Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-02-28

mp in rag. / repaired to the hacking
shop and had the Tow taken down, and
found the unslacked lime, and that the
cloth was considerably scorched by the
heat, and exhibited il in the Office to sever
al parties, also TO Hyatt and Moore.
Two weeks after the confinement of
EEans he sent for me and wanted 10 turn
States evidence, and gave me and Judge
Swiggart full account of the manner in
which they had constructed the match"
He stated that Cain, the pattern maker.
had worked along, and from time to time
had made box about ten inches square,
and obtained tin plate from the prisoners
dining room, and had fastened il 10 the
bottom Of the box by small nail, and had
driven three others 10 80 az 10 hold can
die. Hood had obtained from the paint
shop some benzine, with which they had
hlled the plate; then they scattered the
line shavings from the bucket factory over
the benzine, and stuck the candle in the
socket formed by the nails. Evans said thathe
got the candle FROM one Of the guard rooms,
and through the top Of the box they had
bored gimblet holes so "a to give il air.
Carroll kept il secreted about his work
bench he worked at the bucket lathe. In
the evening, Just before quitting work,
Evans had feined sickness and got off Of
duty, and obtaining a match he brought il
into the shop. Cain l;gged behind at night
and liz Tie match set the candle on fire
and showed the box in the shayings They
thought IL wOuld nat catch for an hour or
two later than il did They said If their
effort was a success 81 burning the entire
prison, that they wouid be able to make
their escape in the confusion. l should
have probably doubted this confession had
il not c5rrOhorated the Abatement Of Peter
son and Martin, and had ] not found the
lime, rag, etc. The fire occurred about the
middle of the building, aud when |
first arrived at the shops the FIRE was
small, and ifthere had been guard present
with bucket of water, il could have been
subdued.
The Lesses came promptly to the scene Of
the fire, and did what they could to stop it.
They rendered all the assistance they could
in every wgv.
The day guard in the cooper shop was
Furgerson, middle aged man, whom |
had turned of once, for negligence Of duty,
sleeping on hi- post, going ont TO a liquor
shop, leaving his post without any one 10
look after aud guard them, and hence !
discharged him. He was sent back TO duty
by Mr.. Hare one Of the directors. gave
Col. Doughty lmember of the House OF
Representatives a letter written by Mr..
Hare, chairman on former occasion, in
which he stated that | (llulD had turned
of a guard which had been set down
agsinst me Hull "a a witness, and that he
would not recognize my authority in no
such matter, hence ! accepted of Mr.. Fur
gerson, and placed him on duty.
The general character of the guards was
Of such a character that ! did not think |
they were serving the interest Of the State
or lessees. | could not help myself, and |
when the lessees wanted change l could |
do nothing for them.
The lessees complained of the character |
Of the guards, aud asked that they be |
changedh, wich was not done
There were no guards ia the shops at |
night 1t was the duty of the Office guard
Charles Hadslon was guard at that time) |
20 make the round of the shops and see that |
the fires were all extinguished, and also to |
make his round every hour and strike the |
bell. To the best of my knowledge he had |
performed the duty on the night of the fire,
If there bad been guard in the shop,
with proper effort, Le conld have extin-
guished The FIRE when il broke out, | think. |
There had been an attempt to FIRE this shop /
early in the spring, BY one Of the convicts. |
who threw some lighted fsgots into the
when he went into the shop in /
the morning TO make the fires the guard /
discovering ST when IL WIS not larger than
my hat, he threw water from a tub of
water, which it was customary to keep both
for drinking and TO meet similar accidents
and in addition to the tubs in the shops
there was large tank, which would hold
several hundred gallons, Immediately ont
side, and at the door of the second story,
which was full of water, bnt before
We could get 10 the ladders the fire
was so hot that we could not get to it
was Warden when the lessees came into
possession. All the machinery on hand was
sold to the lessees for 81 900, aud new ma
chinery put in entirely; as to its value i
am not able TO state; there were three or
four turning lsthes, planning machinery,
morticing machine, etc, and large lot of
material prepared for putting up, and
buckets, threshers, and large lot Of plows
and pillow material stacked up in racks
sawed out and stacked along outside Of the
building, nearly all of which was burned,
except one lathe, which was saved, all Of
which belonged TO the lessees. heard
that there was some insurance, but don't
know anything about il. don't think the
loss to the lessees could have been far
less than sixty or seventy thousand dollars.
The shops were two storys old and the
walls much cracked, covered with pitch
and gravel, but il was an old rattle trap Of
a concern, always leaking, and would have
necessarily had TO have been rebuilt before
a great while. cannot give an estimate
Of its value
Judge Swiggart agreed with me, and
thought that they should be punished Sc
verely, and wanted different punishment
imposed upon the prisoners. He said
hat they should be hung.