The post. [volume] (Middleburg, Snyder County, Pa.) 1864-1883, 1882-11-16
won't il stain some OF the coarsest Of

During rainy spell at Florence,
at one time itbecame almost impos-
sible to start fire. and wood pro-
iuced. at best, little besides smoke.
The persistent jim, under these cir
cumstances, was indefatigable in his
Efforts to choke down the smoke, al d
blow up the iire.
Being defeated time after time, ai
last perseverance was rewarded
The little fire blazed, aud Jim's fac'
glowod with eager satisfaction as he
held extended over tho Goals split
canteen. containing concoc,i N oi
-four aud water, which tho poor fol
lows stomach was sorely in need Of
He was at the height Of satisfact-
tion, when sore clunsey fellow, in
passing, stumbled and fell, pnttiug
out the fire, aud sitting in the iden'
tical canteeu, and on the appetite.
With one blow tho prospects of
Jim for supper and fire had dis
appeared, and were blasted for the
next twelve hours or more.
The strain on bis nerves was TO
much, he burst into tears. aud fron
tears to q discordant wall Of chagrin,
disappointment, aud hunger. But
seeing the destroyer OF his hopes
venus like, rising from small sea o
paste, his sense OF the lud crous was
awakened, and Jim bursting from q
howl of sorrow and dismay to laugh
ter, exclaimed. "Old fellow, il you'll
set over that Ere ill it q es, I'll &c
halves with you" Il see you are
good on square sit down"
1t was often piteous to see mel
struggling with dependency, hun
ger, aud cold, in an attempt to pre-.
serve life. Men whose half-clad
bodies were chilled through, wer,
to be seen moving feebly around
during the night to keep from freez.
ing, utteriug agonizing walls and
means. in an attempt to keep up the
aud to retain life in their
wasted bodies.
| recollect some naked men out OF
which the likeness of human beings
had been starved, with chatteriDs
teeth, cropping around in prison
without a shirt to their backs, their
gaze idiotic, and their speech con-
fused and iucoherent. Staggering
feebly. they fell aud died by the
aud in tho sloushI OF
the qnagnire, or by the dead line.
All human language fails to de-
pict these scense, aud their very
chills my blood with
horror. No Imagination can picture
the Indebtedness Of tho hospital al
the camp. Not one half Of its in
mates had their senses their bodies
begrimed with dirt, their limbs
swelled, drawn crooked, aud dis
colored with scurvy, or covered
with the filth of diarrhoea, they lay
often on the bare ground, in the
rain, without shelter or lanket to
cover their nakedness.
Could the scenes occurring in pris-
on be depicted aud understood by
North in all their horror aud bar.
barity, the spirit OF revenge would
fear, have aroused. aud have gone
forth ia war OF retaliation aud ex'
termination against the southern
murderers.
How hard. alas IL IL to compre,
hend scenes of wretchedness which
elsewhere have no known parallel il
the history Of suffering men.
I have never seen q description
given of the effects upon the human
system Of q meager diet Of entirely
one kind Of food. At Florence nc
vegetable food was ever issued. OF
meat, with there exceptional cases
to any but hospital inmates.
Our rations had more variety than
we obtained at Andersonville, usually
consisting OF wheat -four, hominy
rice. or Indian meal. DR.. Hamlin
in bis learned dissertation on An.
dersonville, assumes that to the
scarcity OF food were entirely owing
those aggravated forms Of scurvy
with which the prison was reeking.
This, no doubt, contributed in
producing them, by weakening the
system and giving less power to the
body to throw off the influence Of
disease but, in my opinion, it wss
the entire absen of vegetable food
together with want Of variety, which
caused such unusually dreadful cases