved Rascals. [ARTICLE]

Well-Behaved Rascals.

Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about the French convict settlement of Noumea, capital of New Caledonia, is the extreme docility of the convicts. Large gangs of them pass from one part of the town to another in charge of a single gendarme, and frequently numbers may be met working in the street, with apparently not a soul to look aftes them. Many are employed in private houses as servants, returning at 9 p. m. to their prison. As a consequence of this docility they seem to be kindly treated, and have a good deal of time to themselves, which they employ in various ways, such as carving on shells, etc. These shells they sell to passersby in the streets when they think they are unobserved by the gendarmes ; for, strictly speaking, they are not supposed to communicate with outsiders, but the gendarmes are not hard with them. There are now 10,000 convicts in Noumea, and several thousand more reported to be on the way, or about to start. Moreover, they are not political prisoners with a decent regard for private rights, but, without exception, sentenced criminals. R. M. Bunton, of Columbus, Ind., writes: “For kidney complaints, indigestion and weak lungs I can conscientiously recommend as a reliable cure Dr. Guysott’s Yellow Dock and Sarsaparilla. I have used it myself and recommended it to my friends, with most satisfactory results " Prominent Knights Templar are discussing the proposition to acquire from the Government a tract of land in some unsettled pare of the country, perhaps in the heart of the Rocky mountains, as an exclusive camping ground for the Grand Commanderies, ample enough to accommodate the entire order. It is believed that such a permanent place of meeting, removed from the influences of large cities, would stimulate extraordinary interest and secure the most desirable results.