REVOLT IN A CONVICT PRISON.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2295, 26 March 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

REVOLT IN A CONVICT PRISON.

A revolt occurred recently among the convicts at the St. Vincent de Paul Penitentiary, near Montreal, where about 1000 men are confined. At a preconcerted signal given in the yard the convicts leaped upon the unsuspecting guards and overpowered and tied them. Sixteen guards were thus captured, and the convicts obtained possession of the interior of the prison. They took the guard's pistols, and then captured and bound the warden, Mr. Laviotette. The convicts seized crowbars and other implements and moved to the walls to batter down the gates. Nine more guards were on the walls armed with rifles. They ordered the criminals back to their cells. The convicts however, held the warden before them as a target and advanced. He shouted, "Nevermind me, men ! Fire away, do your duty ! " On the guards hesitating, he repeated the command, and the fusilade began, both sides firing. The convicts then brought a ladder to mount the wall. Carriveau, a "French-Canadian, mounted to the parapet and was shot dead. A desperate fight ensued, but the rifles proved better than the pistols. Mr. Laviotette received four bullets and was severely wounded. The guards aimed _so well that they shot down and wounded sixteen of the convicts. The dismayed felons at length retreated, threw down their arms, and sought refuge in their cells; and the guards, following, locked them in, after a contest lasting nearly two hours. Mr. Laviotette and two of the convicts are expected to die. None of the prisoners escaped.