THE COMMANDANT OF PORT ARTHUR.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2742, 8 February 1890, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE COMMANDANT OF PORT ARTHUR.

Port Arthur, in Tustnan's Peninsula, the penal settlement of tho ponal oolony, to which the worst criminals and doubly and trebly convioted prisoners were sent, was perfectly adapted to its purpose, and a man more admirably suited to the commandant thnn Captnin Booth, of the 2lst Fusiliers, oould not have been selected. Captain Booth had every quality required for such a part as that of commandant of a penal settlement. Standing about 5 feet 2 inches in his boots, his appearance was not imposing, but he was wiry and could stand any amount of fatigue. Possessed to au extraordinary degree of both moral and physical courage, he was always firm and never harsh with the men, who quickly found that they conld neither "cajole him nor provoke him into losing his temper, however sorely it mi,<ht be tried, and the consequence was that Port Arthur was never the pandemonium that Norfolk Island, which is precisely the same sort of settlement, became under commandants of a different typo. Of his own personal feirleesnese he gave many examples, some of them seeming to border very closely on rashness. There was a coal mine on the peninsula worked by tho convicts, which he used frequently to visit, going down to tho workings in a basket lowered by a winoh manned by two of them, and on ono ocoasion it transpired (for there were generally men ready to betray each other) that two of the convicts had determined to let him down with a run to the bottom of the pit the first time they had control of the wineb, so as soon as it came to their turn to be at it, off went Booth to the mine, got into the basket, went down, made his inspection and came safely back. When reproached for his foolhardinoss ho only answered in his quiet way that before he got into the basket ho looked well into the two mom's eyes, and folt pretty sure that, after that, they would not dare to let him down, but that he had stood ready to catch hold of the second rope in case they should try it. " You must," he said, "let them Bee that they cannot make you afraid." On another occasion ho ascertained that the men of a gang composed of the very worst men of the settlement, who wore omployed in clearing the forest at a short clietance oS, had determined to murder him the first time he went to inspect them, and as soon as he had made sure of his facts he ordered out his littlo grey pony, and trotted off to tho forest, where he found about 90 of these ruffians, working under throe guards. He had them mustered and addrossed them : " My men, I havo learned, and I know yon cannot deny it, that you have determined to murder mo, and I have come at once to give you tho opportunity, if you choose to take it." Then taking out a pair of pistol*, he went on : " You see I havo got those, but you will never find me without them, for I havo got neither more nor less than I always carry, so if you moan to do what you propose to do, yeu had better do it now, as you will never havo a better chance." The men looked sheepishly at each other, without trying to deny the plot, but not one of them moved or resisted when the ringleaders were removed for punishment. Through tho carelosenoss of a sentry, the crew of what was called the commandant's lifeboat, on account of every man of it being a prisoner under a life sentence, onco managed to seize the boat and make oS with it, pursued by Booth, who, with one soldier, jumped into another boat, also manned by convicts, and followed them until they were out of sight of land without overtaking them, which may havo been fortunato, as it is very possible that the second crew might have taken tho part of the others, who would certainly have resistod, and then there would have been fourteen of them against two in a struggle on the open sea.—Sir H. T. Elliott, in the Nineteenth Century.