The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1891-07-09
PRISON EXPERIENCES.
Continued from Ist paga.l

lhfl WAS ~ was well forward, so that i'm th
. race for water ] reached the ladder first Con
irary 10 our expectations the rebels did 40
+ Ere shot; they seemed 10 understand that /
was water We wanted aud not 10 escape, s.
they covered Us well with their rifles, mad
many threats, and waited for our return.
reached the top Of the ladder as soon as
could, aud found the water about four feet from
the top Of the tank. / was preparing 10 le
myself down on the inside 10 On my cur. whcI
iho men behind me began shouting. "AIay,
along and give us a show" ] went 2 shor
distance hand over hand, others following ma
10 get out Of the way Of those behind. unti
the .op of the tank was covered and the lgide,
iull. We had 10 let ourselves down on the in
Side 10 get the water which wo could JUS
reach by hanging with one hand and one foot
those who had nothing 10 dip with scOopcd
with their hands and got what they could in
That way, which after ALL was little saIisfac
lon- ANA WUnld have surely brought disease "a
anyone hut an Andesonvillc prisoner. ] eau
give no shorter or better description Of IL than
10 compare d. with simv frog pond, bHt many
degrees warmer. We were hurried back on The
train and went forward TO our destination,
Florence, ;. G. Arrived at station three
quarters 90! a mile from stockade) about II r. m
We were taken from the train and put IN an
/ open field surrounded by
DOUBLE LINE OF GUARDS
We were very much exhausted from our DAYS
flde aud experience. ana the most of the men
dropped down on the ground and went 10 supu.
ielt that ] could not sleep until had water;
Inc lltIie satisfaction that got from nay drinl.
| at the railroad tank Lad long passed away.
/ My personal property at this time consisted oC
my I'm cup and a plug Of tobacco lhaying left
/ my personal effects in Ander5onylle, supposnp
4 we were TO b. exchanged, so concluded TO bar.
/ Ter my tobacco Tor water, and went abOIt the
camp yelling, plug Of tobacco for drink
! oi water ] continued this for about an hour
without getting anything hut threats Of lynch
! lng' etc, and iinally gave it up after an Itish
ankce pOkcd las head from under his blank
/ and shouted, Chaw yer terbakee, We SON Of a
sao cook, and yer won't waInt ony water" So
/ took chow and sat down aHd waited for
i morning We were then marched 10 the stock
i ade ahd turned IN, where We helped ourselves
20 water from the creek which ran through the
/ slockade' the Same as ia Andcrsonvillc. Thus
ended ihe worst 80 hours Of my seven mouths
! IN Andcls0nviile aud Florence
Our lIle in this prison was much like that in
Ahdersonyiile; IN some respects worse. Lieut.
/ Barrett who had charge OF the interior Of tho
4 pilsoH, WAS as brutal, if not moro so, than
/ hlTz. lo would frequently come into the
siockade with a revolver in each hand aud n
The prisoners did not move ont OF his way quick
! enough 10 suit him he would shoot them down.
/ The manner Of living In this prison was much
]
railous for one day aud eat il at one meal.
| Then would como the announcement that there
would DO no more ratiOns until we had pro-
duccd the man who had attempted 10 escape
the night before, or the men who were digging a
tunnel, when frequently the facts were there
had been no attempts 10 escape or tunnels
being dug. The rebels were c0niurinp these
excuses 10 deprive US Of something 10 eat
November arrived aud election day came.
Abraham Lincoln and George d. Mcclellan arc
running for President. The rebels for some
reasons best known TO themselves are very
much i'm favor OF Mcclellan, and are anxious 10
know what the result will be, SO they conclude
they will test the question by having an cleo
tion ia the stockade They bring In two bags
Of beans, one Of white aud one Of black. aud
make the announcement that they are going 10
have an election, and they want good white
Democrat aud black Republican 10 step inside
the dead line and hold the bags, while a third
man held tho empty bag TO receive the beans
~ ballots. in this prison the men were divided
in hundreds aud numbered, snd were ordered
TO ial in and vote in order. When everything
was ready the fun commenced by the man with
tho white beans shouting, Hare is yur white
banes fur little Mack" and the man with the
black beans shouts,
"HERE Is YOUR BLACK BEANS FOR OLD ABE.D
When the beans are counted they find about
nlne-icnthsof them black. The man ho held
the white beans, in conversation with a chum
alter ~ WAS over, says: Jim, phat did Won
vote that black bane FURY" Jim said: " Yeze
know. Paddy If l wur homo ! wud vote Tor
little Mack, but I'll not place them - ribils
by vOtuu fur um hare" This probabIy ex-
plains why there were so many black beans.
We have now been in the stockade long
enough 10 use up the wood left in building H.
The nights are growing cold and there Is much
suffering within a few feet Of the "dug0ut"
IN which Henry Kendall and myself are living
there has just died boy about 10 years old.
lie looks like one who has been brought IN by
tender parents. lIe lies IN a small dugput
with no covering but tho sky Under him Il
half Of an army blanket. Ho has probably at
some time cut his blanket aud sold the other
hail Tor something 10 eat. There seems TO be
no hcsh on him whatever. He is lying on his
back. We eturn him over aud lift him from the
hole aud conclude from what We discover that
DO died as much from loss Of blood as from
starvation; his piece OF blanket on which he
lay was 50 completely covered and imbcdded in
vernin that u actually moved. do not know
Why our attention was 50 particularly called to
tins case. We did not even know hisuatn. and
there were hundreds dying all around Us very
much in the same way.
What little ratiOns we draw at this time were
mostly raw, with no wood 10 cook them. The
rebels seemed 10 be getting alarmed AZ the fear.
our condition a littlo by giving a few of US a
parole OF honor, TO 20 outside Of thcsstockade
and bring in wood for the others am among
the Fortunate ones who get out Our parole
permits Us 10 go no farther than a mile from tbe
siOcEade Oar method was 10 gather our wood
and then take stroll within tho mile limit.
but we were poor judges Of what constituted a
mile ln South Carolina, 50 would 20 much far
tber. One day ! entered negro hut about
two mllcsaway aud found an Old colorod woman
who threw nP her hands on seeing mo, aud ex-
claimed, LOr, chile what is you doin' hcabP
Is you ono oh Maisa Linktum's sogeFs from do
st0csader You better look out, ds cabalry il
done scourcn de country all bout haah" tod
her hyw ] came 10 be there and asked her for
something q cat. At this shU went 10 work A
though sIe was entertaining the President
" hArsa Liuktum" himself aud baked mo a
hot hOocake and fried some bacon and served
it az best she could. That meal. eaten on a
rough board table, while sitting on q rude
bench, was one Of the best Of my life. This
old c8lored woman did this without a mofnent's
hesitation, knowing az the same time that n
would DO certain death to her IL the rcbels
found out that she had been
TEEDISG PRISONER,
knowing that he was a prisoner. The temrt,-
ton came 10 Inc strongly at this time 10 try
ana escape but thought Of my parole. and
that the chances were 10 10 one against me az
being rccaptured, aud that meant death. I oaye
tho old woman all ] had 10 give on leaving
which Was smply thanks, and in RESPONSE s6s
says, Lor bress you honey, you is done well
come" This was one Of thousands upon tbeu-
sands Of iaTors the Union soldiers received Al
the hands the colored f,aof,I. at,rg..-.