EXECUTION OF THE LENNIE MUTINEERS.

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 137, 2 August 1876, Page 3

EXECUTION OF THE LENNIE MUTINEERS.

(from the times, may 24.)

Yesterday morning the four men—• chiefly, it not all, Greeks—convicted at the Sessions of the Central Criminal Ccvrr, before Mr Justice Brett, aid sentenced to death, for the part they /took in the mutiny and murders oa board the Lonnie, were executed within the prison of Newgate. Their names, ns may be remembered, were Matteo Corgalis, aged 36, bet'er known as “ French Peter;” Pascaier Caladis 83, otherwise f* Big Harry George Kuda, 22, otherwise “ Lipsand Giovanni Cacaris, 21, otherwise “ Joe the Cook.* After their trial and conviction the doomed men wore repeatedly visited In prison by the Greek Archimandrite : n the City-of London,-.. Dr. Hieronymus Myrianthens, and by the Greek ViceConsul, -M. Lascaridi. Eventually, as the brief interval after conviction began to wear away, the convicts are said to j have in effect acknowledged their guilt j and the justice of their sentence, adding j that they must have been tempted by I

tire devil; that they deeply repent?-.! the

crimes they bad corn'.".lilted, and wore *, grateful for the time allowed them for repentance. After the visits of the Greek Archimandrite they gave themselves np to fasting and prayer, and before retiring to rest on Monday evening they expressed their grateful acknowledgements f:r the considerate attention and consolation they had received after their conviction from the Greek Avoidmanrite avd the Vice-Consul; “French Peter” adding, it is understood, that in t'-eir own c ntry, for such a crime, they would have been executed at once, without any interval for repentance. The sentence was executed shortly after & ,’cL ck yesterday morning, in a yard at the back cf !• vrison, the same in which the convict Wainwitg't was executed, and in like circumstances as to the manner of execution. Shortly before 8 o’clock the men were introduced io Marwo'd, the execute-nor, and submitted themselves to the ; v cess of pinioning. They had previously wr'tten letters to their friends which they entrusted to t!> Greek Consul, to be forwarded to their respective destinations. At length, a 1! the necessary arrangements having beat completed, the convicts were seen emerging one by ■ nc from the gad to i the place of execution, the prison hell ! tolling the white, and the Greek Archi mandrite attending and sustaining than to the last. First came “ French Pete;-,' 1 as he was called; next 'Jai ad is,' otherwise “ Big Harrythen I ..Ida, other- j Wise “ Lipsend lastly Cacaris /alias’ ' “Joe the C c k,” each weavin'; a white calico cap. “Big Harry,” on being placed on the scaffob’, sai d with a smile, addressing tb'-se within hearing, “ Good bye, <;■' <1 bye,” “Jo? "the C"ok,” who had hut recently attained his 21st yea s appeared to realise the doom th-;t awaited him far more acutely ilum any of the rest, and as the noose was being ; adjusted seemed' to be on the j-joint of ' fainting. At last, all things hj ing in j readiness, at a to>’ch by the executioner, Marwood, the drop fell with a dreed-ul tra d , and the vm, ell of whom wero j still in their prim?, hr.d expiated their j crime with their lives. Three of tin, prisoners—“ Big ITarry” being tlie exception—had confessed that they were participators in the crimes of which they had been convicted, and acknowledged the justness .of the sentence. “ Joe the Cook,” however, persisted in 'assorting that he took part in the affray under compulsion. Constant Von Hoydonek, the heroic steward of the Lonnie, has been named Knight of the Order of Leopold, and the lad Henry Trousseiot, under steward, has received the Civic Cross of the second class. Both wove presented with their decorations at Antwerp with great ceremony, one of the English jury which tried the Lennie murderers being one of j those who took part ir. the proceedings. In consequence of the atrocities committed by Greek sailers aboard English ships, says the “ Morning Post” of May 30th, and more especially on account of the Lennie massacre, a panic has been spread among British shipmasters on the Tyne, who, a.s a rule, have dining the last fortnight refused to admit Greek, Maltese, or Levantine seamen on board their vessels. Men of these nationalities have been unable lo find employment, and the panic seems to have extended to the lodging-house keepers at Shields, some of whom it is sated, have turned them onto? their house?; the consequence being tl :t they arc le i destitute, and

■have been obliged to r pply to their consuls to send them home. Several ’arge vessels bound toJßombay and the Eart have had inv.ch difficulty in making up their crews in consequence of the present state of affairs on the Tyne.

■The Canterbury Agricultural and Prs’cra' Association intend to establish a quarter:/ periodical, to be called the New Zealand Country Journal.