New-York tribune., 1885-01-12
DRY TORTUGAS.
SCENES AND MEMORIES OF FORT JEFFER-
SON

do you say to @ down to Tortugas r. propo-
sition at Key West in which expressed ready
quiescence. but at which pilot put In DE onerest
lonesomest place in disher world; dee Las tine went
down We didn't git weeks, den fotchup at
Bahama" Then You didn't get there at ali :" OATS
what say; an Use dun forgot de channel an" But
notwithstanding these objections went.
The reason OF the dareys objection to going down
the once famous prison became evident. rd like
ter hab all do bricks dun put in dat cher FORT he began
swinging an enormous bare foot the spokes OF the
wheel and casting his weather eye rehectvey the lu
OF the sail / dun wuk dere five year. with ole
Phillips dc boss; an talk about de slave uckn do
cullud foks-I ncbber got such whalin git from ole
man Phillips dats sho lie jes tie up de mbs strip
oen de shirt and lay de stick an lie dc Government
boss Das fac; de; ;NLted States give me de wustest
lickfn ever got" reckon you deserved it," g" spec
dd You orter know, Massa Jacks yuse bin dere your
SELL" In truth, Massa Jack had spent time at
Dry Tortugas during the late unpe lsantness" and
rather inclined to defend IT, "The truth OF 1t s he sad
"Tortugas WAS far from being the Botany Bay that
people chiefly Democrats aad Copperheads, tried to
make 1t out was there when the greatest number OF
prisoners were confined and the only thing they had to
suffer the fact OF being there Yet every month
"A story about cruelty would crop out in paper.
well remember" lie continued, the day the
that Lincoln was assassinated The schooner Tortugas
brought the mall and she the dock Captain
Dave Ellis stepped to the rail and sung ont to me:
Lincoln has been shot by the rebels We stunned.
But not so half dozen rebel prisoners who the
dock. They raised a cheer. which enraeed the
that the rebels seized and hung by the thumbs
1t was In reality an easy punishment In towns
they would have been hung up by the neck. This
one of the cases. of cruelty published in the Western
papers At one time there several thousand
prisoners at the post mostly from our Arny-deserers
bounty jumpers, and Southerners for arious
offences. They generally came in patches of fifty
hundred and a tough-looking lot as they were
ghaI &ha aHa
ground aud divided OF according to their trades but
there work for them all to do they loafed
and had the easiest time OF any one during the war.
Many OF continually trying escape and
had TO be punished. one man. remember male des-
peTate efor to escape by crawling through port-hole
and lowering himself into ditch his idea being TO swim
across then swim to threem ,so1 schooner that lay of
the dock intending to sail tho next day. But the poor
fellow found drowned the morning In the ditch
and five hours after tho mad schooner came In bringing
his pardon. That's what you might call hard lincs An
other gang broke through the sentry line and stoe
soop boat OF mine ana put Of In her. but the wind died
down and they IN the next morning and the
fort began firing on them But 1t breezed up and they
got of. and that night It blew up hurricane and they
probably went 10 the bottom One or the most laughable
attempts at escape that OF Dr. Mud, who hos
pIta steward for wlo Some large iguns were being
away and the doctor conceived tue idea o loading
gun with himself. he crawled in one anl had the
vessel searched and the Oy greasy living cartridge
hauled out write letters TO Northern papers aboa
bs treatment have them written for him Tho fort at
this place Is 4 result tho wre-palling slave OF
Florida They all owned slaves and encouraged the es-
tabl,hment O fort hero, that they coulI hire ont
their the Government which they did. the ma
jory aborrs the work being slaves to the time
Of the emancipation. aud pilot they were
strung up by the thumbs aud lshei by the white over
,eers Of the Government II anything went wrong"
AMoSG THE KHYs.
Entering the channel that winds Its way into the
famous prison. the right resting like gull
on the water Fast Key for the pirates gold 10
the amount OF 100000 that former lighthouse keeper
found here. 10 the Middle Sand aud North
Keys made ~ pure white coral and presenting strange
contrast TO the rich blue Of tho wators of the Gulf
Jefferson looms M TO tho lcf slx-sided.
risiug tcrs from the water made entirny OF
BRICK surrounded by n seawall Of coral rock and
half mile in length Tho fronts pierced with three
ports while the upper tier Is arranged for the
larger barbcte guns II impressive. yet q cur ous
commentary M on tho times, the great work. costing
million. OF dollars when dollar meant than It does
now. utterly useless ward Of defence and stands
as monument Of the folly Of building expensive works
Of other material than simple Mother Earth. The
position of ths fort Il extremely favorable TO repel an at
tack lying I'm the centre OF growing ato. the narrow
channel. hardly stones throw In width. completely
surrounding II aud leading vessel completely under
the man who first called the place Dry must have
been under the influence OF something very the
liua Wet Tortugas the naae that should have been
rrrn a the fort rise, almost directly frum the water
aud the Key il low that often at high tides ap
pears the interior In fast case OF water wafer
every here" The great fort Il built on sand bank
called Garden Key and in possesslon Of soldier
ordnance and the lighthouse keeper These two men
desoate spot- ON the coast Where "A few years n
lsrge garrison made come what lively, now not sound
IL heard Here are lofty buildings slowly going 10 decay
and ever ythng gives evidence or tho uttefsolitude that
has taken possession and that Is felt 10y the dweuers
here can realized the fact that the wife OF one OF
n has gone mad from mere loneliness Entering
The great sallypor the reason for naming the place
Garden Key became apparent 6roups of cocoa palms
here ami there. aud few steps beyond began a
grove OF low bay ccdar, through which the wax Ed 70
he buildings intended ~ officers quarters li'ed
there nv. ears sai my eomp"o ; pointing Int M ,oa,n. 10
Captain Melgs lived now the Colnmissaiy nebelai
General Woodbury. occupied them before nm lie ale.t
afterward became famous were staionc here az one
time or another remember one dap whiie neheta, ar
Mcgs was In command steamer move III slSh hhu .at
was before We had q blessed gun. She steamed right III
and We all thought she Was rebel cruiser An on1er
tanned prisoner. But finally boat appeared and he
out IAN right, and were consideraby :, ,eyed
ihe rebels AL sent vessel then they could nave
taken possession without tho slightest trouble
IN THE oLD PORT.
The interior OF Fort Jefferson contains about thirteen
ncres chiefly coral sand ovorgrown In places with curl
ous ropeke grass seemingly formed expressly To Trip
people up The parade ground is overgrown
with thls while here aud there patches OF bermuda
among which soldier-crabs crawl about, while
here and there a hole IN the sand shows that stray
gopher has obtained fooihold Climbing up through
one tho top OF the fort reached ana
my companion pointed "a tin covered magazine that
in struck by lightning the bolt passing Directly
over explosives The extent OF the atoll c0aId De
plainly from this elevation, and the great coral peds
were before like n0wers About half mile OF
perhaps mile To this southwest was Bird Key "hat
Is the black cloud hanging over 1t Z" asked Birds.
was the reply. Tortngas ofers three different amhse
mcnts In bird nesting egxing turtiing ana
fishing. The last be followed a any time. and Tor
xantY and exctement the lOcalty Is haray surasseo