The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1880-10-07

@- - -platcu III lIAn vi BnHi u cIu
a.rLt, occurred a. stated; the description in many
at.'+-l Is being taken Verbatim from my journal notes,
-,.r At even tate H. As
SIT Ist.-Capt. w. IL. Stewart, OF the
~ 1,uth Carolina Regt., was YESTERDAY
I'D IN a dungeon at the Fort, on some
tense of Retaliation for the c%onfine-
.nf Of All Illinois captain at Richmond, or
me- tEyeat of combining him. 1t is very
Tnbtfll if the threat was fulfilled because
rL;Ie Mr.. Davis Is not slow TO issue stately
LIMITATIONS of the Yankee atrocities
lied with threats of retaliation he is
,C~a to allow the affair to die away and
m. - nought. Whereat the Yankees i'm
,"jiately make the talk Of Retaliation an
'y.use Tor duplicating their original cruelty
H. FINISHING some helpless prisoner in pr0c-
.?:,lI | et1bttton for our paper Retaliation.
R,br Our proclamations are like the
hats of a BOBBY school boy, who an
srers an affront by yelling-"Now you kick
me mother time will you and if kicked
= mother time cries-"you better not do
il no more.
WoIFE came in and ordered the Sentry on
he roof of the shed at the rear, whence
ri Jones was shot, to allow no more than
fonr prisoners at a time to come to them.
mi, is shameful cruelty. All night long
,bar, are dozens of half clad, trembling and
dahS6ta,ed prisoners, kept standing along
,be v,lks, exposed to cold and rain and ex-
cruciating pains. Any one who knows the
dreadful effect of the vile stuff given US for
food and drink especially the latter-may
he able to comprehend the unnecessary
cruelty of this order.
Ereninq.-.A terrible storm of rain and
sleet is prevailing; SO dark is the sky | can
barely see to scribble these lines. 1t seems
-oI,bla RI our Sontharn lHoaS of olI"afa
that this is actually only the fifth day of
September. Yet I've suffered more than on
many u winter day in the army. The bar
racks are open as a saw mill there is no
fire: the icy rain and sleet rattles through
the troad c~revices, and sits Down through
the ventilating holes; and we are every one
chilly, restless, miserable If this be Sep
tember, what can we expect for October,
November, and January? | doubt if many
of us survive the winter!
Sept. Sth.-Did you ever know the feel
IN Of being too hungry to sleep, to sit still
Tor moment, or keep your thoughts off the
thought we take of our daily condition in
culinary life for it needs but a little negli-
.cnce, a few days of starvation, to throw the
whole machinery of life out of gear
During the past week have learned several
lessons In physical laws. Our allowance of
daily food is barely sufficient to sustain life
at its lowest ebb; and when the ratlOns are
depleted by being too rotten or rusty to be
bJrne by any stomach, the prisoners become
almost famished. | was to-day unable to
breast the wind which blew through the
sally-port, at the cook house, and would
have fallen but for the stouter arm of Lieut..
\. T. BARLEY, of Orange, Va, who caught
HE as | staggered towards the ditch. 1t is
,,a tho mipl 1S nEa q hurricane ON this
island.
1t should be stated that many of us-per
haps all of us-believe that no small amount
of the rations allowed us by the Federal
Government, meagre as it Is, sticks to the
hands Of those who furnish the provision !;
then another portion sticks to the hands of
the prison officials; finally a considerable
portion is stolen by the cooks and the ser
leants who control the cook houses, and
make large sums by selling extra rations"
To those officers who can purchase. Some
Of the officers buy one or more extra rations
daily the cooks pretending they sell their
own rations and live upon suffers goods.
But that, of course, is fudge! No one &C
q~uainted with the circumstances can doubt
mat We OF the poorer prisoners are robbed
to furnish a surplus to be sold to our more
fortunate comrades. [ might say more on
This topic, but suffice it to remark that a
little consideration for we who are starving
on two crackers and a mOrsel of meat twice
d day, would restrain these officers from ell
couraging the thieves by buying of them.
Alas how much of seltishness and thought
~l>sneSs Is developed by army life, and above
all by prison lite!
Sept 10th. An officer suffering from sore
eyes, took a cupful Of water from the tanks
to battle his face, whereupon the Yankee at
the fence yelled at him, and kept HIM under
aim OF his musket until a corporal came and
marched him OFT to the guard house Yet
who could blame the poor man for not wish
ing to bathe his eye in the salty scum that
oozes through the bitches, and is so full OF
waggle-tails that you cannot dip up a wash
basin of the stuff without lifting millions OF
them! Indeed | feel disguised every time
| wash my bands in it. The stencil is
nauseating and the effect of the briny ele-
that after performing ablutlOns one feels as
II he had merely dampened his face with a
greasy rag. 1t may be said these are small
matters to note In my journal but they are
not too small to make us very wretched
How long for a tub of real fresh water
Much has been said of the Andersonvill
prison, but there, Decides springs, is a
strong stream of running water.
Sept. l7h.-Maj. Mills, Captains Stew.
ART %I'ozler, Bailey, Brown, and Briefly,
again carried to the Fort on some trumped
up charge of Retaliation" This thin. is
accountable. Though, for my part. | should
ENJOY being in more retired quarters thar
these. 1t Is a great annoyance to have sc
many noisy men constantly around you,
Win never a single moment of privacy. !
often wish with all my soul | were an her
NIT atar III the recesses of some forest wild.
Where no sound of coarse voices, no sight Of
lien IN their half naked condition, picking
cur
Sept. 24th--The Federals are firing their
Dig guns at the fort in honor of Sheridan
victory IN the Valley. The officers are also
settlng drunk as they invariably do on oc
Vasioh OF a success over our troops as if il
were SO extraordinary a thing to whip a
Teak and worn out man half your size
TT "a Better save your gunpowder
mere is more fighting to be done yet
ScSeI5heless, I'll whisper to you, oh, famil
al ana non hetraVinp a Of INV so.r