The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-06-30
Ms LAST FOURTH OF JULY!
How a Young exc onfederate
was Tortured to Death!


N1TE:-The near annroach OF anoth-
ar] annual D.v OF Patriptlc Parade.
Pautu !e.. aud Powder popping, re
call. 10 the writer a scene OF el.ht year.
ayp AMI A solemn resolution counecte !
Herewith. A., 4 part Of thIt sell Im
posed duty. the following statement +
printed. The preliminary extract Is
taken. rerJ1tim. from his Journal, pre-
els Is as noted with nervous pencil at the
date stated 1t may be best To mention
that the editor of the F,roie, and We
ch,aic. after being confined for about
a wear and an half, In the convict
yors shops. or silent cells at Albany
Penitentiary, was promoted Il the less
.rduous, but scarcely less harrass'ng
most Of steward of the Prison Hosplt>I.
located in the Man>ard roof of the IN IN
building. From this time forward ne
had The use of a pen. blank book. etc.
(which would not have been toleritei
in the cells. aud was necessarily allow
Ell 10 converse through only IN a low
tone, aud In respect u the ailments OF
the patients. There were often twenty
10 thirty or more IT these III the cots,
and among them several crazy convlct>,
whD were very noisy. AMI "a times dan
serous frequently breaklngthelr hand
cuffs aud ,eizing the first weapon within
reach.
These things make the writer slN
month experience in the P~enitentiary
Hospital quite "a unique IN many res
pect as the previous eighteen months
at hard labor" But the privilege OF
clean bedding, and clean clothing, with
the use OF writing materla! ami books
greatly overbalanced the d~l>contorts.
The explanation is made because some
persons acquainted with the routine OF
Albany Penitentiary might wonler now
the writer could have kept a Journal. or
ascertained the facts herein stated 1t
is, f.! trust, needless to adj that | would
not knowingly mlsstate any fact.
THE ONE-ARMED DEVIL
Extract from r. A. S~hotwolrs Prison J ournal
for 1879
''.Julg frst-serenth, incIastce The
past week has been among the most dis
tresslng of my experience here. Md
summer sickness OF n sort or another
has filled the long row OF cots and the
continual night watching, the suItry at
mpspherc, and the many irksome duties.
particularly those connected with the
Dying, the Dead, and the Lunatics.
have set me in a tiIgetty fever of wishing
| were back III my solitary cell, WHERE
at least one might have quiet, aud some
rest at night, and escape the discordant
distractions of this place. Yet | should
dreadfully dislike to take my old post in
the Shops. 1t is hardly likely that
He nth and Reason could hold out for
another eighteen months OF such tor
ment; standing from dawn TIL dusk,
voiceless, ~motlonless, with eyes perpetu
ally d~owncast, with the roar of wheels
and harmonieS deafening the ear, with
the dense dust of whirling machines
stirling the throat with a filthy negro
at one elbow, and an h~alf-crazv m n
derer al the other, and the brutal over
seer proving about like a Snarl cat,
and the black barber with one lather
brush for 800 nasty faces, -and-Ah!
anything were better than that! For |
should certainly kill some one ere the
six years end. And then -
However, it vas not of myself that |
began to speak. The event of the week
has been the death of young Oscar Bar
ry, the one armed Kentucky ''Guer-
rllla, of whom [ have made frequent
mention in previous pages. His re
mark as he entered the room --" We
come up here to die on your hands.
LII only trouble you about IL month
was fulfilled to the letter. 1t is a Won
dertul illustration of an old saying
when Hope dies the man is dead
had no idea Of Berry's real condi-
ton; although his appearance startled
me at first glance. He was about my
own < e,-certainly not past ? 7;-yet
his hair (which had been allowed to
grow during his i~llness) was white as
snow, and his whole frame seemed worn
and withered like that Of a totterlng
ce%ntennarian. Only his eyes from their
Suuken sockets, retained the look Of
youth, and their lustre was often that
of dawnlng madness. | felt much
sympathy TOR him, as a fellow South
erner, and fellow sufferer from Radical
malice and, after selecting for him a
pleasant cot where he could see a little
CLEAN OF sunshine, | whispered to him
that | also was m ex confederate, and
NAV I'll HUI 81 ItCDiC =,
but that d few days nursing would bring
him around all right, and that he must
not give way to gloomy apprehen-
slons. He snook his head YEARLY. and
said-'Its no use. I've held up for
seven years, its a long stretch when
you count the days aud hours. and Your
heart 5 OF fire all the time, aud I'm
about done for. You'll be bothered
with me for a month or SO; but before
Fourth of July comes, Berry will be out
OF their hands, safe III his box"
(%cotin). L combatted these notions,
and III a few days succeeded in i'm
parting to HIM a measure of cheerful
ness. lie even got up, and sat at the
window tor hours, watching the distant
harvest fields, where some reapers were
at work, reminding him Of the breezy
blue grass farms of his native State. At
such times he talked freely of his army
life: and | greatly regret not noting
some of the incidents of John Morgan's
border raids which he related.
Unfortunately Berry's cot Adorned
hat of Crawford, a lawyer of-,New
York, who had been convicted Of en-
b~eZzlIng a considerable amount of insur-
iuce money. Crawford was an hand
some young fellow, and plausible in
manners; but tricky ana treacherous;
50 much SO that Gen. Pilsbury in giving
me charge of the hospital. babe me be
very watchful against Crawford As he
was very oily, but very corrupt, and
will get you into trouble if he can"
The warning wasn't needed, as | allow
no sort Of intimacy with any of the con