The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1866-06-29

one of the females
Madam, could you accommodate
me with dinner to-dayy
She paused moment, and | repeat
ed the question.
God knows, said she, and tears be-
/ gan to trickle down her cheeks, that
! would not turn a stranger and a
traveller away, but there has not been
an ounce Of meal or meat in the house
for five days; we and our children
have lived entirely, during that period,
upon boiled greens, with neither salt
not pepper
How many children have you?
asked.
Three, and this lady two more--all
small, rs you see. We have no way
to live; we cannot even get seed to
plant our gardens How we are TO
live, God only knows
Are your husbands dea1?'
Yes, both were killed in the army.
why did they go into the service?
All she said; 'ah they Ystayed out
as long as they could They lived for
two years in the mountains, but they
were finally taken and carried away
in irons, and both were killed just to
save some of those rich men
DO you never go down into the
valley plantations for aid 2 | inquired.
Yes, but what is the use 2 and with
emphasis she repeated, frhaf is the
USE They will do nothing for MS:
they tell us to go to work and help
ourselves, but what can such as we
do? With families to look after. how
can we earn n livelihood?'
But, I suggested, the people of
Tennessee, Kentucky at 4 the Yankee
States have contributed literally to
aid you
Yes, she responded, but we live so
far away. The nearest point at which
| can get anything is Guntersville,
which is twenty miles l will have to
carry 1t on by back, aud l am scarce
" able to walk alone; | tried to bor-
row Il horse down IN the valley. but
the man told me that he had other
business than taking caro- Of all the
paupers in the country, and | was
compelled to abandon all hope.
A woman Of seventy was the next
person ! addressed. had passed all
the huts for three miles, not desiring
to give ny nerves a second shock that
day; but on the road ] met an old,
decripid female clothed in worn
wrapper Of coarse domestic, carving
on her back sack, in which was half
a bushel of meal.
Madam, said l, you are wearied,
are you not? you are too old to carry
such load
L have toted it eighteen miles
clear from Guntersyille,' said she.
How far do you live from here 2
asked
Half nile
And you have carried this all the
way from Guntersyille; had you no
one to send .
No sin, said she; Il had two sons,
who lived with me, and two more who
had families, living near They were
all killed in the war, and the wife of
one OF them is dend, and | had to take
care of his four children, the oldest of
whom is eight years of age; l had to
carry this clear from Guntersville, or
starye
Is that part of the corn sent there
by the Yankees? | asked.
Yes, sir, God bless them the rich
people here told us they We're all
thieves, and villains, and murderers,
and they coaxed all my sons in the
army, saying their families should be
supported; but now / find the Yam
KEGS are kind men; they send us
plenty to eat, though we had been
fighting them these four or five years,
while the men who promised to sup
port us would not even give us a
scrap of bread even if they knew we
were starving II it had not been for
the Yankees God knows what we
should have done we should all have
died.
DO YOU ever come here and find
nothing to give out z
yes, sometimes; | know woman
MlO tUiiit NlAAttA ulttl iuNluS
lived three days without anything, as
she gave the small mite she had to
her children, and then got nothing,
and had to walk all the way home.
She has since died
Are there many cases of starvation
among your | next inquired.
why. yes; the other day woman
walked IL miles here for some food
for herself and four children, and she
got a peck of meal; but she was SO
exhausted that she died before she
got home. She was found by the
roadside aud barred, and the neigh
bors won't to her house and found one
of her children dead "
'Why don't the men como after
provisions q | asked.
'Why, there is not one man In ten
families. was the response; they
were all killed on died in the war. II
they had known that the Yankees
were so kind as they are, they would
never have gone into the Confederate
service.
LAUGHTER. Il don't like giggler,
this kind of laif is like dandylion, a
feeble yeller, and not a bit OF good
4. H.