PRIZE FOR SPENDING WEEK ON CONVICT SHIP

Two hundred and fifty dollars have been offered by Captain D. H. Smith of the Convict Ship "Success" to the University or M. I. T. man who will spend a week in confinement aboard the ship under conditions approximating those which existed when the ship was in actual service as a floating prison.

The "Success" is said to be the only remaining ship of the old British felon fleet. She was built in 1790 at Moulmein, British India, and was originally used as an armed East India merchantman. Her tonnage is 1100, and she is 135 feet long with 30 foot beam. She is built throughout of solid Burmese teakwood. In 1802 the "Success" was chartered by the British government to transport to Australia the overflow from the home jails. There she became a floating prison to which men were sentenced for terms varying from seven years to life, often for what are now considered petty offenses. She was sold in 1868 by the British when the convict system was reformed. She was later sunk in Sydney harbor, but was raised and sent on an exhibition tour around the world. The ship is now on exhibition at Warren Bridge near North Station, in Boston.

In the present competition, a University and an M. I. T. student are to be selected by a committee headed by Captain Smith and are to be confined in opposite cells for a week. For 23 hours a day they are to be fastened in their cells with an ankle chain, and for the 24th hour are to take exercise on the upper deck, secured by a ball and chain. During their solitary confinement they will be forbidden to speak, but may talk during their hour of exercise. At the end of the week, each man is to be awarded $125, or, if one drops out, the survivor will receive $250.

University men who wish to attempt the feat may apply to Captain Smith aboard the "Success" at Warren Bridge next Wednesday, October 11, at 9 A. M. The test will begin at 10 o'clock Monday morning, October 16, and last until the same hour the following Monday. Applicants must be of good constitution. A thorough physical examination will be given before and after the test.