The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-09-14
A DAY WITH THE CONvICTs
Pleasant Trip to the Castle Haynes Phos
phAte Mines-The Interesting Operation
Carried on There by the State-A Magnif
cient Crop-A Barbecue Feast

H.S
Carried on There by the state-A Magnii
cient Crop-A Barbecue Feast
Mr.. William Fl. Chadbourn, chairman
of the finance committee of the board
of directors Of the state penitentiary,
gave an outing and barbecue to a num-
Der of friends yesterday at the state
farm at Castle Haynes. The party left
here at 1G:30 q. NJ, in one Of Mr.. H. L.
Fennell's w~agonettes and were driven
through the country nine miles TO the
farm. The party consisted Of Mr.
Chadbourn and Messrs. j. c. Springer,
A. D. Brown, H. L. Fennell, Sam Pow
ell and T. w. Clawson, of The Mes
senger. They arrived at their desti-
nation a few MINUTES to II o'clock, and
received a cordial greeting from Mr.. J.
J. Wood, superintendent of the farm,
and Mr.. ". H. Shearin, superintendent
Of the phosphate works.
Soon after the wagonette party ar
rived at the farm, Mayor S. P. Wright,
Captain DeLeon Fillyaw and Mr.. o. NJ.
Fiuyaw also came out from the city
dis JOillCo lACliI.
After a few minutes rest at the SUI
p~erintendent's residence, the party Wis
tied the phosphate mill a couple of
hundred yards away. 1t is a large three
story frame building full Of machinery
for manufacturing the phosphate which
is dug from the mines almost at it's
door. The mill was not in operation
but Mr.. Shearin had a large force Of
convicts at work crushing the lime and
shell rock which is being used in Will
mington and Goldsboro for street i'm
prOvements. The stone is crushed by
two powerful iron jawed crushers that
are run by steam, and as the crushed
stone falls from the crusherS it is
caught up by an. endless bucket eleva-
tor, with iron buckets on al iron chain,
which carries it to the second story
Of the building and dumps it into a
spout that v it into box cars
standing on the spur track of the At
lantic Coast Line. The airs are thus
loaded by machinery, the only handling
the stone receives after pouring into
the car from the spout is to be shoveled
by a couple of cOnvictS into the ends
of the cars. When the large pieces of
stone come from the mines it is dumped
in a pile, and several convicts load it in
wheel barrOws and deliver it at the
crushers a few feet away. Two con-
victs then feed the stone into the
crushers, and from the time the steam
is turned on till the whistle blows for
dinner and supper, the scene is an ex-
ceedingly busy one. The %cOnvicts were
working faithfully and looked like a
c%ontented lot. Most of them are ne
grOes but a few of them are white.
While they. work, several guards sur
round the mill at places of vantage and
stand silently with guns ready or pace
back and forth on a beat of a few feet.
When the whistle blew for dinner, the
convicts were formed in a squad, the
guards close in and they were marched
to the stockade a short distance from
the superintendent house.
The party of Wilmingtonians follow
ed the .convicts into the stockade and
inspected their sleeping quarters, find
ing them in good condition. They also
inspected the cooking department and
found it clean and in charge Of several
good cooks. The dinner was being TAX
en- up and it consisted of savOry beef
stew and we'll cooked corn bread that
made everybody hungry. Several of
the party tasted the bread and found it
of excellent quality, while the beef
stew as it was dished was evidence Of
itself that it was we'll cooked and pal
atable to anybody. Connected with the
stockade is a lavatory and after the
~convicts had washed their hands ana
faces there, filed into the dining room
for dinner. They were seated on rows
Of benches with a rest or table in front
just large enough to hold the tin plates
or pans in which the food is served.
The convicts are not allowed to speak
and when they want a waiter or any,
thing else they silently hold up their
hands. The walters are also %convicts
and they too are not allowed to speak
but they keep a sharp watch n when
a convict's hand goes up they are
quick to approach. The convict then
hands them his tin plate or cup, if he
wants them refilled, or motions that he
wants bread, and his wishes are silent
ly obeyed. Each fellow vas served as
often as he wished, as it is the policy
tendent to give them all they can eat.
They ate their dinner with a relish and
after a rest they were marched back to
the mill to their work.
1t is always necessary to ave a res
ident physician on one OF the state
farms. and here we find DR.. T. F. Nix
on, formerly of Raleigh. He has a
~dispensary in the superintendent
house and that he is efficient in the dis
charge Of his duties, the fine sanitary
condition Of the stockade shows. He
NSAio NO NA"S OAAy N~A OON-
en- or so of the %convicts sick now and
that the ceses consist of malaria1 and
remittent fevers.
From the stockade Mr.. Chadbourn
and his guests went to the superintend-
ent's house, and after refreshments and
a few minutes rest, Superintendent
Wood invited them into the dining
room. He had prepared a barbecue of
a couple Of pigs, and the other dishes
on the bill of fare were pigshead hash,
Brunswick stew. biscuits, hoecake,
stewed apples, butter milk, etc. With
such a feast before them, the party fell
to eating with an appetite and zest
that must have flatered Superintendent
Wood who had prepared the dinner.
He is an expert at barbecuing and
making Brunswick stew, and it is
stated that he has won the diamond
belt along this line for thirty years OF
more-though he does not look so DID.
For the writer and the other Whining