, 1866-02-24
MISCELLANY
From TIE independent.
RELICS OF ANDERSONVILLE.
Clara Barton. I.a Her Work Of Mercy.
BY FRANCIS u. CAGE.

- q p'iht oet WI tti'o }iOoi - q oNitii
in Washington. y. c.. | iii me 1own to pm
,hi. Letter. No mirror. flash back hight or
beauty from these will, no YundyEcr. ltnpha-
els. or lsubrns create envy in the bcso,n Of the
pn>s,r-by. lts plain. cheap carpet. us chairs. liz
,nbles-fo Tor use. not ornuincnt- wear no gorge
Gus coverings. but bear The bu,thtns OF days
toll and i.isht, Of watchli:; and wcarincss, III the
foIu. OF lcdsers. and boxes filled with Document.
,hni have be n The coiuasc. every one Of them,
0! aching hearts.
Yond,r. III the corner, is Q cabinet. a fsw
plum board shelves are set against The wall, con
tanning the mos, unique, priceless treasures in
the world. No costly gems glitter there no cx-
Qr:!s,te shells from the depths Of the sen entrance
with their s~plctllor Of color and form no birds
with snudy plu,nu,c rc,Eind Is of natures mag
n,iicrncc in some fAI.oiE Isle CT The ocean. Nay,
oh yes. put bnck your tears. Cease. thrubhing
heart. your painful pulsations. while l tell tie
story u, best can.
Cor!r nrnrc1-lct US TOOL: ut these things.
III" bits Of tin, perforated with holes. were once
bottoms aud si!y. &: c"n;ySi.s, 81 oyster cans,
grown old and rusty with use. gathered up by
~ca:y hand, and pierced By M !, To make Stoves
through which To pass the me-. made Of corn
ground cob and ALL" which farmcd the ta,ions
Of our soldier prisoners NJ understandable.
These rusty oyster cans, with II bail Of old
wire rudrly adjusted. were the kettles in WHICH
gathered the bones. aud rcboilcd them 10 make
soup. those paddles. soilcd and gril. ~ tie
handles aud secured at the base with constan,
use, stirred the coarse meal and water together
into mush for starring men. Those splits q.
wood. woven together like chair bottoms. were
the plates they asc'i.
See you thssr little wooden t-oushs, whitfield
with Il jack.knifr, Ecash. tiny, some not hold.
ing u halls pint They held the mrusrc meal
when cooked. These re the Spoons Of wood
that conveyed the lon;hsomr foud 10 ,hrir lam.
,,llcd lips. These cnN's'-huInS. wrought into
dr.nkins.cups these lille tubs Of chips Of wood
hooprd acout with tow.strings. rived the same
purpose. One oyster can. Tor which no bail
could be found. hasn strip Of TN Gu, from the
top with short, nurrow bus for hinges. and thus,
rs u kettle for cooking. wa, made to do It's no.
Die service.
These li;tle bits of bo:rt,! Some careless, un-
taught eye might haze AXE them for kindliuy-
wood. AS now wiitc | ask myself, is The
theory that spirits Of the dead lingcr around the
scenes OF JOY or sorrow they knew in this life II
true one II SO, how many thousands ARE look
my down this night n, tie thoughts thu, an,
tracing With MY pen! Those bits Of scaullinr,
broken, uiplanr,l. five inches wide, and Two or
three feet lbng. are fragments OF the +" dead line .
1T Anders0nvi!lc. He who, starved. maddrncd,
reckless, preferred death 10 continual torture,
had put to pass this brittle boundary to be ush-
cred Instantly into the presence OF Him who has
said, " Vengeance is mine | will repay"
Tha, board leaning in the corner. will its
black figures " GOO" at the top. is the head.
board which Wlrz-hc has gone 10 his account
Will use no AdJcctivcs with his nanc -suilcrcd
Ia he placed where one dear and nearly akin 10
her wh" gathered the relics was laid away in that
,as, cemetery Of murdered men.
7,6O6! Can you realize it, Seven thousand
six hundred and six prisoners, who, starved,
scorchcd III the burning sun, n,ldcnrl, hopeless,
prayed for death, and found in their shallow
graves surrrasc from anguish. And 1905 is
scarce half. On, on, on,-up, up, up 20 The NUM-.
~ y l-to-S, liitt Hdfc pctli toliilu, TecDSfllZcu,
and marked. Oh! God Of mercy, i, there, can
there BE- produced suc!, another record of the re-
suits Of slavery as this.
But let us look further. These bavoncts were
picked up in Tia, Golgo,lia. aud this lctrcr.box.
INTO which thousands, aye. tens Of thousands,
were dropped, bu, came not 10 gladden. the on.
pressed Ltarts Of friends, Perhaps NJ five pieces
Of timber were ever nailed together that have
inclnscd 81 many tales Of distress, or So few of
happiness or joy rs these.
THIS IS the WORKOUT stump OF n hickory
broom. with viii ii the skeleton hands tried 10
keep clean this Il ball from one Of the many
guns that were mounted on the seven forts sur.
rounding the prison. a parolcd prisoner asked
of Wirz, one day What will you do with us if
Shcrman's army comes to the rescue y
by tam puts you in the slockade, | turn
dc guns Oh yon, and blow dc brains out Of every
tim one"
But let INC stay this fearful record, and tell
how these things came to he here in Washington.
Hiss Clara Barton. in whose little parlor ! found
them, brought them with he: on her return from
her expedition to Andcrsonvillc, where she wcn,
BY request OF Secretary Stanton. in company
with James Moore. a.. @. NJ TO inclose the
grounds # the AnlrrsOnvillc crrlctcry, and TO