The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-12-09

of tho apartment, levelled his musket
80 as to bar my way, saying as he
did So
eye carnt pass yere, sir. Ye must
gwo round by the wall"
This drew my attention to the spot,
and I noticed that space, about fifteen
| feet square, in the centre Of the room, and
directly in front Of the sentinel, had been
recently dug up with spade. While in
| all other places the ground was trodden
to the hardness and color of granite, this
spot seemed to be soft and had the red
dish-yellow hue of the "sacred soil. +"
Another sentry was pacing to and fro on
the other side, so that the place was COM
pletely surrounded! Why were they
guarding it so closely? The reason flashed
upon me, and I said to Turner
II say, how many barrls hes ye in
thar"
"Enough to blow this shanty TO-"
he answered, curtly.
81 reckon! Put'em thar when thet fel-
ler Dahlgreen was a-gwine to rescue 'em
the Yankees }"
81 reckenl"
In this room, seated on the ground, or
leaning idly against the walls, were about
a dozen poor fellows who the Judge told
me were hostages, held for similar num-
Der under sentence OF death by the govern
ment. Their detected, homesick look, and
weary listless manner disclosed some of
the horrors of imprisonment.
"Let US go on" 1 said, to the colonel !;
81 have had enough of this"
"No; you must see the up stairs, " said
Turner, cit amt so gloomy up there: -
It was not so gloomy, for some little
sunlight did come in through the dingy
windows; but the few prisoners in the up.
per rooms had the same sad, disconsolate
look as those in the lower story.
1t is not hard fare or close quarters
that kills men," said Judge Ould to me !;
"it is home-sickness, and the strongest
and the bravest succumb to it first"
In the sill of an attic window found a
Mimic ball. Prying it ont with my knife,
and holding it up to Turner, said:
$50 he keeps this room fur shootin'-
galley, does he?'
YES" he replied, laughing. "The
boys practice once in a while on the Yam
KEGS. You see, the rules forbid their COM
ing within three feet Of the windows.
Sometimes they do, and then the boys
take pop at them"
"And sometimes hit 'em? Hit many
on 'em?"
"Yes, heap
We passed long hour in the Libby, and
then visited Castle Thunder and the hos
pitals for our wounded. | should be glad
to describe what l saw in those "institu-
tons, but the limits of my paper for
bid it.
1t was FIVE O'Clock when we bade the
Judge friendly good bye, and took our
seats in the ambulance. As we did so he
said to US:
81 have not taken your parole, gentle
inen, shall trust to your honor not to
disclose anything you have seen or heard
that might operate against US in military
way"
You may rely upon us, Judge; and
some day give us a chance 10 return the
courtesy and kindness y"u have shown to
Us. We shall not 70. get it
We arrived near the Uhion lines Just as
the sun was going down. Captain Hatch,
VITO had accompanied us, waived his flag
as we halted near grove OF frees, and a
young officer rode over to US from the
nearest picket station. We dispatched
him to Gen. Foster for a pair of horses,
and in half an hour entered the Genersl's
tent. He pressed us to remain to dinner,
proposing to kill the fatted calf" for
these my sons were dead and are alive
again, we're lost and are found"
We let him kill it, Gt tasted wonderfully
like salt pork, and in half an hour were
on our way to Gen. Buffers headquarters.
OUR FOREIGN AND DOM ESTlC
| CONMEF Gle.
Statement of the Secretary of the
Treasury.
From the New York Journal of Commerce.
Statistics prepared in answer to resolu-
tions of Congress, calling upon the Secre-
tary Of the Treasury for information in
regard to the carrying trade, steam ton
mage, &C., have just come from the hands
of the public printer. The following is
an abstract:
The portion relating to foreign COM
merce furnishes statistical analysis of
the course of foreign trade for the last
fifty years, designed to show how the large
carrying fade which fell to our hands be-
fore the close of the last century was al
lowed to fall away and be lost, so that we
are not now even the carriers of our own
productions to their foreign markets. It
is shown that the invasion of foreign ship
ping into our business, though sometimes
considerable, about the time of the war Of
1912 did not take permanent hold until
1882 and 1888, after which time it made
steady progress until it constituted nearly
half the shipping engaged in foreign trade
in 1860. From 1921 to 1880 the average
amount of foreign tonnage entering our