The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-12-09
A STORY ABOUT LIBBY PRISON.
a "Tnnkee Trick" which Caused n Confed-
crate Sentry To Stniie.

"Ynnkoe Trick" which Caused confed-
crate Sentry to S,n!ie.
Captain Joseph Wingfed, an ex.mem.
Der of the City Council Of Richmond,
tells story of the time when he stood
sentinel around Libby:
$50, the old prison is sold, is it?o lie
said, "Well. gentlemen, never no by
that place without laughing, nov. { can t
help thinking of the cute trick PLAYED
by n lot Of yankees there. The fact is il.
WAS so good that, although I had been
ordered to shoot in among them. I dis.
obcyed orders. 1t was about '63, and
the Libby building was so crowded that
IT wouldn't hold any more prisoners, so
they put large lot of them in the second
story Of the building across tho street.
officials got Il large lot of sweet potatoes
Irregular yams) from North Carolina. and
stored them on the first floor of the build.
ing in which those prisoners were CON
iincd. Zig sweet potatoes wcrc luxuries
lows kept a strict watch over the building,
can toll you. The third dny after thew
had heen slowed away twas noticed that
they were disappearing at the ratio of
about hushel day. At first
it was thought that the rats took
them, but second thought showed that
the idea was absurd. Sentinels were DOS.
ted NIL around the building with orders
to shoot any, man they caught stealing
those yanis, but they didn't see anybody
to shoot, and although they were posted
there day and night, and no one were al
I'm IL. A
potatoes were kept, they continued to
disappear at the rate of n bushcl day.
The Contederatcs saw their yams disap.
pearing in this way, and were furious.
The thing was All unncoountable mystery.
The doors and windows of the room, were
sealed and private marks were put on
The wax. so that if any one of them was
opened it wOald be known. The next
morning the officers went into the room.
The wax WAS NIL right, but another BUSH
ell of potutoes had vanished. Well. sir.
II was the maddcst crowd You ever saw.
my stand i'll the room. They locked mo
in, and lighted candle was put ut each
end of the room SO that could see.
was ordered to shoot on sight anybody /
saw stealing those yams. 1t was terribly
'O'SSCihS III titC iObitt OuSL Is idSL III
would light one candle and go to the
ONE: cad 6: tie room 10 light the other
the rats would cut the frat one down.
a candle WAS godsend to them. after
and sat down near the door waiting for
developments. There l stayed tifl 12
o'clock /; but though l kept my eyes OF
the potatoes all the time, couldn't sec
any of them going. Shortly after tweivy
heard creaking, grating sound, which
seemed to be all over the room at once.
| cooked my gun and held my breath,
but still l couldn't gee any sign of life
BY George! / thought, this darned
place is haunted, if there is any such a
thing as place being haunted The
after it began again. Hooked atthe pile
shoot from the ceiling and fall on them.
saw it was brick, and could distin.
guish rope tied to it. crept little
nearer to get good look at the thing,
but before | could examined it, it was
drawn slowly up, and there were about
n peck of yams sticking to it. It went
up through hole which had been cut
in the floor above, and presently came
down again with thump right among
the potatoes. 1t was the most artful
arrangement you ever saw. The brick
had about fifty holes drilled in it, and
through each hole sharpened tenpenny
nail had been run, 80 that when the brick
fell among the Sams, tho nails stuck into
every one they fell on. couldn't help
laughing at the smart dodge those Yam
KEGS had taken to get at the vans. I
gently put my hand forward and caught
hold of the rop,. Pretty soon they began
to draw on it, an' hen it did not move
heard one fellow say Steady boys
the bricks hung in something. Pull her
steadily without ierkng.' They did pull
steadily, and fairly lifted me up from the
floor. No jerk, easy, boys, casy,' the
director said, and they tugged away. /
got pretty red in the face. Holding to
the rope. was afraid 10 let 90, because
thought some of those spiked nails
might strike me in passing. thought Of
my pocket-kDife, and hauled it out just as
they were putting all their weight on the
other end Of the rope. I cut it in two,
and the end shot back through the hole
in the ceiling, and could hear rolling
and tumbling on the floor above, showing
that the sudden giving away Of the rope
had disastrous effect. / heard another
voice say: There, now, told you so.
You've broken the rope. We've lost our
brick, and tomorrow we'll be found out
Then another voice called out: Cant you
see it? We might hook it up NextI
saw long neck protruding through the
hole, and a fellow peering down. Tnen
I called out: If you trouble any more
of these potatoes I'll shoot That
fellows head shot back through that hole
just like terrapin, aud it was as still as
death up There. hated to tell on them
because it was such sharp scheme OF
foraging on the enemy, but had to.
When the officers went up next morning
to examine the room il took q. long time
to find the hole. Those Yankees had cut
i. ioio about /" ivot square through the
floor, hud ii wus done 30 neatly thatit
took good eyes to discover it. That was
where the officers yams went to-"
- There is more building going on in