The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-04-08


sea from New York and other Northern
ports. As soon as tho War Department de-
termlned TO use 1t rs military prison
Congress began to lavish money upon it.
In lN60 and 1861 S250.D1V was appropriated.
On the 10th OF February. 1862. bill appro-
prlatiag x20u,bDO was passed. and On the
same day another for $1,000. and latev in
the day third, a total of haE q million
dollars in a single day. As the Tort flied
up with prisoners, many of then1 Of linz
portance. IL was proposed to- enlarge the
accommodations ny building an annex fort
on the adjoining Bird Key. and S550,0d0 vas
appropriated for the purpose But this
project was abandoned after the plans had
been made. ard the money was used upon
the original structure. The last appropria~
ton was made in 1873. and the garrlson
was Withdrawn ia 1878. Up to that time the
structure alone had cost 81. 935000. The solo
representative of the army in the font for
years was Ordnance Sergeant William Kel-
ler who nainfed the old colllnbiads with
coal tar once year.
Since 1888 Fort Jefferson has been used
as q Federal quarantine station, under the
charge of DIR. r.. ID. Murray, and in the
summer months it could be visited only
with his permission. The adjutant general
or the army describes the fort as "a double
casemated, hexagoral structure of brick,
standing on Garden Key, TortugaS, the
most southwestern part of the Florida
reefs, in latitude ~ degrees q minutes II
seconds ncrth, longitude 50 degrees 81 min
utes 90 seconds west" In 1864. he adds,
1T contained about 1000 prisoners. The
Key contains an acres, five of which are
within the we j OF the fort. The average
height of the key above the sea is three
and one~half feet, but excavation ever
two and half feet develops the primitive
coral and the salt water of the gulf"
The landing place is in front of a wooden
structure, in which is the fumgatlng ap-
paratus of the quarantine station. and II
wooden bridge leads across the fifty-foot-
VIDE moat up TO the heavy granite portal
steam launch and several smaller quar-
antine boats float peacefully in the moat
ana in a dozen steps from the entrance
the visitor is within the fort On every
side stretch away the long rows of case
mates, one above the other, in as good con-
diuon now as when first built. The fort
proper Is too solid a. structure TO become a
ruin in anything less than centuries. The
only signs OF decay ever evident have been
the barbette magazines, extending IN front
of what a civilian would call the roof of the
fort. These have been weakened by age.
and occasionally a hurricane has blown one
down. To the right is a cottage for the
keeper Of the Tortugas harbor light which
shines from the top of one of the bastions,
ana beyond this Is an immense three-story
prick building. barracks for the men. Dr.
rectly opposite the entrance. across the in
cS 81 r as Is the of,cers Quarters anotnsr
left of this is a row of one-story brick
houses for the noncommissioned officers
The Enclosure up to the time of the recenr
Bushes had overgroWn it, and there were
trailing vines that trip the exploring Wis
Thirty cocoanut palms have grown till their
feathery tops are FAR above the walls of
lI6 lott. Wnen in2re We're l,OUV prisoners
and about eight hundred soldiers within the
fort outbreaks of yellow fever were fire.
quent. and all the victims but two We're
buried on neighboring sand keys, which
have since been washed away. A small
monument near the barracks marks the
resting place Of the two who were buried
within the walls-Brevet Major Joseph Sim
Smith, assistant surgeon who died of yell
low fever Sept. S, 1867, aged thirty years,
and Henry Price, only son of Joseph Sim
Smith, who also died of yellow fever ten
days later aged three years and six
months.
Water was always a serious question at
Fort Jefferson. and immense stone tanks
wefe built for its storage. extending un-
der almost the whole structure, and under
a large section Of the inclosure; giant
~ at work: but this expensive machine has
stood so many years idle and uncared for
that IT is ruined by rust, and Is falling TO
pieces. The quarantine establishment was
supplied with rain water caught upon the
acres of roofs.
The most noted prisoner the fort held was
DR.. Mudd, the physician who attended John
Wilkes Booth after the assassination Of
President Lincoln. DIR. Mudds cell was one
OF the large classmates in the lower tier to
the left of the entrance. and some one has
painted upon the exterior of its heavy wood
en- door: Leave hope behind who enters
here" 1t was a gloomy but spacious room,
from which Dr. Mudd made several unsuc-
cessful efforts to escape. At the time of one
of the serious yellow fever epidemlcs IN the
fort when not surgeon was left alive on
the island, DIR. Mudd offered his professional
services, They We're accepted, and he
worked so faithfully that the officers after
ward united in signing the petition which
secured the prisoners pardon.
In way and another, more than $50
0Olo0 has been expended upon = the fort ana
liable base for naval operations in the gulf
both military and naval men were disposed
to laugh at it as a useless work, II Is 50
we'll built however, that with small expend-
iture it can be converted into formidable
modern fortress.