Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1861-10-14
Life at Fort Lafayette,
HOW THE IMPRISONED REBELS T
PLOY THEIR TINE.

Fort Lafayette by Mr.. NJ. G. Stanley, 4
recent inmate thereof, who was discher-
ged upon an investigation OF his case,
which established his entire innocence of
the charges brought against him, and ex.
hibited him as perfec:ly loyal Union
man;
Upon the arrival Of the prisoner at
Fort Hamilton he is at once delivered in
10 the charge OF Col. Burke and the doc.
ument for his commitment exhibited -
! This document comes from either the Sec>
retary ct War or Secretary of State, ac,
cordlng as the prisoner is ono OF war or Of
state Col. Burke thereupon has the ac
cused terried acroSs the little channel
which flows between Fort Hamilton aud
Fort Lafayette, and upon his arrival in
the latter stronghold he is given into .he
charge of the commanding officer, Lieut..
| Wood, who writes out q receipt for his
! prisoner. Alter this formula is over he is
shown TO his quarters, which of late have
been the casemates or gun rooms around
the wall OF the fort. This economy has
been necessiiated by the filing up of the
mo desirable officers quarters by the
first arrivals
| As soon rs the new conner is left 10 him
sell he is At once surrounded by his new
fellow prisoners and piled with questions
as TO his name, where he came from and
what are the charges against him, which
usually wind up with an expression on
the part of .he :aterrogators Of doing all
they can TO render his stay as agreeable as
possible. The conversation continues,
and when friendly relations have been
established he is very blandly asked what
lie will have for his dinner or supper, ac
cordirg to the hour at which be arrives
In the same breath they extol the deli
clous character Of beef steak, with mush.
rooms, and tIolled chicken oI other sa-
worry dlshe., and urge him, some TO have
tie former, Others the latter. In maze
Of astouishment al this good trea atment of
crimin ais by the offended Government, he
states his choice or perhaps expresses a
wish for little Of several Of tho dishes
mentioned, and the character of the wine
:hen comes up for cXtolment and the
wags get into quite dispute among
theius Ives as TO the relative qualities OF
the Burgundy, Port, MADEIRA Cluret, &c,
which is given them At dinner The still
further astonisE ed prisoner drinks all this
IN with considerable pleasure, and begin,
ming 10 get over the fright which his ar.
rest and ircarcera ton have produced CON
graduates himself that stay a. Fort La
layette is capital thing. But his fond
delLsion, at least the one produced by his
fellow prisoners, soon vsuishes when the
conversation, which by this time has, of
course, changed to other subjects, is sud
denly interrupted by the signal foI dinner
mud h.t ia npv1nn,aI 10, h,s
in the dining room, where, in place Of u
mahogany table with lustrous white dauis
ask cloth, silver service aud richly cut
glass ware, all of which his imagination
had conjured up, he discovers a plain
deal table, unpainted and without cloth,
with tin plate containing piece OF par
TALLY cooked pork, Tin cup Of coffee and
large chunk OF bread. As he contems
plates this in dism ", a loud laugh from
his fellow prisoners, who, from the door
have been watching his movements, throws
u little light on his disordered intellect,
and be perceiyes that he has been the vic.
tim of u hoax. This constitutes his ini-
tiation into Fort Lafayette society, and he
in turn becomes as eager rs the rest to
sell" the next new conner,
This is one of the ways in which the in.
mates manage to while away the time,
and, in fact, it has become so popular a.
nong them that the announcement in
the daily papers (which, ly the way, they
receive every morning regularly before
eight O'CLOCK ,)of any arrest at once creates
quite an excitement, and everything is
prepared 10 thoroughly initiate the ex-
pected individual.
Those of the prisoners who have means
aud friends can pass time in comparative
comfort. A mess has been established by
permission of the commanding officer,
which is under the control OF NJ. ordna. CO
sergeant attached to the post, 1t num-
bers about thirty, and at cost of one
dollar head per diem, the table is sup
piled, from market daily with good food
OF every description. together with such
viands and liquors as they may choose TO
purchase extra. The liable Is betiol, in
fact, than such as are provided in second
class hotels at fashionable watering places.
The sleeping arrangements are also very
com Portable. The mattresses, bedding,
blankets and sheets are OF good quality,
and care is taken to keep them clean. The
bedsteads are small iron ones, which are
IOluSu up III tll0 udylllHc, mdklDH HuUl-
tional room in the somewhat confined
quarters. f.. ..
Two hours day are allowed 10 prison
ers for exercise out OF doors in the open
space in the centre OF the fort, viz: be.
tween six and seven o'clock in the morn,
ing and between five and six O'Clock in
the evening. In the intervals they are
confined in the rather commodious quar-
ters which are appropriated to officers
when tho fort is completely garrisoned,
where they amuse themselves playing
chess, draughts, backgammon. whist and
the like, read the newspapers, or discuss
tho events of the day Ms they reach them
through the last mentioned channel. At
nine o'clock every light is extinguished
and universal silence prevails until the
next dawn awakes them TO re'enact the
same unvaried routine.
In cases Of sickness Mrs. Wood, the la,
dy Of the commanding officer, is unre,
mittinc. through her domestics. IN kind.
ness and attention, and has won the es-