1871-2. A depth of 170 feet was attained, whereupon, owing to the shaft being flooded, work was abandoned. Mr. E. Gray reported discovering a coal-bed in the Champion Bay district in 1870. In 1878 Mr. H. E. Parry arrived in the colony to establish gas works at Perth and Fremantle.
A bi-monthly mail service between London and Western Australia was now firmly established. The mails were carried overland from Perth twice a month, and a passenger van ran once a month between the capital and Albany. Mails were taken to and from Geraldton once a week, and to the Avon Valley and Bunbury twice a week. A coastal steamer carried mails and passengers from Albany to Vasse, Bunbury, Fremantle, and Geraldton monthly. The intercolonlal steamer, the Rob Roy (Lilly and Co.) was subsidised by the Government to the extent of £4,200 per annum.
Reference has already been made to the poverty among infirm convicts. With each successive year the number of felons directly under the control of the Establishment decreased. Men were being sent out on ticket of leave, and sentences were annually expiring. Thus in 1869 the number of convicts on public works was 1,300; in hospitals, 74; in lunatic asylums, 35; on ticket of leave, 1,270, which with conditional releases, 158, made a total of 2,836 men who could still be termed convicts—expiree men were no longer reckoned as felons. The grand total in 1878 was only 608, made up of 181 on public works (138 at Fremantle, at Perth, and 2 in other districts), 385 on ticket of leave and conditional releases, 30 in hospitals, and 1 in the lunatic asylum. Out of 9,721 landed in the colony between 1850 and 1868 only 608 were not free men in 1878. The crime statistics, although not so serious as in previous years, were still large, and several men were hanged. The barbarous practice of allowing the public to witness this last penalty was abolished in 1871. There were several desperate attempts to escape. One man crawled into a tub on an outgoing ship. The vessel proceeded to Adelaide, and after many days of starvation and exposure the convict emerged from his tub more dead than alive, only to be immediately arrested, sent back to Western Australia, and imprisoned. Another man in 1875 walked to Esperance, boarded a ship there, and was taken to Adelaide. He was arrested, and in Western Australia was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. In 1878 several Imperial buildings, at Guildford and elsewhere, were handed over to the local Government. Because of the diminishing numbers of convicts, they were no longer of value to the Convict Establishment.
In 1869-7 Fenians with conditional-pardon or release tickets were allowed to leave the colony. In this, however, they had some difficulty, for the P. and O. Company at Albany resolutely refused to give them passage on any terms. When some of them managed to get away on a steamer proceeding to New Zealand their troubles had only begun. It was their intention to proceed to the United States. After landing in New Zealand to await the departure of a Californian steamer, the Government had them arrested and imprisoned for transgressing a special enactment making it illegal and penal for conditional-pardon holders to land in the colony. The Fenians pleaded ignorance of the law, and protested that they were only in transit to America. At first the New Zealand Government intended to return them to Western Australia, but when the Californian steamer arrived a fortnight later the men were allowed to board her under surveillance, and so they continued their voyage.
The New Zealand authorities resented the action of the Western Australian Government, and disdainfully addressed them, expressing their indignation for what they termed a breach of good faith, in letting these men embark for that colony. At the same time they despatched a complaint to the Secretary of State on the subject. The Western Australian Government retorted that they bad never been officially advised of an Act passed by the New Zealand legislature eight years before, prohibiting the arrival of conditional-pardon men. In 1872 the Secretary for the Colonies instructed Governor Weld to "insert in all conditional-pardon certificates that the holders of them are excluded from going to any of the Australian colonies." By this regulation, which, although in force years before, had been to some extent suspended, numerous convicts who proposed to leave Western Australia were compelled to remain.
No doubt, largely at the instance of these departed Fenians, a daring and clever rescue was made of six prisoners in 1876. The whole affair was planned by an American named John Collins, who was assisted by Captain Antony of the American whaler Catalpa. On 16th November, 1875, Collins arrived at Fremantle, and, to avert suspicion, obtained employment in a carriage factory. His first move in a brilliant game was to make the acquaintance of an expiree Fenian prisoner named Foley, who resided at Fremantle. Through the medium of this man, news was conveyed to James Wilson, a Fenian convict, that Collins had arrived, and wished to arrange with him methods of communication, so that he and several other Fenians might be rescued. The object was quickly attained, and Collins made himself master of the prison rules, and of the nature of the surrounding country. About the middle of December, with two companions, he visited the Establishment, and was shown over the mysterious place by the superintendent, Mr. Doonan. He hired buggies, and went for long drives in the country to the south, and was studiously careful to let the public see that he was in the habit of hiring vehicles. By 1st January, 1876, after several interviews with Wilson, he had arranged a definite plan of escape, but he had to watch and wait for some months before the Catalpa put into Western Australian waters.
The six prisoners—James Wilson, Robt. Cranston, Michael Harrington, Thomas Darragh, Thos. Hassett, and Martin Hogan—were conspicuous for their excellent conduct, and they had thus won the confidence of the prison authorities, who relaxed the strict surveillance kept over many other prisoners. They were generally employed on works outside the gaol, where it was often inconvenient for warders to be constantly watching them. This confidence was the opportunity for Collins. Towards the end of March he saw by the Post Office bulletin that the Catalpa had arrived at Bunbury. He drove to the southern port, and on 31st March explained to Captain Antony his proposed plan. The captain agreed to perform his part of the scheme, and proceeded up the coast to take the escapees on board; Collins returned to Fremantle, and patiently watched for a suitable day to get the men off.
On Monday morning, the 18th April, Wilson and Harrington were employed near the Fremantle jetty; Cranston and Hassett were at work about the prison; Hogan was painting the Comptroller's house; and Darragh was acting as the prison clergyman's messenger, or orderly. Collins hired three buggies and a saddle horse, and stored the vehicles with weapons, cartridges, and provisions, including wine. About eight o'clock Cranston visited the party near the jetty, and informed the warder that Wilson and Harrington were wanted to assist in removing some furniture at Government House, Fremantle. The unsuspecting warder let them go, and all the men were soon in the buggies driving at full speed towards Rockingham.
Between nine and ten o'clock Hogan was missed at the Comptroller's house, and upon enquiries being made it was learned
