The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-01-09

the windows bolted. and no evidence that
any part of the heavy plank flooring had
been raised, and no sign OF q rat hole. and
yet it evident. at a glance. that the
potato pyramid had been truncated. as the
mathematicans say, not that the potatoes
had been carried off in trunk. but. on the
contrary, for they had manifeSty been
''bagged" On measuring them again it
was seen that nearly a bushel had been
taken since the previous day. They were
certainly taken after 10 o'clock on the pre-
ceding night. for l had inspected the pile
at that hour and it all right. The
principle involved in is often
greater than the cause itself. The value
! of the potatoes, precious they We're in
! that period Of meager rations. was nothing
as compared with the Importance of trac-
| ing the agency by which thew had been
| distracted despite locks and bolts and vigil
| liant and sharp-eyed Sentres. 1t was plain
ly an invisible and potent force that had
! moved, like an arrow, through the air,
| leaving no trace behind it.
! My black cook, PrimuS-peace to his ashes
| was of the old plantation fetish faith,
| always carrying the left hind foot of a
! graveyard rabbit In the right hand pocket
of his pants. and he suggested that ode debil
| fly away wild dem taters." While the cir
! cunstantial evidence pointed strongly in
! that direction, l unwilling to believe
| that the eX-archangel would stooD to such a
small operation. To solve the mystery, [
! quietly entered the room that night with q
| brother officer, and after opening window
we saw that the potato pile had not been
| disturbed. He then passed out closing the
| door and turning the KEY in the paddock
as if locking it, but leaving the door I'M
| locked.
1t was near 10 o'clock when took my
! station in the room. armed with a carefully
| loaded Colts navy revolver. I sat on the
| moor with my back against the wall at
! the distance of about fifteen feet from the
| potato heap, and facing it. 1 was able
| TO distinguish objects in the room by the
laint rays of the that broke
| through the drifting clouds and fell llnon the
floor although they were somewhat dim
! med in passing through the dusty and cob
WEB curtained window paneS. BY u o'clock
the sounds that belong to the busy day,
what byron terms ''the stir, the din. the
hum Of men," had all died away and there
came the voices of the night The cocks
| shrill clarion, mellOwed by distance and the
parking of dogs in the far away farm
yards were borne to my ears on the still
night air as / sat Chewing the cud of sweet
anu bitter fancy" AS the night deepened
and the moon went down my sense of lone
l.hesS became intense ana made plain
~ SO by my acute hearing, that caught the
sound of signs and means that came from
the sleeping prisoners lying Oh the t1v@,
earnestly from my bOyhood up to the prayer
in the beautiful liturgy of the Episcopal
church, invoking divine mercy upon all
! prisoners and captiVeS," and that sound
touched me very sensiolY. lGdeed, it recall
cd me to the consciousness that q great
war WAS IN PROGRESS, 3iNt UNpNc III. ht't'-
est sympathy for the closely guarded pris-
onerS who were suffering for the sake of
that flag, which in my early youth had
aided to uphold in many battles on fields
afar. l then ran into a train Of speculation
on the probable issue of the war, whether
| the south would continue the career of
unbroken success thus far achieved to Il
| triumphant end for it's arms. or whether
| the brightest blades Of it's chivalry would
! he shattered on the impregnable shield OF
| and thP Tor Wh}Cn Jney
! were fighting, like the dew drop on the
! joins name be shook to air. by the embat-
| tied legions of the brave and popaious
| north?
! Just then was startled from my musings
| by a. slight noise in the room, and l caught
! sight in the gloom Of a dark object that
! looked like a bird lowering over the pota-
| to pile. AS my eye fell on it it came down
| with a. thud like a hawk on its quarry and
! then rose a few inches and dropped again.
! hurried to the spot and saw that the
strange object had stout line attached to
it that decended from the celhng. IN my
| special wonder it nearly escaped me, for It
! rose up rapidly, and 7 saw that it was Gov
ere with potatoes. [ had been willing 10
sell some Of them II another mess but
| had not speculated for "a rise in that way.
! seized the line when nearly out OF my
reach, and at that instant heard voice
above me say, "T&ke hold it's hitched
they then gave nearly lifted mo
off my feet and called out
"I.et 90 I'D there or I'll shootr' There
was at once a dead silence above, and the
line fell. A city clock Just then struck I,
showing that had been dealing with very
/ early birds. 7 lit a piece of candle and saw
! that a hole about eight inches square had
! been deftlY cut through a panel Of the
wooden ceiling, which, being in the shadow,
| had escaped my notice, the piece cut out,
no doubt having been carefully replaced so
as to prevent detection during the day. In
! fact [ had never examined the ceiling, not
| suspecting any danger from that quarter.
! The device they operated with consisted Of
a large OLD time English brick, covered with
canvas, with about twenty shar9-pomted
wrought iron nails projecting from the
lower side and bent down at the ends OF
the brick Their broad heads We're pressed
. ! close to the brick by the canvas, and We're
also held firmly down by strips of leather.
/ 1t could pick up seven or eight potatoes at
each descent, which were removed when
hauled up near the hole, so as to allow
the brick to be taken in. The prisoners
. had, no doubt. seen from their windows the
/ potatoes placed in that room, and had de-
: ! termined their location either by the sound
l ! made in pilnG them, or theY had recon-
. ! noitered through a gimlet hole. 7 had a
patch Of heavy nlate iron screwed over The
hole ana, as additional security, l removed
| tho remainder of the potatoes from that
! building did not report the breach of
prison discipline or seek to recover my prop
erty which had been lost strangely enough,
by going up as ! feared that the prisoners
a
curtailed. But while I said nothing,
kept up q devil of lot of thinking the
: irrepressible nature of yankee enterprise
II J. MACKEY,
! Late Captain Engineers. c. S. A.
= Should stand Together.
l From The Nashville American.
= Democratic senators must stand together;
/ they must remember that the victory '<lc1
I seated Grover Cleveland in the presidential
G chair was on the tariff issue. 1t is
t apparent TO every one that the republican
c senators; are uniting in order to defeat the
4 Wilson bill, hoping to receive the aid OF
certain sore and disgruntled democrats.
. ! is therefore incumbent upon democrats tt
\ band together and stand firm in the figh
= for tariff reform. Tariff reform defeated
n the party is defeated.
4 "i3lcrt!in.: NaGS;;S.'
:, | From The Daily American.
4 Governor LewelliuE and Mary Lease have
q | formally declared against each othe
n and all Jayhawkerdom is excited. No maj
q feels more like seeing this fight go on thai
q the elongated sage Of Atchison the Hon
O John Jeems Ingalls, IT may give him neV
n | Lease of political life.