Worcester morning daily spy. (Worcester, Mass.) 1888-1898, 1898-01-02

| to wait. sometimes an hour, before one
could get a place, and as soon as got
| 1t was liable to be lost one coulo
scarcely lay down anything without
missing it altogether, and could not
! turn ones back without deprivation OF
ones rights. There were ten to twelve
claimants for each dish, knife, fork or
i spoon The contestants turned the
smoky air an indigo hue with curses
And these were often polyglot; LOT tne
1 German, French, Italian, and other ror-
/ eign soldiers became so excited that
/ they swore in the yernacular, tl3oE 4
/ AS the weeks went on, and the prison.
ers increased, they adopted more and
more methods to kill time Books coutd
be bought in town, Various classes were :
( formed in Latin French, German and
1 Spanish | undertook to be private in
Jstructor in Latin and French, and met
1 with considera ole success. Debating So
cieties were devised, and debates car n
Tried ON with ability, fervor and interest.
/ Essays were written and read. Many OF
1.-The Libbyites were clever, cultured ana
really DISTINGUISHED themselves intellec-
tually. The bulk, however, played I
games, told their experiences, ehatted, (.
l.smoked, and took maps. No talent -
more useful in captivity than the talent
for sleeping particularly, as tne prog ye,t,9
has it, that he who sleeps dimes Dis
cussion on all subjects was enthusiasm
cally carried on, sometimes with more
zeal than discretion.
During our confinement there-it was
1 think the later part OF June-oWo1
captains Finn and Sawyer, were select
ed bv lot to be hanged in retaliation for :
two Kentuckians Burnside had SEM
fenced to be shot for recruiting within
our lines. The captains, some % IN
number were called out of their quartz
ers to a vacant room on the lower floors
They hurried down stairs in efferVescent
spirits, supposing they were to be pa
rolled. To their amazement ana horror
they were formed in hollow square,
and solemnly informed by Major FUR
ner. much moved on the occasion, that
he had a most painful duty to perform.
He then read an order from Gen. VIM
der, in command of Richmond at the
time to select two of the officers for
immediate execution. What a terrible
reaction must have followed One of
the union chaplains was chosen to draw
! from all the names, written on slips OF
paper two who were to be the Vic
| TINS. While it was doing, every breath
was suspended; every heart was audtb-
ly humping; every eye glittered; every
face was deathly pale. AS the names
were announced, a deep sigh of relief
burst from all but two of the 80. The
two compressed their lips viselike, and
| bore the ordeal bravely. 1t was cru =
l eial test of nerve. They were taken be-
! fore Gen Winder and thence removed
to the lower dungeons of the prison.
The day was inevitably gloomy and
depressing. No one knew, if hanging as
| a measure of retaliation should begin,
where it would end. But did not be-
| lieve that the confederacy would COM
! plete it's threat, especially after the sons
lof General Lee and Winder were made
hostages for Finn and Sawyer. The
| Richmond papers clamored for their
blood, and sayagely denounced Jefferson
Davis for his want OF courage in not
lconsigning them to the gallows. 1t was
| fortunate for humanity and civilization
| that he resisted their sanguinary APP
| peals. cis
Libby was employed by the authori-
| ties as a kind of human menagerie
Union majors, colonies, and generals
were pointed out by them as if they had
been polar bears, Bengal tigers or Afri-
can giraffes That prison was the only
complete. first-class collection of Yankee
| officers in the south. 1t was the biggest
| show of the kind in the capital or the
lconfederacy, and everybody Of couse-
quence went to see it, to look at andu
study the lions.
The confederates were formally intro
duced. and were studiously polite, as
good breeding and the position of VIC
| torious foes necessarily required The
| Tribune men were naturally presented
to everybody who gained admittance
| there-they had the distinction of dual
| ity-and their opinions. theories, infer
ences were more eagerly solicited than
they had been since they first burst So
blazingly and roaringly into the south
ern lines. They had a continuous, an
animated, if not an elegant reception I'M
Carey street for four months.
| Libby was not so bad as its reputa-
ton; it was less bad than any other
prison, indeed, in which we were cons
fined, partly because we were
with the army officers, our nat
ural associates in the field. The south
erners made positive effort to treat
the inmates of Libby with a degree of
decency and respect to which they were
Indifferent as respected privates and
their like They were, so to speak, on
their good behavior in Libby, and its
occupants benefited by it imperatively.
We two had much less to complain Of
there than elsewhere, and we knew we'll
enough that it is impossible there should
be an attractive prison We sincerely
regretted quitting Libby for another
lookup when our time came to go. z