Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1864-02-14
HELL's HsLF ACRE.

Writing of the sreacAerous BsenEis, suggests
this as fitting place to give my experiences IN
tba gsrret-coom Of the prison, Otherwise called
" Heirs Half Acre" Mr Bulkiey and myself
were reported as having planned an escape An
cficer and four priys.es escorted us before Capt
Alexander, prison e0mmsrdznt.
''Ygu, two have plsnnei, I have been in
fcr1ed, In escape" said the csptaiu. "It IS
your duty 10 escApe, # you can, and my duty
to keep you if can. did not purpose to pat
you in cell wi'h ball and chain, hut shah only
send You 10 No. 10 for the present"
All the gsrTet is inclnded i1 this No. 10. It's
only redeenliHg fesfuTe Is that il eommsn1s a
tine view of Richmond, Manchester snd Belle
island There were one hundred and ffty-Thrse
in the room them. Hamsa nature receives the
credit Of possessing those powers OF versatility
that enable one soon to reconcile himsslf TO any
insyi.abie condition. 1t would have taken
long time 30 reconcile me 10 staying in this
r1oc1. Ne combination of Dominican frisFs
Digger indians, Maltese beggars and Abrsb
eSmei-drivers, could present a more ill-fsvored
group. Being without blanket was a small
eircuostznea. There weIe any number with
cut shoes or coats, and several whose only gar
meDts were pants whose state Of dilapidstion
would indicate their manufacture somewhere
back in ths Middle Ages, and shirts whose az
tiqui.y and original color suggested sutediluvian
researches as starting point; and this, too, in
mid d-WiDteT. We stayed there but four days
In this time two men were carried out, said to
have been frozen to death. There is an apology
for stove in one corner of the room; Dut With
open windows, through which the cold winter
wind has full sweep, the warmth, or rather the
lack of it. can be imagined. The misery and
suffering in this single gsrrst defss decripliOa
FIGHTING, SWEARING AED PRAYING IEDIYID-
UAL
I am satisfied that Mr.. Sherman, of Colsu0l
Bakers detective forcs in Washington, is an iu-
diVidaal of ttanscendentRily mixed qaalisios.
0n the merninR succeeding my transfer to No.
lO, l witnessed a scone ia which he figured
cons picnoasly conclusive of this fact. A payer.
meeting had been convened, when suddenly an
outsider insisted on taking small bsReh-the
only one that wss in tho r0om-in possession Of
NJ. Sherman, who, as afterwards saw, was the
leader CT the msesing.
''Tll 6ght for That bench" said the outsider,
taking eff bis coat.
''I shau't go there to fight you," replied Mr.
ShsTmSn; ''6ut sttenpt TO take swsy this bench
and I'll give you damned licking.
The outsider advanced and made demon
ssTaiiou to sozs the bench. The fat of Mf.
Sherman Suddenly lesped from the ghts oul-
der, and chat outsider dropped.
ave have settled the case Of shat damned
cuss," said Mr.. Sherman. "EoW wen 90 On
With the meeting. Brother Merritt, viii you
lead in prayer 2"
Almost ineTsdulous as this story may appasr,
Il is, nevertheless, every woTd Of it true. Two
days before my release this Mr.. Sherman with
Others, was pnt in = ground h0oT room prslim-
| iBary 10 be taken TO Salisbury. The weather
was excessively G. Id, and there being no IRE in
the room, Atr Sherman took occasion 10 untold
| his Vows upon TIA Southern CSnfedeFacy and
its treatment Of prisoners, which expression Of
cpinien Captain r ehardsou, nov commanding
the prison, ehaneed to hear.
Don't you know better than to talk like
that 7" said Cspt. Richardson.
/ have said exactly what l think" replied
Mr.. Sherman. I think it damned shame 70
put prisoners in such damned hole as this
Rspsst that again, said Capt Richardson,
and III blow your brains out," drawing bis
revolver
"well, / do think it is q damned shame, -
replied Mr.. S. You may blow my brains Out
as soon as you plsass."
! Captain Richardson did NOS blow out Ma
! Shermsn's brains, but pua him at once in double
irons in q eondemHed cell, where, indsereet bGi
brave fellow, he may be yet tor ought know.
FEMALE PRISONERS.
Adjoining our room, in nom By themselves
we're three female prisoners, One IA Ass Belle
Underwood, living in Augusta, Ga } hss been
eeDfincd twenty months 10 give testimony
against her lover, q ConfsdeIAse lieutenant
charged with couBteTfsiting Confederate notes.
! The lieutenant is ia another room In the prison
The second was discovered sInOBg the soldiers
on Belle island, in the gaise OF q seldieF. Sbe
comes nom Hsine, reports give it thss sbe came
10 tha wars because her lover did; that she
teugh. brsveiy in many battles; that she Wal
promoted 70 = sergeant and that it was not und
after her arrival IN Riehm md, IS q prisoner o.
war, that her sex beeAms known. Charged viii
being q spy is the accusation On which tho third
one was brought 70 Cas- le Thunder. She L
young, WITH keep black eyeg, apEightly u be-