The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1891-08-08

cleanliness was enforced with the most
despptic severity. The prisoners slept
on the floor with their heads to the
wall.generally ihreeeud four in a grcuu
and were expected to keep that part ot
the room opposite them ns faras centre
clean. Woe unto them If they did not.
They were reported TO the authorities
aud sent to another room, or to Belle
lie, the place above all others they
dreaded. SpittOOns were arranged at
intervals and no n was permitted 60
spit on the floor. y clerk from the Of
fee at Libby came every morning and
mustered the prisoners. He was a ma
tive f New York and had Joined the
rebels at the beginning Of the troubles.
He was a brutal fellow and wss cor
daily hated 10y all the prisoners. An
incident which remember will show
what kind of a creature he was,
~
A prisoner from our room had been
sent to the hospital. aud was returned
one evening. Hehad been pronounced
well, and lay down ON the floor to sleep,
covering his head with the cape Of his
overcOat. No oueseemed to know him
and no questions were asked of t2e
guard who accompanied htm, except
10 obtain the information that he be-
i0nged to that room. In the morning
1 he did not arise and uucoveriug his face
ii WAS found that he was dead. When
the prisoners were mustered, the clerk
after counting the men who had
answered to other names inquired: "{s
there not another mau uere?" No
answer was given. Again he asked
i tho pttagtfAn and N ~ArIgAnAV elnNv.r
pointed TO the dead body. 'NVhy in
hell don't he get up?n asked the clerk
"He is d ADJ was the reply. The clerk
then approached the dead soldier,
spurned the corpse with his foot, uu.
covered the face and then said. by
God, he is dead. He was from the
hospital, what was his name?' NOone
knew him and then the clerk grew
furious. "What a G-d-d-d yankee
son OF a b-h he was to die here with
out telling his name!'
1 have said little about rations that
were given out TO the prisoners in this
room. They were scant indeed, and
rather less in quantity and poorer
in quality than those given out at
Castle Thunder. In the latter place
we were given from half 10 three quar-
ters of a pound of wheat bread daily;
but here we got the cuarsest and worst
corn bread | ever saw. Ofthis we had
never more than a half pound per day,
and sometimes q small slice of beef,
never more than e.fourth afa pound.
Often for many days we had no meat
whatever, Sometimes soup was given
to the prisoners. l never partook Of it,
regarding it as worse than no food al
all. The corn bread was made from
coarse corn meal, similar to what we
call "chopped corn,N and was com.
| posed of this meal and water alone.
ID was baked as hard as 8 brick on
the outside, but i'm centre it was raw.
The soup was made of outside cab
bage leaves and COW peas, and was a
mixture that few animals could use
for food many days aud survive.
Food could be obtained through the
guards, from outside sources, by those
who had money. They were, so far a;
| eve heard, entirely honorable with
the prisoners in this respect. The
usual way was for them to take 9
greenhack, exchange it with some
outside party for confederate notes
and then use the latter for purchasing
provisions. There was a penalty fol-
offering or receiving a greenback, but
it was little regarded. When l first en-.
tered Richmond you could sell a one
dollar greenback for six dollars in con
federate notes; but before | left yOU
could get twenty dollars for one. You
could buy a loaf of wheat bread, weigh.
ing about Of pound, for n dollar in
confederate money and u small pie fol
the same. Meat couldn not be purchased
at any price. at least l cannot remem
Der of seeing any sold. But few of thu
prisoners in this room lived solely OF
the ratiOns they received, In som,
way Or other they managed to have
little money, and With that eked GU
a living. Still the most of them wer,
slowly starving and day by day tool
on the appearance of starved ant
hungry animals. e. G.