The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1889-04-25

ways. The Cemmissary was cognizant of this
! latter fact, and used the knowledge for all it
was worth. The soup was deficient in the
/ matter Of peas and salt, but the bugs or wevils
were plenty and apparently fresh, though
! sometimes none too well cooked, in which case
4 they would cTackle while being chewed, and
/ caused decidedly unpleasant sensation.
There were 900 of as on each side of the par
! tition, nearly all Chickamauga prisoners. Some
/ of the boys became curious to know what the
/ cellar contained or perhaps they were looking
/ for an outlet TO freedom; at any rate they cut
| through the floor and went down They made
! the astounding discovery that the cellar was
/ full Of sugar. stored in hogsheads. OF course
they sampled it, and the news spread. We
must have had among US several men who were
born to fill higher positions than they were
then occupying, for all attempts to make
rush for the hole were promptly suppressed,
and n commissary department was organized to
distribute ratons OF sugar to all l never got
even q glimpse of the hole, but did get some
Of the sugar; In fact, for a week or 10 days we
had all the sugar we wanted and ! know III my
case it was from a quart to three pints per day.
/ never would have believed it possible to eat
so much. OF course, the news got through the
knothole, and about the same time we learned
that the boys on the other side had sunk
shaft and struck salt in sacks. Commercial re-
lations between the two sides began at once,
sugar being passed through the knothoe in
teaspoon, and salt returned in the same man
ner. This was much more satisfactory to us
than TO our neighbors, as the demand for salt
was not so heavy as that for sugar We had
both salt and sugar in abundance, while they
just got sugar enough to whet their appettes.
This was entirely too good a thing to last, and
the end soon came. They had no Commissary
Department on the other side, each one going
for salt when he felt like il, and as one man
( could bring upenough at one trip to salt great
] DIT
of the men were not satisfied some men want
the earth-but these simply wanted more
sugar. They went into the cellar, and by some
means worked hole through the brick par
titiOn and got at the sugar They got what
they wanted, and told their friends, who, of
course, told their friends. aud soon everyone
knew that q new vein in the mine had been
struck. There was no system about it; every
body wanted to so down, and pandemonium
ensued. OF course al this happened after
p. w. as there would be danger of interruption
and discovery at other times. We could see
nothing. but we could hear the noise of 800
men, desperate with hunger, fighting over
hole in the floor just large enough for one
man to get through. The sugar was brought
up in haYersacks, and many OF the salt-sacks
/ were emptied and filed with sugar and taken
/ up through the hole, and then the struggle
+ would begin and last until the sack was empty.
! The guard came IN TO see what was the matter,
I but came no laItner tnan the door. Inc OT1cer
4 OF the Guard concluding that it was just gen.
I eral row among the Yanks, did not care how
much they fought among themselves We soon
I learned the cause of the trouble. Some of the
4 boys wanted to 90 down and protect our rights,
but wiser counsel prevailed, and the hole on our
/ side was kept closed.
The next morning the secret was out. There
4 was q mixture of sugar. salt and Yankee gore
! about an inch thick all over the floor, and the
! hole was easily discovered. The hole on our
1 side had been made so that the cuts in the
boards came directly over the joists and moth
! ing could be seen from below, and our part in
4 the affair was not suspected. The wall was
/ repaired, the rations were stopped on the
other side for one or two days, the remaining
stores removed, and nothing was left us but
our ratiOns Of loud-smelling meat, boiled bugs
and bitter reflections on what might have been
! had the other fellows been more discreet. |
! kept no diary, and l am merely writing Incl
/ dents as l recollect them. well remember
1 Little Ross, who used to count US every morn
! ing. He always came up the stairs on the run,
followed by a rebel Sergeant, and saluted US
Us with Git in ranks, thar; if anyone moves,
l knocks EN- down." He was known as
Knocks em-down," and it was a long time
before l knew his real name. The hole in the
! floor was not allowed TO sink into innocuOus
4 desuetude," but was useful in despOiling the
/ enemy at least once after that; but it would
+. take too much space to relate the incident, so
+ viii close and leave the subject TO some COM
Tade whom this may stir mp who wields a more
facile pen than / do.-JosEPH HALL, Co. A,
22d Mich, Edgar Springs, BIO.