The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-11-26

III cl u Clll vi - 80
died. These figures to a practical mind
speak %elouucnIly OF mlsmanagcmcnt, or
worse, somewhere and BY somebody. Nca-
son as we may the stern iaGt ina uhpse
To ascertain at whose door the responsibility
lies is one of the principal objects or invest.
iSatiOn, and has proved TO be by iar the hosI
difficult branch of 1t. | Will arrange such cv-
Ideucc as has been obtainnble as Is most con.
Ecnicnt to uIl-first that against the road ana
then the rcbuttinS, ana other
Drs. Taylor, TreZcvant ami Pope ana Gch.
Lipscomb all agree in charging In effect that
the excessive mortality among inc coHNlcI'
was attributable to
TIE NEGLIGENCE AMI ILL-TtEATMENT
of those having them in charge. Those gcn-
tlcmcn visited the StuckadcS during tic latter
part Of last summer and the carry Elll, anu
their reports to the Board OI Directors, charge
that unsuitable buildings FOR sicrpiilS' Dhu
sanitary arrangements, insufficient iooh ANA
bad water caused many OF the dcalns.
Charges have also been made by various par
tics that the convictS were hhGltutiIy over
worked, underled, badly lodged ana ciothcu,
inhuinanly whipped and beaten, ana scncr-
ally treated In n manner dlSgracciul 10 hu-
m;nity and civilization. All, Or nearly all,
OF these charges are denied By the authorities
of The road, who give theories OF their own 10
account for the death rate: inc dispute mas
charges and countcr-churges ana criminal
tiunS and recriminatiOnS, 1orclsI 10 The issue.
With these we have nothing todo. Tue Iact
being admitted that the mortality was unu-
sual. the only question for consideration is
who, If anybody, Is to be blamed Tor II, ana
to what extent. The only question Is that OF
TIE sToCKADEs.
The location OF these / have already dc,
scribcd with sufficient accuracy for practlcal
purposes. They were invariably oullt con.
v%enicntly to water, and at some point III ABOUT
the centre OF the section of road to be worked
on from them. The first one l visited was
No. 3, on Nj. Pattcrson'S place, near porn
gold mine, and It's construction being SlnillnI
to those Of the others, Il description OF u VIII
generally suffice Tor all. The yard Is large
one, surrounded by n high icnce, and ut one
end stands the building IN which the con ylcts
were quartcrcd. 1t Is in appearance q long
log house, with Il roof pitched ulSproporLioh
atcly low to its size, and generally resemble
in appearance n stable. It is divided in the
centre by q passage about twelve lccL WHO
which forms the building intottwo coml'hrt'
mentS, one on each side, or more StrlcllS
speaking, it consists of two log houses con
nrcted by II roof and rear wall. The entire
structure being about sixty feet In length
each room waS about twenty-five feet long by
about the Samc width. The end OF the pass
age opposite the ENTRANCE was occupied oy I
large mud chimney. The entrance to the
rooms on eth cr side was through II door lci'
in the log partitions. The beds for the con
victs consisted of boards laid rom inc wall l'
II long cross beam, supported by upright posts
which ran from end to end. These board;
were about six feet In length, ana raised
about three feet from the ground. Under
Meath them, on the ground, boards were
placed edgcwise running also from emu u
end.
THE BOARDS FORMING TIE BEDS
were covered more or less thicxly with pine
or wheat straw, and the ground on the space
beneath them was covered with the same Nit
terial. The convicts slept In each q III
two rowS-One OH the boards above, and thu
! 81, n. 1,,pntb IN tho Ct RI ~ on tlp ground.
am informed that during most OF the time
during which they occupied this tockide th'
under.tier was also plankcd. The prisoners
were always shacklcd by two rings, one or
each ankle, connected by Il stout chain. Ir
the centre of this chain was Il small iron
ring, When put TO bed q long Chain wa:
passed through each Of these rings anI
through holes In the upright posts. This chair
rnn from end to end of each room, and altcl
being passed through the rings on thcsll;ckle!
and the posts the ends were securely LOCKED
on the outside of the walls through which
they were passed. The men on each tier were
therefore chained together by the feet, tho mp
pcr portion OF their bodies being free. ant
Slack enough being allowcd on the chain t.
enable each man 10 get out on the l!oor nnt
move about to the length OF his shackles
Thus secured, the doors to euch compartment
were locked and the men left for the night
The spaces between the logs were quite VIDE
but were thoroughly daubcd and closed witt
mud to within u few feet Of the roof, where
| tnG CRACKS were lclb Opcl. luSCLti'S 'luSS''
the chambers was not left free. About sever
feet from the ground small poles were lait
across close together so as TO form Il sort O
rough ceiling, and prevent prisoners VINE
might free themselves rom INC cha!n reacil
ing the roof or the open spices In the uppcl
portion of the walls. These measurement
arc not strictly accurate, being made Dy
guess work, but are sufficiently near to give ;
! very close idea of the arrangements OF TIT
s,ockadc. The building was protected on 1h'
rear and two sides by Il fence about fifteen fee
high composed Of upright logs. -Hear IT Wa
TIE HOSPITAL,
which Is q small log building, about u fee
by II, I should think, In the Interior. Arount
tie remainder Of the yard were several otllc
small log buildings used as guards houses
manning in the stOckade building proper wa
almost entirely pine, although Capt. Cnhii
states that this was used only Whcn whoa
straw could not be produced. The cracks II
the upper tier of berths were certainly litrs,
enough to ALLOW mnch straw to fall through
and cause great discomfort TO those beneath
The walls were all bluckened by smoke. Hi
stockadc, 1t will be remembered. had been IN
used for q long time when l visited IT Il icy
weeks auo, Various changes have been mad
In those ubscouently built, but tho genera
form IS preserved. In later s~tOcliadeS tn
bcrths have been ranged along each SIDE O
the rooms, the men being entirely removed
from the ground. Reference to the dutes q
arrivals will give the number OF men confinc'
in this stockade at different times. II wasot
upicd during the most OF July and August
1875, and January, February and March, lS7!
In 1t were the remains OF the first l?O convict
and 40 more received on the 9TH December
Capt. Cuhill states that from the 10Th Dcc"m
Der to January and February, 1917, ther'
were
los MEN CHARTERED THERE,
thirty-fvc being subsequently removed, how
ever, to other quarters. DIR. Pope, of &C
lumbia, made an accurate measurement q
the next stockadc built, No. i, on the Sa
vannah River, and found the compartment
to be twenty feet by twenty. The result OF hi
calculation was that the men occupying tina
building were allowed only sixty cubic fee
Of air each, whereas $40 cubic feet Is tn
amount stated by scientists to be the amour
requisite to health. The ventilation was ais
probably bad. 1t certainly must have been s.
in this stockadc. No., on account OF the cell
ing above mentioned, and the high.fcnce par
TALLY surrounding the building. The warn
air seeking egrcss through the cracks IN III
sides near the top would naturally be met b,
the colder atmosphere from without. chilled
and much of 1t sent back othc lower portion
OF the apartment laden with its impuritie
condensed. 1t must be recnllectcd that tn
men CHARTERED in these b~uildingswcre brough
from work Will the exhalations from thci
bodies stimulated by active exercise, tina
they were not particularly Clearly. that man!
of them were diseased and necessarily I'M
prcRnatcQ inc atmosphere DS tnelI very IcS
piration, and that they slept in the clothc
In which they constantly worked; foulct
this the one tub uscdby the men during TIN
night was an open wooden one which had Il
be slowly pushed along the line as 1t was re
quircd. The great prevalence OF bowel com
plants and diarrltGa during most OF the time
affords Il hint that need not further be en-
largcd upon. 1 have never had an opportu
nifty Of entering one of these places Mt nigh
when occupied, but 1t is easy to imagine tina
they could not have been very pleasant. Tit
water furnished the men for nights use w;A
also in an open tub, exposed 10 all Of the I'M
puritics of such an atmosphere. These arr
facts rs nearly rs they can be asccrtaincd ant
are, in the main, ~undisputed. In the matter
of general treatment, food, medical attend
ance and clothing, there are so many con
trary statements, that I shall give the cvi
dcncc. IL. b. w.
A REPORT UPON TIE SYST EN-
AND ITS WORKING-.SECOND
PART.