The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-08-18
THE Third DAY.
Continued from Page Five.

the present generation would do in like
circumstances, but as for himself, having
| once passed through the worst, that
rather than pass through iU again. he
would take an oath to support the lower
| regions before he would desert the old
| flag.
| The Canzone chorus was present and
rendered the old patriotic hymn, Amer
ica."
| Comrade A. W. Smith of Mcpherson
was then introduced and in the course of
| his remarks said that the duty of every
| parent was to teach patriotism to his
| children, He said that he had lain in
rebel prisons nineteen months, and that
| he would draw a picture or rather
| give his experience during that time. In
| September 1868 at the battle of Chica-
manga, when Longstreet made his final
charge on old Pap" Thomas the grandest
of all commanders, on the evening of that
| memorable Sunday he was taken prisoner.
He was taken to Richmond and boarded
for three months at hotel in the capital
of the Confederacy. From there he was
taken to Dalville and from Danville to
Andersonville. The officers in charge of
that prison, said be. were the most cruel,
heartless, barbarous men that ever drew
the breath of life. If person could only
get a glimpse of Andersonville for one
moment he could form some idea of the
picture he intended drawing. 1t looked
worse, he said, than the old fashioned
orthodox Methodist hell of which we have
heard so much.
He was prisoner at Andersonville ten
mouths, the rations when he went there
consisted of a pint of corn meal ground
cob and all and only one ration per
day and they made one meal of
a ration. Having no means of baking it
they had to make mush of it, and very
poor quality of mush it made. The pris
oners soon got the scurvy and could not
have eaten hard bread had they have had
it to eat.
Another thing that troubled them was
the water. They had no water fit to drink.
A slough ran through the prison yard and
every morning green scum could be seen
on the surface of the water. They tried
to dig wells, but the only implement they
had to dig with was sharpened stick,
and they had to scoop the loose dirt out
w
not prove success, as after a few days
standing the water would loosen the sand
and the well would cave in. AS last re-
sort they Thought of Him, who cared even
for the sparrows. and that He would care
for them. Their comrades were dying at
at the rate of 160 every twenty. four hours
They determined to have prayer meet
ing and petition the Ruler of Heaven
and earth for water. On the day set apart |
for the prayer meeting every prisoner |
stood with barred head in the broiling |
sun while the petitions were being made. |
That night there came one of TIE hardest |
and most terrific thunderstorms that the |
speaker ever witnessed. 1t seemed, said |
he, as though nature had linked itself |
with the prison officials to destroy them. |
The men had no clothing to hide their |
no shelter but the clouds, and |
mad with hunger and thirst, and the |
lightning flashed zigZag hither and thither, |
and the thunder rolled in ominous tones |
as though the battlements of heaven had |
been turned loose. When the morning
came the clouds broke away and the bright |
sun came smilngly forth. The scene was
One eomrade went down near
and he discovered that during the night
spring of bright sparkling, pure water
had gushed forth in sufficient
quantity to supply the thousands OF prls-
oners who were confined there. The word
spread around the prison with lightning
rapidity and as soon as they had slaked
their burning thirst the old long meter
doxology praise God from whom all
blessing flow," was sang with spirit and
a zeal that was beyond description. They
named the spring, Providence Spring.
he said, could scott and assign
any reason they chose about it, but every
prisoner who was confined at that time in
would tell you that it was
Gods power eXerted in their behalf, and
that God was always on the side of right.
1t was so then and it is so even today.
During the war there were 1900 prison
ers confined at Andersonville. They were
dying so rapidly that the great question
among them was whose turn will it be
next.
The rebel authorities were always anX-
ous to impress upon the minds of the pur.
suers the impression that they were left
there by Lincoln and Stanton to die be-
cause their terms of enlistment had ex-
pred That is the reason that they said
they were not exchanged. They were also
anxious to have them enlist in the Con-
army and sent their recruiting Of
icer among them many times promising
Them liberty if they would only desert the
Did flag That the men who were confined
here were patriots to the cause and that
hey would die and let the vermin that in
ested the prison eat the flesh from their
bones before they would do such a thing
was most extraordinarily esta blished by
he fact that out of over 5000 prisoners
confined there only twenty-six deserted
,he old flag.
OF all the monuments that could or ever
would be erected to commemorate the pa
riotism of the volunteer soldier, the his
DRY of Aendersonville prison would be
he grandest monument of them ALL
The happiest moment of his life, the
peaker said was that April morning in {
6S5 when they were ordered to pack their {
grips and get ready to march from the
prison. 1t took only about three minute
or each of them to get their trunk secure
V packed aud fastened. And when they |
irst saw the old stars aud stripes after
en-, twelve, aad fifteen months imprison-
nent, tears filled their eyes and emotions |
wept over them which they could not
Mr.. Smith spoke very feeliugly of meet
Dg the dear ones at home, father; mother,
brother, aud sister, and many were the
yes in the audience that grew moist as he
ecounted the touching scenes. In con-
NJ 81 Z