Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-11-30

II u, aSS IN. oOtynolt Ivy an
|, rAndtthe little man hustled about, pution
i his cap, gave few orders TO shis subordi-
,tnsies, and then led Us through another
i outside door into the prisons He was q
i few rods In advance with CeIopel jacques
when Judge Ould said 10 me:
! nYour prisoners have ebelied Turner.
You see he's not the hyena they've repre-
sented."
oaTm,not sure Of that I replied, .t'Th0se
bringing, mild .mannered men Pre the worst
sort oftyrants when they have the power"
"But yousdon't thinkih him tyrant I" q.
81 do. Hs's coward aud bully or l
can tread English. 1t Is written. al over
The Judge laughed bOis.srousIy, and
called Quito Turner. - EtaiIi
81 say, Major, our friend here Is paint
ing your portrait" ....g.,-,L ..
of me-" said Turner, in a sycophantic way.
<'No, he isn't. He's drawing you to the
lfe--as II he'd known you for half cen"
tury." ,sy .-s - n i-aIs
We had entered q room almost forty
feet wide aud hundred feet deep, with
bare brick walls, q rough plank floor, and
narrow, dingy windows, TO whose sash
only q few broken panes, were cliuging.
Arrow of itin.iwaShi basins, Land q wooden
trough which served as q bathing. tub were
at one end of it, and half dozen cheap
5toolh and hard, bottomed chairs were lit
tered about the floor, but it bad no other
tfurniture. And this room, with five others
of similar size and appointments. and two
Easements hoored with earth and filled
With 4e6ris, compose the lannon's Libby
Prison, in which, for months togetneFI
tka and
that ever went to battle have been allowed
tore and starve. -
AT the date Of our visit, not more than.
q hundred prisoners were in the Libby,
| its contents having recently been emptied
into worse sink in Georgia; but almost
constantly since the war began, twelve
land sometimes thirteen hundred OF our
officers have been hiVed within those half
dozen desolate rooms and filthy cellars,
with . space of only ten feet by two alot-
ted to each for all the purposes OF ltVingl
Overrun with vermtn, perishing with
cold, breathing q stifed, tainted atmos-
phere, no space allowed them for rest by
day, and lying down at night "wormed
and dovetailed together like hsh In bas-
ket"-their daily rations only two ounces
of stale beef and small lump of hard corn
bread, and their lives the forfeit, il they
caught but one streak of Code blue sky
thr6neli those filthy windows-they have
endured there ali the horrors of middle
passage. Ny soul sickeued as looked on
the scene of their wretchedness. II the
liberty Nc are fighting for were not worth
even 20 terrible priCe-tf IL were not
cheapIy purchased even with the blood and
agony Of the many brave and true souls
who have gone into that foul den only to
die, or to come out The shadows of men
living ghosts, condemned to walk the night
and 70 fade away before the breaking OF
the greet day that is eoming-who would
not cry ont for peace, for peace on any
terms7
And while these thoughts were In my
mind, the criuging, foul. mouthed, brutal,
contemplate rufian who had caused all
this misery stood within two PAGES OF me
l could have reached out my hand, and,
with half an effort, have crushed him, aud
~ did not do it! Some invisible Pow
er held my arm, for murder was in my
heart.
.aThis is where that Yankee devil,
Sueight, that raised hell 30 among you
down In Georgia, got out" said Turner'
pausipg before q jut in the wall OF the
room. "A Aue was here, you see, but
we've bricked it up. They took up the
hearth, let themselves down into the base
ment, and then dug through the wal, and
eighty feet underground into the yard OF .
deserted building over the way. II you'd
| like 10 see the place, step down with me-"
ave would, Msjor. We'd be right glad
ter" replied. adopting, at 0 hint from
the Judge, the Georgia dialect. -
We descended o rough plank stairway,
and entered the basement. ltwas damp,
mouIdy, dismal place, and even then-in
hot July weather-as cold as an icehouse.
What must it have been in midwinter!
The keeper led US along the wall to
where Streight aud his party had broken
out, and then said:
"Its three feet thick, but they went
through it, aud all the way under the
street, with only few case knives and q
"Wal, they .oar smart. But, keeper,
whar' was yer eyes all o. thet timer Down
4 our way, Of man couldn't see twenty
Yankees o wuckin' so far six weeks, by
daylight, in clar place like this yere, we'd
reckon he Wsrn't fit ter tend pen O. mig
The Judge whispered, "You're oyerdo.
ling it. Hold in" Turner WINGED like a
struck hound, but, smothering his wrath,
smilingly replied:
"The place wasn't clear then. It was
filled with straw and rubbish. The Yam
KEGS covered the opening with 1t, and hid
away among it when any one was coming.
III caught two Of them down here one day,
but they pulled the wool over my eyes, and
let them of with a few days 10 q dungeon.
But that fellow Streight would outwit the
devil He Waszthe most unruly customer
I've had in the twenty months I've been
here. Eput him in keep, time and again
but Inever could cool him down."
HWhar' is the keeps2n [ asked. "Ye's
got lots o. them, ha'nt yep
"No-only six. Step this way and I'll
show you."
"TaIk better English" said the Judge
as We fell, Rfew PAGES behind Turner on
!, Ithere are some schoOlmasters in Georgia.