TERRIBLE REVOLT OF CONVICTS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1093, 11 May 1883, Page 3

TERRIBLE REVOLT OF CONVICTS.

The convicts at the penitentiary at 1 Jeffer=on city, Missouri, recently revolted, and set fire to the building. The Phila delphia correspondent of The Times gives some particulars of the outbreak. The prison contains 1400 convicts who labour in worships. On Friday, 23rd February, upon returning to work from dinner, the mutiny began in the harness shop, where the foreman was seized. Then the ringleader. Johnson, who is serving a term of 12 years for safe-breaking, set tire to some loose straw in the shop, and the entire building was soon in a blaze. The guards rusbeiia to extinguish the fire, but were met by the convicts, who cut the ho-e The alarm-bell quickly notified to the town that something had happened, and soon large crowds were running to the penitentiary, guided by the appearance of a dense smoke caused by the fire, which had spread to the adjacent shops. The Legislature immediately adjourne I, and the entire male population, putting* themselves under the lead of Adjutant-General Waddell, were armed by him from the State armoury. In a few minutes more he had established a cordon round the penitentiary, all classes standing in ordered ranks, with loaded rifles, ready trt suppress 1 the , revolt. The prison walls, with the buildings yet unconsumed, were quickly garrisoned when the officials began to march the conv eta back from the burning buildings to their cells. The ringleader, Johnson, armed with a knife and a club, endeavoure 1 to climb the walls and escape, hut was disarmed and put into a dungeon. Half a dozen others, who had seized the foreman, were then also captured and irapris ned. In this way 1150 of the convicss were rrarched to their cells, the remainder being allowed to aid in subduing the flames. Several convicts were fatally burnt, and some were hurt by jumping from the windows. The convicts who had been left at liberty worked together with the firemen to suppress the conflagration. Damage has been occasioned to the extent of 300,000 <ol.