, 1861-12-05
OUR WASHINGTON LET TER.
4 BLACK hole OF CALCUTTA AND THE
BLACK AND WHITE THINGS THEREIN.
From Our Own Correspondent
w,-,-~rn.r naepn,her @ 1S6f

", III
half hour 1 have known in many years. In !
agine a dingy three story building OF INC
prison architecture Of 1190, Of about the d.
mensions Of the North Market building in
Chicago, with 218 persons, black, white and
mixed, packed into it Ike hcrrings, close,
foul, without ventilation or any apparent
drainage, and you can form some faint idea o1
the atmosphere which saluted our nostr1ls Is
NC passed from the jailor's ward-room into
tic prisoners apartments a heap OF hlnc
Law Stacking and fu1ning On the lower foor Tor
the purpose evidently Of dislnfccting the arm
the main passages. The fumes did not reach
the prisoners quarters, or if they did, they
were driven back by the superior strength u
the exbalations there engendered.
Tic first candidate We met was dH 77asa'ee sos-
der. Tie jailer told us that though quite
harmless, he WAS as crazy as 4 loon. His LOOKS
ful1y confirmed the testimony. His clothes
were stripgy and baggy and thatched, with
more straw than Edgar was bedeckcd with |
when he met King Lear in the forest. Bis hair
! also was plentifu11y adorned with the same
| trimming. "It's no use doing anything for |
him. said the jailor'' "No,'' replied the un-
| fortunate, sno use doing nothing for nue."
and hc trotted away to his pile Of short, dirty
straw, where he dropped down on all fours,
and rooted in it like pig. The jaller explained
to Us that he had belonged to the regular army;
When his alterations were first noticed hc Was
sent here; that he (the jailer) lad sent for the
brigade surgeon to examine him and remove
him to the asylum; that the surgeon had ex-
amincd him and pronounced him insane, anu
| promised to have him taken care Of. This was
long enough ago to have removed the asylum
to thc 1unatic, but here he was still, roofing in
his straw heap, and presenting his vacant, pit
cous, unwasled face to stray visitors like our
; selves.
Wcncxt turned into corridor from which
half q dozen cells opened The, prisoners
! a'.c..t twenty in number, were standing On
the brick floor, with very little elbow room,
, ! and with no aperture for the admission OF
c fresh air, except the grating Of the iron door.
c We cseaycd 10 enter, but the odor which met
G us was intolerabIe. It was useless TO hold
j. our handkerchiefs to our noscs-the palpable
q stencil came into our eyes, mouths and ears.
il We retreated in good order, however, and
held brief conversation at the entrance with
the inmates Ono Of them was private in
j. Company E, Col. Brodhead's Michigan cayal-
ry; said he had been sent to jail for getting "a
C little drunk" and falling out Of line. Proba-
r DIy lie fell out Of line long distance, but ac-
d | cording to the commitment book hc had done
!. nothing. worthy Of confinement in such lole
as this. tScnator Grin6s sent word to i
l. Lieutenant Of Company f, stating these tlcts,
,r who has promised TO look into the matter and
get the man back into daylight and into line
Another one was private III Company !, I'D
Pennsylvania regiment, sent to JUL for drunk
NIL in hn
5. who wore United States uniforms and who
,c were there for The sumo offence. Thest
- things would not be worth noticing
sf :, but ior the obvious tact that when man get:
- murder or grand larceny, the world outside
ho | forgcts him as though lie were in his grave
~ 4 soldier might grow to old age there, il i
10 were not for the yillanous atmosphere OF tn
place, and finally die with an account o
drunkenness unsettled against him.
lii We then went to tile negro quarters, femal
:. department If the sight Of an insane soldie
had been surprise to us, the first object tha
=, nc ROW encountered vas sometnlng mofe s5
ut "Who are yon-Wlat are you here foF:
M asked the Senator from lowa, addressing
,f n,ulatto girl who sat On the floor sewing he
NJ apron: ,o .,.,,o >,,rru,u ;s7 b,onr
to Mary Hall,'' she replied.
"W6at arc you here for?'' was the mex
query.
In "For safe keep'n, spose."
/
III, He told lis it was true. The woman was t.
Lck slave Of Mary Hall, who had sent her to Il
lie Jail for safe keeping. Mary herself keeps Il
,.t largest house Of Ill fame in Washington, an
C.. her negroes.
An Intelligent and comparatively neat loo
cy- ing colorcd woman next attracted our atte
lps ton, when the following conversation cnsuct
ri Q-What are YOU here for?
VI A.-Don't know.
>rn- Q.-Who sent you hcres
the An officer.
ncc Q-Arc you a fugitive? Did you run ava.
exandra. When thu soldiers c5me he want
to move to the junction and so came ava.
con, me and my little boy-t.ie's up stairs.
aun- Q-Nhat was your masters name!
AZ A-Triplctt.
arcs 3-Dor'r lnow When the man took IN
on wanted to 20 and sec General Mansfield.
d to sata he would take nc to General Mansae
but he brought me here. haven't seen
eral Mansfield yet morc'n six months.
We asked the jailor how many fugitiyes
,usiv IT,. ,,:, He rcnlcd, forty-fvc. The average
with tendahce WIS soeM 1'a la ~ - 1tGrt
cd to the Capitol grounds. We went up-st
lc are where the woman said her little boy was,
NADIA. where, it was plain, her own heart was.
the elc a!a ~ ~ aoas frnn, s;x to sixty
9ring. should hot hayc recognized tAe son Of the
man below. but for the help Of the jalor:
u ths was so much whittier than lis mother: II
1rncd negTors had, Of oourst, committed no or
rc of except that Of being born. The army G
49,, :e among them, their rebel masters fed, ane
Inu Il nut them in the third story Of the Washln!
,odies fail. Yherc VIC fed them in trough
any Fourierite principles, where no one has
better chance than his neighbors, unles
| gets into it 1engthwise. Four OF them
graph playing game a u oa 3n1e% othcrs were
tween fnc on one was dancing the doublc-sh
be re- and the remainder were singing or taking
IN and laughing.
- Kc cent into the quarters Of the free bl;
lhts a' Most Of them are confined for petty oftel
such as thieving and yagrancy. One, bf
eyed intelligent looking fellow, about tn
C grain Years of acc, being asked why he was t
barley replied: ''For walking in the street "
,sborc slave girl'' The hardened rutflan!
's"or~ It was true. The laws Of this district
le. IN hibit such laxity Of walking. The theo
eight philosophy, Of thc case is, that the Glrl
fall in love with him aud eventually run
for lis slke. xwo
NC cau,e down and went out. we
recent haze n new iail." remarked Senator G."
1mber- "What ;" asked, "would you do vii
hiuery, old one?''
~ crow s.Put barrel Of powder into it and b.
~ r;11o mp" he replied
Secretary Cameron's Report
nf the