Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-08-07
wAsHlSerox. August l.

WAsHISeToS, August /.
One Of the pre- minent features in this most ri
gantic and unhappy war j. that presented by
the negro. Oae half Of the south has believed
that the war Was waged % give freedom 10 the
slave. while the whole North has been agitstel
and divided, from the Pacific TO the Atlantic.
upon is.ues born OF this soOty descendant Of
Ham, Would TO heaven that Noah bad quietly
dropped Ham into the seeihing waters that were
ovethOwng the mountain tops OF the earth. ere
he was obliged TO say, "cursed be Canaan; for
then humanity would have been spared the
disgrace of a connecting link with I0rillas
and ourAny -outangs: America would have been
blessed with unity, aud Abolitionsm have never
existed.
Heie in Washington are collected 10 day not
less than five thousand negroes, composed OF
those freed in the District aud those who have
escaped from their masters in Maryland and Nir
gina. large majority OF tins number have
either found situations in the country. live here
in Washington; the remainder are supported
by the Government in barracks, which are called
the -Contraband Depot" Ii the readers of the
Times would like il. We will pay visit to this
place. for il undoubtedly possesses points OF con-
siderable interest
Up Twelfth street. till we reach the suburbs of
the city, on the north side, and here, in the cen
ter Of a large open field. are two long parallel
rows of one story white buildings. in which DIV ell
the 0uskN Objects OF ndAlOn > TURMOIL. ne
August sun beats down with power that would
roast joint ia time. and. unbroken by sh
gle tree, expends its fell force upon the quarters
of the contrabands. At one end of the two rows
of buildings are two small whitewashed shanties,
one occupied by Superintendent Nichols. the
other by the doctor. At the opposite end of the
inclosed space are two large tents one of which
il used tor male and the other for female patients
This is the external character of the Contraband
Il
with the upper classes. the elite of y ashington ;
colored population
'Do Won know where the Contraband Depot
is2' inquired / of fancy looking" darkey, on
my way out.
mo. sah," responded he, with the air of For
rest in Jack Cade
"Ah, YES Well, can YOU tell me the point, sir.
where those colored gentlemen and ladies, and
likewise their offspring. are confined, who have
lately escaped from the chains and tyranny OF
Southern mastersI"
The gentleman looked for moment rs If
he suspected some sell in the character of
nv question, and then replied with "A grin.
'Whar YOU dem white houses out dar, dar :
whar de colOred folks is dat jes cum from Duff
Green's
Thanking him. which was responded to by a
polite touch of the hat, | drove on, and soon
reached the quarters
halfdOzen contrabands were engaged in ston-
ing up well which they had just dug. a wind
lass had been Zed over the mouth, and with
this several cOntr.sbands, in garments of every
pattern and hue. we're engaged in lowering bricks
into the well That is, suppose this was their
business, for steady look OF five minutes
failed to convince whether the bucket was
coming up or going down. In fact, their only
business seemed 10 be, not how much they
do lint hon IiffIa Tbav ,af la
endeavorng TO discover the exact mean be-
tween motion and rest; and SO successful had
they been in their efforts that one could not
safely swear that their operations part0Ok of the
character of either.
Having secured superb tendent Nichols, We
started To visit the buildings The first We came
to was room about ten by twelve feet square
with single small window, one or two stools,
and some berths arranged for sleeping like those
on a steamboat. A rank; offensive. sitting odor
was rushing through the door aud window in
dense volumes, but, by Theoretically sealing nv
nose with thumb and finger, / managed To
follow the example Of my guide aud enter.
just within the door sat two six wear old speci
mems of ebony, one of whom pursuing mi
mute and labOriouS investigation in the nterstceS
OF the wool upon the head of the other-a pursuit
which every instant seemed To be rewarded with
bri liant success. A little to the left, upon the
lower BERTH a negress of sixteen tanning the
flies from. and, with stolid nsensibility to all
ward objects, gazing upon. the face of an infant,
whose half closed e. e., blueiSh countenance. and
fixed expression indicated the near approach of
death. "Scarlet fever-frst chd-cant live, "
said my guide
In a corner laid a fat. stupid negress. and an
old crone whose palsied head could scarcely lift
itself sufficiently To notice our entrance. These
and some six children-dirty, ragged and vermin-
aflcIed-made up the occupants of this room
The eiluvia from their unwashed bodies and cloth
Ing, and the poisonous exhalations generated by
MANY sleeping in one small room were horribly
offensive, and OF character that seemingly
would destroy any human being as quickly as
would necessity which forced his lungs TO live
exclusively upon sulphureted hydrogen.
To make this portion OF my letter short, | may
say, in b. ef that every room in all the depot was
almost fac simIiie of the first. In all were from
three To live women and a seemingly infinite
quantity OF children-al smelling equally rank
and all pervaded with listless stupidity that
seemed to Indicate either "A total absence of in
telect a position whose character they find
themselves wholly unable to appreciate The
same raggedness among all, the same caniolos-
cal pastime among the juniors, the same insens
blity to external impressions among the elders,
were seen from the first room TO the last
y few seats were arranged against the shady
side OF building, and here, before we left. some
fifty. Young and old, gathered To learn reading
and singing majority OF the crowd were
children; the rest was comprised of about equal
numbers of adult men and women. y few songs
were first sung. and then the teacher, with u
pointer. commenced the spelling lesson, the book
being chart pinned against the side of the build
ing. The singing Was universally joined in by
old and young but, when the spelling com
menced, the labor too severe for all a
halt dozen of the Younger ones With chns on
hand and elbows on knees, the men would gaze
upon the letters with air of puzzled, stupid
helplessness. The characters before them might
have just as well been Egyptian heroglyp hics-
they could read one as readily as the other.
The only one of the elders that seemed To
have progressed ut all was a woman of slme
fifty five sixty, who, with an immense pair of
iron spectacles across her nose, was laboriouslv
and slowly iliucidating the fact that it spells at
anu ia.
| must confess that however much admired
the benevoence which prompted these efforts,
would not anticipate result of great Importance
and there not in the whole crowd a single
face, either Young or old. that indicated an orii
nary amount of intelligence: all seemed Just the
least possibly removed from the grade of bruieS
and, perhaps, in all that crowd, there may be
halt dozen, who. IN the course of i've wears ma
learn 10 read single story book Whether such
result will pay for the labor necessary to pro-
duce 1t. Is more than | am prepared to say. Ii
ey learn lythnC az all il will be lust suffici lent