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

III ts
eral -"Died of Meanncss" The
Kindness of the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
and Conclusions.
After visiting Mr.. Patterson, rs described In
the SECOND part of this report, visited Mr.A
b. Kennedy, who Is n director or the roau,
and introduced nIysclfto him. He had never
seen any rough trcatmento OF c0nvlcts. IwclVe
were 1T work ut one time for q week on the
grade Immediately In front OF his house, ana
ne WAS positive that lie had never seen Capt
Cahill Strike but one man, II that. IhouSnt
they had n plenty to cat aud were clothed
very well. Did not think they were worked
too hard. Knew that they were
ALLOWED TO a OFF
in the shade during the day If taken sick ut
work. Did not think they had us hard ntline
~ the general run Of soldiers in the Conlcde-
rate army.
Mr. Kennedy had some theories regarding
the causes Of the mortality, such MS previous
Iy weakened conditions, &c, but he not being
q medical man l did not think 1t worm Whlle
to note them. lie seemed somewhat disposed
to sheer at those Of his nciglbors who hnd
spoken unfavorabiy OF the treatment OF inc
convlcts, intimating that they we're either
"illiter.tc,' Enthusiastically or cStrnvnsnntly
sympathetic In disposition.
Along the line OF the road IN TINS nelghbor-
hood tile settlement IL very thick for some
distance. hardly half IL mile intervening be-
tween the residences. l talked with Mr.. Gn.
BILE, whose house fronts the road: he Snid
lie had frequently passed the convictS while
ut work Oh the road near him. ltilu never
SEEN ONE STRUCK
n click" They seemed to he we'll clothed.
lie had seen them lying or during the day IN
the shade. There WAS much talk III the nelGh'
borhood about ll-treutmcnt, but lie tad new
or seen 1t, and regarded the reports rs being
much exaggerated. 49,,
Mr. Ethrcdgc. who keeps Il store near the
rpub f1,pIpht thn pnnylUtS were generally
very we'll treated while under his obserra-
tiun. Thought the railroad would be II great
help to the people about there when com
p.ctcd.
MIR. Frank Cooks house IS also near the line
OF the road. He had frequently observed the
cOnvicts while ut work. Did not think they
| were worked too hard. They generally got
to work before sunrise and left before sunset.
Rested from IN hour to M hour and q half In
the middle OF the day during the winter anu
seemed to have
a LEN TO FAT
Of bread and greens and bacon. The convicts
had the same bread us the guards. That
look cd very coed, except that 1t was rough
on the outside as If II had been baked OH
bricks. Had never seen much whipping OIL
conylcts, although HE guards and overSeers
used Il strap on Them sometimes. One little
fellow seemed to catch most Of the whipping
that he saw. Saw no sticks or guns USED IN
beating. The convicts' clothes seemed Il little
Ln1I. anu IIcS ustu W lOoN NolNl
until they warmed up by their work. Fires
were builtn near them in the winter. Had seen
some being carried back from the work
sick.
borhood, had only visited the conricts three
times to his recollection while they were at
work on the road, but the result OF his obser.
vatinns generally confirmed those or Mr..
Cook. He had seen one man whipped, NOT sc,
vcrcly. Hud seen some OF them loaf1ng on
while work was going on. Asked Capt. Cahill
about them, and he replied that those fellows
were sick, and he only made them 90 what nc
thought they could. Did not regard inc work
as being too severe.
Mr.. Evans, a farmer living ut Trick-'em,
near the line of the road. had frequently seen
the convIcts at work. almost every day. New
or saw them get anything worse than u strap
ping, and that not q severe one, DID not
think they worked ms hard as he did, and had
frequently said SO. Was strong friend OF the
road. ar,
Other persons with whom 7 talked In this
nciehborhOod made the same. general state
ments. There has evidently been loud COM
plant by some persons living back In the
country Of the treatment OF the conVlcis, Dut
| could not find them, one or two on WEom L
called being absent. On the road from Dorn's
Mine towards Augusta I only met one man
who seemed TO have observed the convicts at
work. He was q White man, evidently q lar
mcr, and thought the cOnvicts had been 100
hard worked and severely whipped, whl!e
III Su w = SoloiNA itti "i' '"' 49,
him said that the convicts were worked until
midnight every night, which, Of course, Is
false.
A zap occurs in the road through this coun-
try, and | could hear nothing OF convict labor
until | reached
TIE NEW STOCKADE,
No. G., into which the men nave only been
transferred very recently. After some trou-
BILE | found 1t in the woods about Il quarter Of
a milo from the main road. 1t is somewhere
in the neishLorloo4 Of ten miles from the
brush for some little time and watched the
proceedings. Only a few c~onrictS were NOV
ing about, 1t being J o'clock in the afternoon:
All wore shaclilcs. One or two were pGrched
on the root OF the stockadc shingling It, and
others seemed to be engaged In various odd
Jobs, cleaning up, &c. They seemed to be
working at about the SHINE rate as other
workmcnt Only one guard. n while man, was
his shoulder, but seemed to be allowing the
men togo very much ~ they pleased. AS |
emerged and passed through the yard, which
Is as yet unfinished, ti,e men on the rooi look
cd ut me sideways without any remission Of
their work, labor without cessation ha:tng
apparently become habitunl with them. The
guard promptly came forward, ana directed
me to where the work was In progress III the
road very politely, but seemed determined TO
keep n sharp eye on me nevertheless. a
march down the road OF what Is called a mile
and a half, but seemed fully three, brought
Inc 10 ~UcTC Tie TCllllllluCE VI IIC COilNiStof
some forty odd, were
AT WORK
They were on n section of the road where
Il deep valley IL to be spanncd by IN cinbank-
ment leading to q cut through the hill. In
this cut and cmbanklnent the men were nj
work, Il portion having emerged from tho
deeper cut, and being engaged In breaking
new ground. They were stretched across the
line OF road In two lines, the front ones
welding the picks and looScninG the earth,
and those in The rear throwing 1t to the one
side or tho other with their Shorels. | can
say conscicntiUusly that n Sturdicr looking
body of workmcn | never saw. one boy who
was handling Il pick was the only one who
seemed to feel the work much. y guard
stood near them with Il rife over his should
cr, and Il long, stout stick IN his hand. The
men worked constantly, only taking their
eyes from their tools TO give sidclonS looks
around. The strokes were what | would call
moderately rapid. I stopped and watched
them for n considerable time, and every
time the guard turned his back l could See
unmiStakaDic
SYMPTOMS OF SIIIRKING
among some Of the men, who would tax n
hare handful of earth I'm their shovclS, or lust
sink tho points OF their picks In The dlrt.
while | watched them, asked rcrnls-
sion tn stop for water, &c, and obtained II
nod Of consent, which they took advantage
of. returning speedily to work, however:
One man with n pick asked and obtained
permission to make an exchange WIN "
willl Ter Of tho shovel The work was Eelcr-
all, what would consider hard. but ccrluiE.
- f. .~~I -ta Venf If I