The National tribune., 1885-05-21

| by crossing bars, but additionally darkened by
| fine woven wirc The refuse tobacco. stems
| the building was all old tobacco mandatory
| had been thrown into this room and were now
| gathered into one heap In a corner. occupying
more than fourth part of the entire apart
| ment. This filthy stuff-for such it was. hav-
| ing been trodden underfoot for years-was not
without its uses for the tobbacso-lovers of the
party
But this dungeon had ample compensations
for it's darkness and dingness. 1t contained
stove, and was kept quite warm. Thus the
terrible suffering from cold was now ended.
There was also good society here,-neariy
hundred Union men from different parts of the
South,-all intensely patriotic, and many of
| them possessing great intelligence. The rude,
| wild element which dominated in the third
| floor was in complete subordination on the first.
| 1t would be easy to fill a volume with the
stories told us by the loyal citizens confined in
this room. One or two may serve as specimens.
l became very intimate with Scotchman
named Miller from Texas. He told me of the
| beginning of the reign of terror, which pre-
| pared the way for secession. The runor, in
Miller's .neighborhood, was first spread of an
| intended slave insurrection. Weapons and in
some cases poison, We're secreted, to be after
| wards found at the right time. Some slaves
were next whipped until, under the torture,
| they would confess to the intended insurrec-
tion, and implicate the most prominent oppo-
! nents of secession. This was enough to drive
| the populace to madness. The fear of servile
Instructions has always aroused the worst
passions of slaveholding countries. Slaves and
| white Unionists were now hung up to the SAME
| trees, and the work went on until all who op-
| posed the withdrawal of the State from the old
| Union were treated as criminals. 1t is not
strange that slavery thus furnished the means
as well as the occasion of rebellion.
! Miller, being an outspoken opponent of seces-
| sion, was seized and sent eastward, accused of
| treason against the Confederacy. Twice he
made his escape. and when recaptured told,
| each time, different story. At Richmond,
when brought up for examination, he merely
said, Il told you all about my case before"
The examining officer, who was very busy and
little in liquor, took him at his word and
ordered him back to prison. AT length he was
included with many others in a special ex-
change
few Union soldiers, besides ourselves, were
in this room. There was a young and adven-
turous scout from the Potomac army, Charlie
Marsh by name who had been sent a short
distance inside the rebel lines tn burn an i'm
portant bridge. While on his way, with gray
coat-the rebel cOlor--thrown over his own
uniform, he managed to get some important
information regarding the enemy, which he
| committed to writing. In this perifous posi-
tion he was captured, and the papers, which he
was not able to destroy. determined his charac-
ter as spy. drum head court-martial con-
victed him, and he was sent with a strong
guard to Richmond for execution. While on
the way the Sergeant in charge got an oppor-
tunity to drink, and soon became very careless.
Marsh could not escape; but, watching his
chance, slipped from the Sergeants pocket the
package containing the report of the trial and
sentence, and dropped them, unobserved, into
ditch by the wayside.
When he arrived in Richmond, the Sergeant
could give the prison authorities no informa-
ton further than that his prisoner was Yam
kee he had been told to bring to them. The
drunkard was reprimanded, and the authOri-
ties sent back to the army for the missing in
formation. Pending its arri val, Marsh was put
into room, instead of being confined sep
arately and securely, as would have been the
case if his sentence had been known. When
the evidence against him arrived, the COM
| manding officer entered the room with guard
and called his name. This was Charities last
chance for life, and shrewdly was it improved
man had died in the prison the night before,
and the body had not yet been removed. Char
lie promptly responded, "Oh, that fellow is
dead!" pointing to the corpse.
"Died, has he? the rascal! We'd "a hung
him this week and saved him the trouble if he
had only held on, growled the officer.
No prisoner felt called upon to expose the
deception. and the officer departed and reported
accordingly. Marsh continued to answer when
ever the dead mans name was called, and was
finally exchanged in his place. | once met
him since the close of the war. He was then
in congeuial employment as Government de-
tcctive.
To be continued