The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1885-10-23
JErF, DAVIS IN PRISON.
Charles s. Trifasr's Story of His Pleasant
Life aE fort Monroe.

/ was i'm 1865 First Lieutenant in
the Twelfth United States Infantry,
and in the absence of my Captain,
commanded Z Company of the First
Battalion Of that regiment. Early iii
October / was orderedto Fort Monroe,
and reported for duty to Gen. N. A.
Miles. My rank as Lieutenant sub
iected me to detail as officer of the
guard, as such / had for the twenty
four hours OF my detail Immediate
charge of our distinguished prisoner,
my orders being motto allow him out
of my sight during my tour of daty."
Mr.. Davis was confined to a room IN
Carroll Hall, which was designed as
quarters for Iieutenants, who are EN-
ttled to two rooms only, SO all the
looms, except the mess hall and IL
brary, are in suites of tworooms each.
The doorways were all grated with
iroIIy and a SeTtry,- walked before each
on q pile of cocoa mating some four
inches thick. The officer of the guard
was not allowed to leave the room
unless relieved by the officer of
JAC udy IOL W 0tCCR dt 0At
during his twenty-four hours of
duty. Thegrated windows were lock-
ed, the keys being I'm the custody OF the
officer of the day. AS asthe custom
on my first day of duty as officer of
the guard / was introduced by my
predecessor to Mr.. Davis, thus: ssMr.
Davis, Mr.. Tripler of the,Twelfth. Mr..
Davis saTd: Arc you Stuart Trip
ler?" I said: eyes, SIR" He then
said he remembered my grandmother
MRS. Huntl and had very pleasant
recollections of my father Sturgeon
Tripler of the army. We had that
first day no further conversation I'M
til the time came for his daily walk
around the parapet. At that time
the officer OF the day came accompan-
led by two negro prisoners, Uaalocked
the door, when Mr.. DaviSydressed In
s~nuff-colored clothes, with u Raglan
overcoat and a soft, highscrowned,
black felt hat, stepped into my room.
Gen. Miles entered at this time with
the daily papers, whichwere placed on
a table III Mr.. DIS room. The prison
ers commenced at once to cleanupthe
room, and we left in the following or
L UCl. WI llbNlC dIlo VilCCIC VA 1L0
guard, ten PAGES behind two sentries,
a couple of PAGES behind them the Of
fcer of the day, and lastly, some dis
tance off, Gen. Miles strolled along
reading.
We took our time, and Mr.. Davis,
by his instructive and most enter
tanning conversation, rendered this a
most delightful duty. He seemed to
know everything. He had the unusn-
al faculty of drawing ayoung man out
and making him show his best side.
We'would sometimes stop abreast Of
the. water battery, infront ofthecom-
manding officers quarters, and recline
on the crest of the works, where he
would relate pleasant stories of the
old army, ask after coT4an0n friends,
and often give. me points in my pro-
fession which were. invaluable. To
show how small a. matter he would
notice and speak OF, there were a
number of trees growing along one of
the fronts of easements which bore
clusters of white berries. Mr.. Da-
Wis said: Lieut.. Tripler, I saw
you riding a nice-looking horse the
other day, but it is out of condition.
Those berries you see there are one Of
the best condition medicines / know
of, and you can find them all over the
South; remember that; it's worth
knowing" On our return DR.. Co0per's
servant came in with Mr.. Davis
lnnch. All his meals we're supplied
from DR.. Cooper's table, and Mrs.
Cooper was a notable housewife, and
the markets of Fort Monroe were
well supplied; you may be sure Mr..
Davis did not suffer. The only re-
quest he ever made me during the
time I was stationed there was
to bring him a few apples each
time / came on guard, which I
cid. I rather think he asked
me for the sake Of letting me think +
was doing him q favor in return iOr
his exceeding kindness to my grand
mother when he was secretary of war.
He could make a request in such a way
that you felt he had conferred a favor
on preferring it.
c.. C. Clay was confined In the rooms
directly beneath MI. Davis, but had
Mrs. Clay with him, and was not
guarded as Mr.. Davis was. Mrs. Clay
used to send sometimes q pitcher of
punch to Mr.. Davis. My orders not
forbidding it, the pitcher was always
passed in, Mr.. Davis was supplied with
good cigars by his friends. / know
they were good, because Mr.. Davis re-
marked that smokers are gregnrious
and 1 can't enjoy a cigar alone, " and
offered me one nearly every night, after
he had assumed his most satanic
looking night robes-he wore a red
flannel nightgown, cap and drawers.
He vas never annoyed, insulted, or
worried during his stay. Gen. Miles
was coldly civil, and others officially
polite ], perhaps, and as wasnatural,
was more kindly disposed, but ! never
! exceeded my instructions. Think Mr..