The National tribune., 1878-03-01

horrible treatment and i'm short time hundreds of them
were placed In the grave The money they put IN crcu-
laon doubtless saved many mans life for 1t often fell
into the hands OF those who after experience OF eight
months of prison life, knew how to economize their little
funds, The thousands of dollars spent by them, while
they added few comforts to Others proved OF brief adj
vantage themselves and in the end they the
Of Fastening their unhappy fae for they could not easily
assimate to the habits of the other prisoners and died be-
fore they could become Injured the climate and fare OF
the prison believe state the truth in saying that be-
fore that fatal past two in three OF those two
thousand strong robust healthy men, that came among
us flushed with spirit aud hope slept their last sleep in
the prisoners grave at Andersonvllle and Mlien
tDArbY RoUTrNE.--noRkoBs OF rHE iRrsoN-HousE
The better to understand and appreciate the horrors
of the situation in which placed will take the
liberty introduce the reader into the interior of the
stoekade, and point out TO him the daily routine OF the
place, tog ther with the appearance of its inmates
We obtain our passes from Captain Wir2, and present
them at the south gate where they are examined by the
officer in charge of it, who pronounces them all right and
turns them to the sergeant with orders for adj
mission; he thereupon opens little wicket and we enter
Passing hrredy down the road cross the dead
line without hating lest the sentry may mistake us for
prisoners and fire upon where we come to halt and
take brief survey of the scene 1t is early morning. and
the first gray streaks of dawn lighting up the sky;
but the bright rays of the itself still below the hori
zon, to pass far our heads if to avoid con
tact with the oahsome objects around, birds said
to fly high above the whose bosom the cities of the
plain lie engued Before the huts of the prison
looking like little irregular heaps of black rags
hicy and in inextricabe confusion over the ground y
ing beside which human FORMS stretched at full length
upon the sand their upurned faces black with CRIME and
their naked bodies wet with dew; they lie in this unshel
tered because they have nothing to protect them
against the night Two tall stand in the corner off
to right. looking grmly down upon the pteous spec
tace Turning round left, eye passes rapidly
the low white belt of fog that stretches the
pen from west to east where lies the swamp from which
those sleeping beings draw their water quench their
burning thirst cleanse their filthy garments beyond the
fog family continuation OF the irregular heaps
which had attracted attention at first and the dim
outline of the wall whose top the sentry stands with
seepless eye his long musket cleaning in the breaking
light like bar OF polished silver In the dim perspect
we descry the skeleton roof of long low building
the northwest extremity of the yard but its outline is
faint to be examined from ont Within the walls,
strip of unoccnpied ground, few yards in width,
stretches around the whoethe inclosure made by the
dead ne-ind TO tread upon is DEATH The damp
ing mist upon the place the air grows from
the ascending sum- and the view is shut out from
eyes.
Treading lightly lest disturb these slumbering be-
ings whom it would be cruel to bring back misery from
the bssfu unconscousness into which they have sunk
let examine the hus before The first that
eye formed by fastening long strips of cloth together
with wooden pins which is then stretched across couple
of poles that placed with end upon the ground the
other resting upon bank of sand aborousy raised few
feet high by the hands, it open like treis work. and
black with smoke and dirt and affords covering only in
spots the wretched beings lying beneath it, Further
is another style habtationfor these things contain
all the household goods of two three This
ssts of but two parts short pole set upright in the earth
and piece Of blanket stretched over it. Next to this is
hole scooped out in the sand in which the owner while
lying upon his side have support for his back and
here half dozen nearly naked lying with their
faces turned from each other like pigs; but into it the
rain sometimes settles, and drives the unfortunate
pant the petng Another form of the burrow
is an improvement upon this primitive habation-three
four have joined together in excavating beneath the
surface first digging hole three feet in depth, of
the size of their bodes and afterwards scoopng out the
sand right angles it, into these they crawl and
protected against the heat and storm but the fine parti-
ces Of which the roof is composed becoming detached
upon the slightest jar drop down in their faces threaten
ing to smother them in their sleep Here find another
hut this has been built with adobe formed from blush
clay that found the swamp With much labor
and patience the poor fellows have nodded the materials
with their hands and dried them in the Three walls
have been built three four feet high and slightly in
cning toward the centre which they have stretched
old shirt which can be made of more service here than
upon the owners shoulders
But of these shelters are OF higher grade of
comfort and inhabited by the acknowledged aristoc
acy OF the prison They constructed of slabs split
from pine logs which they had brought in from the
rounding forest during the time when the prisoners
permitted to hire guard so there with them. They
of sufficient size to accommodate men, and
fnrm cnmnlete nrntecnn aaainst the Haeather IhaA