The post. [volume] (Middleburg, Snyder County, Pa.) 1864-1883, 1882-07-20

tho way out ot prison our Secesh
friend met a companion, whose at
tention he called to the buttons,
like um he had on tho tail" of bis
coat, whercupon bis comrado looked
behind, and informed him that "thar
ware not durned button thar, when
our trading Johnny loudly declared,
with rich sprinkling of oaths, that,
"these zero daring yanks had or ter
! have their ears buttonci back and
be swallowed by somo durred Ale
gator.
"An Onio boy Mt one timo set him
self up in tho provision business by
altering groonback Of ono dollar
into Que hundred dollars.
We considered it fair to take ov-
cry advantage of the rebs wo could
contrive, aud it amused us to hear
them graycly charge us with want
of honestly Says ono Of thon to
me ono day. Two hoirn that yolln
Yanks, down thar whar you live,
, mako wooden plmpiia sools, and
wooden uutmoys, anl Ill 30 dol
rot If I don't believe got somo. Of
um and planto1, Il year arOro this
war, for not durnol ono cdm'l up
copt what the pcsky hius scratched
up"
The last Of Juno tho ra,iors bo.
came less in quantity,a worse in
quality; which, together with the
fact that tho prison, originally in-
tended for bat tcu thousand mon,
was now crowded with over thirty
thousand souls, with tho iucossant
rains Of the month, made our sit.
uation anything but pleasant and
comfortable.
Daring this month it raiuoi
twenty one days, almost without in.
termiss;on.
This stirred up tho refuse garbage
and filth buried by tGoso who wcro
loeble and sick beneath tho surface
of tho ground ono or two feet And
whltl o at night when We lay down
or in the mlrn'uE whcn We sat up
on our only bel AMI seat (tho
ground) il was misorably wet, dirty
and disagroeabio with unpleasant
odors. Neither could ono got ac.
customcd to, or be able to blunt the
senses to, the existence OF SO much
misery.
A great portion Of my time from
the last Of May to the last Of June
was spent iu unavaiIlng attempts Gt
escape by means Of tunu.ls. | was
y engaged in six tunnels, which were
! all discovered by tho prison authors
tics before their completion.
Hunger is great demorali1or,
and there were men in prison who
for au extra ration woull inform the
authorities Of the prison, of plots
and plans in which they themselves
were actively engaged. There, no
doubt, was u struggle with hunge,
before it obtained mastery over
them. But there were also mean
), dirty scoundrels in camp, who wish
, ed to gain notorioty by their mean
tricks.
Starvo man, and you stunt the
growth of all his iinor qualities, il
u, you do not crush them out entirely
1t changes the expression OF his face
:, his mode of walking becomes loose
undecided his intelligence is dimm
oil. Hunger blunts tho keenest in.
. telligence, aud deadens susceptible,
g ty to wrong doing, and mere mora
wrongs look small, or seem over,
, balanced, when placed by the siIe o.
, food. If you narrow down mans
, purpose to sustaining his body-let
, his be continual struggle for Il foot
|, hold upon life, with uncertainty as
to it's results-giyo Il man in fact
crime with bread, on tho one hand
aud on the other, integrity and
truth with death--tho thousand rec-
a., olloctions of the old home, with the
arms of dear mother or wife ol
children that once encircled his
neck-all these recollections bid
" him live. Consequently, it was
difficult to trust men with secrets
which might DO sold for bread.
Again, au impedimont existed iu'
digging tunnels in disposing of th,
earth excavatol, in such manner
y as not to attract suspicion and con-
" sequent detection. These wore tn,
!, potent causes OF failure in all ou
u tunpelinr pluua. The authoritio,