The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1869-05-13


On Saturday morning there came up
on the General Lytle; from Louisville,
a company of colored psupers, on their
way to- the Freedmen's Hospital at
Washington, there to receive medical
treatment. I'S Avis Rs
1t was about 4 o'clock in the morn
ing, and in the midst Of cold drizzling
rain, that the boat touched the landing.
Early as it was, however, and dismal as
was the weather, three Or four hackmen,
were shivering on the wharf-boat, and
a stray expressmap was waiting to earn
a little money. Stepping on the boat
as she rubbed against the shore, we
asked deck, hand if company Of
Freedmen was on board; and was d.
rected to seek for them in the back part
of fthe lower deck. So, cropping among
the huge beams and the fiery furnaces,
by the hammoeks swung for the crew,
through the midst Of terrible stenches,
past theguards, where stamping horses
were standing, we came at length, in
that part Of the boat which is always
assigned to the poorer class of passen-
gers, upon company Of otnegroes hud-
died about a little stove glowing with
fervent heat, the scene lighted up by a
single lantern, which was swung from
an immense crossbesln. The place was
intolerably close and suffocating. Even
the air that came through the slide
doors became vitiated and poisoned as
soon as it reached the pen where the
suffering ones were gathered. So
overpowering, indeed, were the foul
odors, so terrible the atmosphere, that
men who came back to arrange for the
transportation of the company, were
literally compelled toretire to the bow
of the boat, nauseated and sickened by
the loathsome sights and horrible
stenches 1t was in such air as this
that thirty mine people, every one sick,
some of them dying, had been kept for
twelve or thirteen hours. Mattresses
had been provided for a halfdozen, but
most Of the company had sat through
the long hours of the weary night on
boxes or stools. 5..q ,.ss,s i' B"o ,-..-s b
From a list whichahas been furnish
ed, we learn that these persons had
been, all of them, slaves All but one
had been born into slavery. Their ages
ranged from ~ to 119 years, All but
FIVE of them had been owned by Ken
tuckians, The terms of theifservitude
ranged from 8 to ilOyears. Every one
was sick, suffering, many of them, from
terrible diseases--some from incurable
ones. Idiocy, sorealegs, consumption,
necrosis ofshOulder, blindness ,scrofula,
prolapsus uteri, lunaoy, fits, dropsy,
female complaints, rheumatism, old age
these are some ofthe diseases W hiCh
are placed against their names. The
table contains, besides, some statistics,
and a little calculation by which we are
informed that the total number Of. years
these persons have served as slaves is
,485. The value of their labor to
their old owners is estimated at 500
per year each, making an aggregate of
$148,500 which these persons earned
for those who held them "a .ii,5 !.
Thus much the tables, prepared with
professional exactness and statistical
brevity, inform us. The political econ
omist will satisfied With these fig
ures for to him they will tell plainly
enough story of terrible wrong, o.
awful crime, of fearful responsibility
To the mass of readers, however, they
can convey but the most meager i'm.
preston Of the shocking scene which
met the eyes of the spectatorwhO stood
in the midst of the company. " ass. , :
| One man was sitting on box-ter'
ribly ruptured, and suffering besides
with necrosis ofthe legs and shoulder
! He had not been able to walk for foul
years. But with an endurance only
less than God .likeDheIsst. nocomplaint
no murmur passing bis lips. Close BY
his side, on the floor of the deck
croucheda a man, forty years old, de
formed from his birth, and blind be
sides. His eyeballs, frightfully infam
ed, were standing out from his head
and at every movement of the lids ]
seemed as If the blood gushed forth
One could think of nothing else, as hi
lids opened and closed, than the draw
ing Of file over the protruding balls
Near these two men was third
quadroon-far gone with consumption