The post. [volume] (Middleburg, Snyder County, Pa.) 1864-1883, 1882-06-15

il With comic voracity aud con-
fess, with oil my hunger, I could
not but laugh, the whole group was
so exceedingly comical and at the
same time ludicrous.
One Of our number, never to fat,
in about q month after our capture
had become picturesque combinstion
Of skin and bones, during my stay in
this prison Eve all lost strength aud
muscle at q rapid rate, at the end Of
three or four months, could lap
my thumb and finger above the el-
bow joint, not very much Of Del
told muscle there to see or to feel.)
Well pitch-pine smoke, and dingy
blue, surmounted by an old hat,
through hole in the top of which
his hair projected like an Indian
plume. As he eagerly, but critically
broke piece after piece for mouthfuls
and, as he termed the process Of
eating, demolished it, his critical
eye detected a substance foreign to
Johnny-cake, which, upon nearer
examination, proved to be an overs
grown louise, which had tragically
met his fate in Indian meal.
The reader will query, did this
affect your appetite I can assure
you mot bit," for we ate it down
to the crumbs, and hungrily looked
into each others faces as though
some one was to blame that there
was no moro.
Cooking our bacon was generally
performed by fixing it upon sharp
stick, and holding it over the fire
by those who were lucky enough to
possess the implements, or utensils,
by frying over fire but in a great
majority of cases was eaten raw,
which was also the popular way of
eating fresh meat, when we got it,
as il was considered a cure and pres
ventative for scurvy.
But the custom, | believe, to be
more owing to the scarcity of wood,
than from any sanitary provision or
forethought Of ours.
What was prompted by necessity
we made virtue Of, by seeing some
good in every extreme into which
we were forced by circumstances. i
l, for one, was always too hungry
to wait for it to be ,oked. especial
ly when I had to build a fire and
find the wood.
A favorite dish was prepared, by
taking q pint Of Indian meal, mixing
it in water, and the dough thus
made was formed into dumplings
about the size Of hens egg. These
we're boiled with bits OF bacon, about
as big as marbles, until they hoated
upon the top Of the soup. Thus
made the dumplings were taken out,
cut open, and the soup poured on,
giving us dish which was a great
luxury, although under other cir
cumstances we would not have in
suited our palates with such con-
coction OF eatables as these were, 8
Sometimes we made coffee OF s
burned bits Of corn bread, by boiling |
them In q tin cup, which was greadi- s
ly drank, without sweetening or
milk. U Il
This was our introduction into |
the living death Of Andersonville,
which, in spite Of its comic side, had q
not ono gloam Of comfort to illumi
nate the misery OF bondage.
Sad as was the introduction dur n
ing our fret months imprisonment, !,
it afterwards became inexpr essibly :
worse. q
II any of the men tunneled out Of G
the stockade, we would not get any /
rations for twenty-four hours. I
We became 80 hungry that We did q
resort to desperate means TO get n
something to eat, had we done some u
things in an enlightened community,
we would have went to jail. Ii
Some Of the prisoners, who had q
been confined in those reble hell-
holes, were reduced to o mere n
shadow. d
One fellow come along one day, g
he observed us eating, he said, h
show are ye," sat down, aud looking q
FIRST at ono Of our party and then at o
another, to ascertain no doubt, how 4
we would take things, he gradually 4
helped himself to Johnny cake aud p
molasses, which we happened to have
at that particular time. With great @