The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-14
elTE FOR WAR PRISONERS.
.,rwEyr or CAPTTVES IN OUR
SHHN REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

NoJJ%T warfare to a greater degree than tho
sN.,mont given TO prisoners ofwar. Oervera
trstu n,on were fortunate that they did not
enum prisoners on this side OF the Atlantic
49, the Revolutionary War. Instead OF
eu,Ine raoted as honored guests and made to
~ entirely ut home. the fine old Spanish Ad-
W would have been taken many miles In
M through a forest dark and wild. there
=. ha shut in darkness in a cavern many feet
under ground
u,Tolcott Mountain. In the town of CRANKY.
C,nn High. Jagged rocks are to the east. a
SN.,,,,nl view Of the Pennington Valley to the
1T II is within an easy wheel trip Of Hart
s.,d twenty miles to the northwest, and is Wis
49, he many persons from various parts OF the
Ind %arordIng at least an instructive lesson on
an ADVANCE In civilization In the treatment Of
prisoners oil war.
-coIled Newgate after the famous prison In
Froland-that the eye refuses to recognize 1t in
tesning with the commonplace objects OF a
Nav England landscape. At first glance the
mace appears TO be a large barn covered with
straw hills. But the deep woods throw the
tumb led and vine clad walls into such bold re-
ieI that soon 1t is perceived that ruins of q
remarkable aud picturesque character are
NEAR They stood close to the west side OF
the road and Just across the way from an ordi-
nary farmhouse, making the ruins more re-
markable by contrast. The entrance is gained
bya circular gateway In the east wall to a sort
Of courtyard surrounded BY ruined walls, and
IN the centre is the former keepers lodge. now
used as an Office building. In Revolutionary
DAYS the building was a blockhouse.
Here was the State prison OF Connecticut be-
tween 1890 and 1920. On the sides OF the in
closure we're the workshops for the %convicts.
The only remaining prison building proper is
n the southwest corner, and was used for
cooking. sleeping. and hospital apartments.
small sentry box. from which the guard APP
peared to shoot escaping prisoners. partly
remains on the wall to the left of the entrance.
But the Revolutionary prisoners had no shell
ter except the caverns. formerly copper mines.
which extend beneath the Enclosure and out
into the adjoining fields. Just how the en-
trance was obtained to this subterranean
lookup is told by two escaped prisoners in an
interview in the Gazetteer. a Tory paper pub
lishcd in New York. Said they:
In approaching this horrid dungeon We
were first conducted through the apartments
OF the guards. then through n trap door down
stairs into another upon the same floor with
the kitchen, which was divided from it by a
very strong partition door. In the corner of
this outer room and near the front of the stairs
opened another large trap door, covered with
bars and bolts of iron. which were hoisted up
BY two guards by means OF a tackle. while the
hinges grated rs they turned upon their hooks
and opened the jaws and mouth of what they
called hell, to which we descended. by means of
a ladder. about six feet more. which led to a
large iron gate or hatchway. locked down over
a shaft Of about three feet diameter. sunk
through the solid rock. and which we were told
Lad 81 Tho Inyt ~ lAaG fif
Finding il not possible to evade this hard.
cruel tate we babe adieu to the world and
more. when we came to what Is called, the
landing; then marching shelf by shelf till
descending about thirty or forty, feet more we
with something put overhead to. carry off the
water, which keeps continually dripping. Here
CONS Z" on above fbS'SSu'Wat We told fif them that LORD Corn
money none Wa gone to the .dsuee., with With which they
seemed satisfied and rcjoiced at the news
c. heG 3 pr secomp Sn5redacG more TO t EASILY Sa and piiea SO
antly. All that is necessary is application at
the office, and payment OF a small fee. The
guide leads the visitors to a small shed at the
rear of the office building. and requests each
msInber Of the, party to put on a thick cloth
chill ami moisture, While the visitors
stand around; clothed Iiks gray iriaTs;
a 'aT E" the t etsr Of a to ladder q vel pro n9ld; thrf HsIs
was the first, trap door, mentioned by
the prisoners. He deScendS the ladder without
hesitation and is soon hidden in the deep dark
ness, The visitors follow. as a n atterof course.
and many women make the exploit without
lie is cheered by the guides voice and reaches
q landing about the size Of a large closet. He
finds the guide busy lighting u talIow dip. with
which each visitor proceeds.
Then. with u warning to s.oop low. the guide
leads the way down a gallery Of slippery and
steep rock, soon entering a large turtle-backed
cavern. 1t was here the prisoners said they
fonld their unfortunate comrades,
and a tall man cannot anlo stand erect in the Centre
The floor IS strewn with pieces OF wood. the
remains, the guide says, OF the cots filled with
ter Is dripping in frequent drops from the roof.
ani every word spoken finds reverberating
some. place the Revolutionary prisoners were
Kept in some instances for years without once
The fare OF the prison could not have been
sumptpous. because a prisoner wrote this pa
thetIc letter to the keeper:
you will much ob!idge me by sending a dinner
treatment of his foes is shown by a letter writ
ten by him to the Committee Of Safety at Sims
nmry when he sent from Cam bridge z detach-
Country. as vel, as Congress. came in
The Rey Simeon Baxter. a Tory clergy
man and a prisoner. preached "A very vehement
ence. How the cicrgyman must have made the
dark recesses Of the prison, resound with his
bitter words when he called on his hearers to
aIsassinate the patriots at their first opportu-
MY and he bade Washington and Congress to
feInenbert that Judas was. not q patriot I'll. he
banged himself for betraying his Saviour. Go
!!!hnu and do likewise heeXhorted the General:
and you will prove yourself a real savior of
America. and. like him. hold a place in the TEN
Of ,eNerlasting fame"
Unless the Rev. Simeon was a man Of low
%stature. il is difficult to conceive how he could
pave maintained II dignihed position in such a
low audience room.
The prisoners kept burning pots Of charcoal
70 dlspel the foul air, which was somewhat re.
LEVIED by, shafts or wells in the mines cut
through the solid rock 70 a height oil, eighty
iert or more. Tho guide explains all these
matters to his gray-frocked listeners in a quaint
GQIctul voice in keeDing with the surroundings
H., then leads tho way through MANY narrow
galleries of the mines, which extend a consider,
t6le distance. In many places the sides are
hord"red by piles of broken rock held in place
Dy wooden supports. which have given away In
llrt"ly III" passages. IT is difficult 70 pick the
steep condition Of the galleries.
a. short distance from the main cavern thu