Great Falls weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1894-1???, 1895-11-29
A SOLDIERS
THANKSGIVING
copyright, 1895, by American Press Associf
ton
BY TRIGG.

OH in May.
In all prison pens the inmates paired
off at least, and in many instances four,
five or six men formed a sort of close
corporation. All clothing, blankets,
money and other articles went into a
common fund, and the men shared alike
in tho comforts and discomforts. 1t so
happened that none of us was despoiled
when captured, and ON entering the
gates of Salisbury we had 500 in cash,
each a good blanket and a full uniform,
and we were thus enabled to live in far
greater comfort than the great majority.
We had Il choice of ground on which to
pitch our tent, and having.a eye to Il
tunnel wo got as zeal the dead line and
the fence as possible, The distance to
the dead line was 6 feet and to the
fence about 23.
Up to this time a score of prisoners
had escaped by means Of tunnels, and
dozens of tunnels had been discovered
while being dug. The C~onfcderates en-
tered the pen almost daily through the
months of June, July, August and Sep
TENDER and made a close search for dig
gers. Such vigilance acted to discourage
the prisoners, and l believe our tunnel
was the only one begun in the month of
October. Our tent was a roomy one,
and wo began operations, sinking a
shaft five feet deep and large enough to
allow a nan to work in. This hole was
in the middle of our tent, and when not
in use was covered with four sticks and
a blanket. All the dirt was carried
away in our pockets and flung into
abandoned wells or scattered over the
ground. A spoon, the two halves of q
canteen and the handles Of Il skillet
We're our tools for digging. As We had
noticed that every visit of the seaIchrls
We began and prosecuted our work in
the forenoon. After IA couple of weeks
some digging vas made after 10 O'Clock
at night, but we never felt safe while
thus engaged. When the tunnel proper
was begun, two men were working al
the same time below ground. A third
stood watch at the door, and the fourth
and fifth carried away the dirt.
The tunnel was three feet below the
surface and but a trihe larger than a
mans body. The digger had to pull
himself in by using his elbows, and he
drew after him a tin basin and II string,
The dirt was placed il the basin and
drawn out by the man in the shaft.
Crawling into a hollow log is fun COM
tunnel. The body shuts out all the air,
the place is sitting hot, and after half
an hours work the strongest man is used
up.
When our tunnel had reached the
fence, we had to go down four feet to
work under the ends Of the logs, and the
air became SO foul that we made but
work at all. We had planned to run the
tunnel close to the dispcnsary, and after.
passing the fence the digging became
easier, but delay from IL cause on an.
other prevented the completion of orr
enterprise until the goth of November.
AT noon Of that date we had dug our
fall distance and had only to break
through & foot of crust to he in the omen
cir outside the fence. We must wait for
night, of course. The weather was fine,
with u promise Of u starlight night, but
during the afternoon we made all our
arrangements TO 60, Twice during the
afternoon alarms We're given that search
ing parties Were coming in, bur tllcy
proved to be false. Night finally came
with our plan undetectud, and about s
o'clock the first of tho five entered tie
tunnel, crept TO the far end and broke
through the crust. We had dug within
IL inches of tho wall of the dinpensarv.
The building was used rs sleeping quar-
tiers for two OF three mel connected with
the hospital department, and as we pass
cd out Of the tunnel in turn each Of II.
heard them talking and moving about.
Each man crept away to the left, climb.
ed over a fence and followed it for 90
rods, and then made for "a certain tree
which could be seen from the stockadp
and which had been agreed upon as th"
rendezvous. We encountered no guards
end raised no alarm, and within half al
hOur from tho time the first mlll enter,
ed the tunnel the five of us were gath
cred under the tree.
We tIdNfItN al iiSili, WIFI tlliN
brief stops for rest, and when daylight
anne We judged that we had made
good 20 miles. We had followed TIT
highway Cu and off, but without en-
c~ountering any ono, and as the da,
broke we sought the cover OF IL thicke
and lay down TO rest and sleep. 1t wa
afternoon before any one awoke, an
then the first move was to look TO
water. We oon found that, and thel
the question Of food came up. Keeping
all together, we moved to tho west
knowing that we should come to a plan
tation sooner OF later. The best W
could do i'll the way of weapons was 70
each man to arm himself with a club
The highway was on our left as W
went forward, and we had proceedc'
for about a mile when we broke ont q
the cover Of Il thicket and found our
selves upon the road, which took
urn there to avoid "a hill. 1t was onl
n narrow road. and "a connie of iumn