The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1861-09-03
What our Prisoners are Doing at Richmond
From the Charleston Courie

Richmond, August 10, 1861. Inc quartz. ~
Of the Yankee prisoners still continue TO DC 'ne
D;c,ure. gallery of the town. You may always
ind there a crowd of oilers, staring al lhe g,a-
tod windows on either side of the street, STUDY
ing human nature and specializing audiply as
to the various incidents Of the hour some Vi
the fellows have no change of linen, ana neces'
sarily must 90 shirtless while that useful arti-
Gle undergoes the drying process, aller u "a;m'
Those who have the means are allowed ZIG Pii'
ilege of remedyiDg this want those VINO nu,u
not, have, in some instances, been Voiuh'afl!
provided from the wardrobe OF our own iien'
The officers occupy an apartment py 'hemseaes'
and fare, perhaps, more Comfortably congress ss
man Ely, they say, grows tat upon Ills uiet.
The others are in good health. Among lneif
amusements are those of card playing l,sali!'
singing, cursing and debating. The later ID
almost nightly the occupation OF the olhcefs'
Ely acts as the moderator of the meeting, or oc-
casionally takes hand himself huson, ms
Congressional competitor-a jolly, good natnred
soul by the way, fat, funny, interestingly inc
leading speaker, and the smaller guns preaoml-
nate in the intellectual battery according to
their various calibrqs.
The subjects are thing and everything you
can imagine, ranging on the gamut from the
solemn 10 tie ridiculous. Their subject last
evening was derived from the following simple
incident y,
\ newsboy who had been in the habit OF sell
ing his papers at three, suddenly ran his price
up to five cents, and on making his accustomed
sale in the morning to one Of the prisoners, the
latter at first refused to 81 come down Inc
young vender Was equally memorable, and final
ly carried his point, and received the amounto OF
his demand. This rise in stocks was reported
to the Yankee conclaye, whereupon the question
was raised whether it was right for the man to
jew the boy, Or the boy to Jew the man. The
discussion thus commenced in the social circle
was carried into the debating society, and after
the usual pros and cons, it was finally decided
by the Honorable Speaker, Ely, that the boy,
being the sole and undsputcd owner OF the pro
perry, and the said property not being contra
band of war, and no concatenatiOn OF circum-
stances having arisen to obstruct the right
thereby vested in the original possessor of the
aforesaid vehicle OF information, the right was
undoubtedly inherent in the adolescent merchant
to determine for himself the incipient value of
his goods, and to charge for the same according
ly, ad yalorem duties to the contrary notwth
standing. Exception was taken to the ruling of
the Chair, and Mr.. Huson proceeded 10 quote
Shakespeare, Byron and Tom Moore, in support
Of his position. Others followed in the Senate
rial burlesque, quoting, amid shouts Of laugh
ter, scraps of Latin, French, and Irish, telling
stories and even singing songs until bedtime ar
rived, when the party retired to their blankets.
" There's a sweet for every bitter" the poet
says and the prisoners are doing all they can to
extract it.
l have observed number of them on the
street. One of these was New York Zouave,
sporting large as life his fireman badge, and
drinking at one Of the public bars with all the
gusto of a new hedged freeman to the success of
the Southern Confederacy. Some gentleman
asked him how he came there. "Oh,'' was the
reply, "my friends have some influence with
Gen. Winder, and am allowed privileges the
others don't enjoy" So it seemed.
Another of these worthless at large is named
CoNNoLLY-aS Sergeant. His father, fortunately
has made half million OF more out of the
Richmond people, and on this account he is al
lowed the freedom of the city, while the poor
civilians who were taken after the battle arc
still closely ensconced You see there is yet a
good deal of truth in the homely adage that
money makes the mare CO."
The officer in charge Of the prisoners is Major
TODD, brother-in-law of LINcoLN-so, at least,
| have been informed.