The Opelousas courier., 1899-09-23
History and Hygiene.
Baton Rouge Advocate.

Baton Rouge advocate.
Dir. FL. Mayer ia Il recent aistiess
at ChautauQuA on the Hygiene OF the
Home and Farm, quoted TWO historical
incidents to show the value q: Il pure
water supply on hoard snip. iit" frat
was the we'll known incident Of tie
"Argo," that left an Algerian port for
Ma1s,liles with Il hnndied and TWEEN
" soldiers aboard, thirteen OF whom
died .n rnn;r. Yhilo uinety-ri@h' de-
/ banked at Malsti,Ies ~!ln different
forms 81 malaria! fever, white The crew
remained perfectly healthy. Upon IN
vcstigatiou it was found that HE sol
di4rs HAD been supplied witt, mnrsh-fed
water. while tie crew drank COED Wa
ter. The other is an incident OF our
late civil war, in which Il distinguished
citizen of Baton Rouge was an actor
rs lie Incident !su wei! known as it
should be, we mention ii, not so much
to show TIE value Of good water, as to
yebear>e the splendid heroism and stay
ing qualities Of the Confederate soldier
and 10 show what horrors he was sub
jecteu to. aud with what courage he sur
yivel. In the sH!lnt OF 1864 u con
truytrsy arose between Gen. Jones,
the Confederate commander at Charles
ton and Gen. Foster tie commander of
| tIIE iCSSi L iSitaS w ti' iipi1 81 ~
relative 20 the removal of sig hundred
Union officers, prisoners Of war, who
had been Quartered in the suburbs Of
Charleston. This controversy resulted
in the demanding Ola like number of
Confederate officers. prisoners at FUrt
Delaware to Morris Island, where they
were kept for six weeks in tents, in q
stockgae erected between Forts Gregg
and Wagner, where they were
moro or less exposed to the fire Of
their own batteries. The Confederate
prisoners were embarked early IN All
| gust in q small S. 5. called the Ceres
| emit" where they were huilcu between
decks in bnnks disposed OF in three
inches nt space being allowed 10 each
Elan. The space between the rows nj
hunks was not over " feet, and the
distance from floor TO ceiling being SIX
feat. What air and light penetrated
| this black hole Of the Crescent, came
| through q la,c!.way and from fonr
sally ports. Oniy fifty prisoners were
allowed on the upper deck ut 4 time,
The confinement Oh the steamer lasted
seventeen days, during which period the
neat and stencil were apparently IN
bearah.e, ana tivAled the horrors of the
middle passaga.n There was 10 way to
wash clothing; the rallnns consisted OF
bacon and hard tack. The only thing
TINT was wholesome, though not ljaia-
table, was the CONDENSED, water from
the engines, which was served our warm,
the prisoners pouring it from "a to
can 10 cool. After seventeen days CT
torture in this frtid atmosphere, over
charged with the deadly ]culhon-dl-
oxide gas the products OF exhalation and
other pOisOnS thrown off from the
lungs and skin OF the prisoners, these
heroic men were sent TO II stocknGe
where they were nsrlcrOWded in tents,
and guarded by the Fifty-foulih Mas
~sachusetts, u negro regiment. h Ia
tons here consisted for the greater rait
of the time of a clptuai ni corn meal
inush made fTHii UustY, WoIUy meal.
One OF the prisoners WHO complained
to Col. Halloweii, the cnmmanG"i, OF
the worms in the nr,I, was clftc,iIy
ANSWERED. that lie ought 10 be pleased Il,
have bis meat an'i bread runk":I Ia
gct!ei. The drinking water was
wholesome. III the tall t'r, piis,"ci>
we've removed 10 the EASEMENTS u Fnii
Pulaski, where for in!ty days tlelr IH-
ton consisted uf one cup -! cor UtHE
and u half cup of pickles, which it was
said was gwen n iothiiln1iun Tor the
fare given the Yankees AZ An;ieisnn-
| Vile. Col. Brown, a humane office,
commanding the garrison, il New YORK.
CT, was moved TO let solnp Of t.ir piis-
out!s who could, 90 So, make arrange
ments with the sut'eI tor provisions.
There wtir 40 deaths On the shin Etc--
cent, and tht mortality IL tue FoIt, III
despite OF the bowel aftrc.inrs incident
to Il musty meal ana pickle diet, was
remarkably small. Now when we con
slider the amount OF flesh III; necessary
for health, WE are amazed at t'l!s low
mortality ; it is tue that the mel, con-
fined were not ordinary met. They
were all officers with tie courage that
was part of the heritage of the men OF
the old South. They had become to-
ured to the lardships of camp and field,
and were doubtless hettet ahie than
any body OF men 10 tho history of wa to
withstand those liardsiiips. but this in
stance beats them all when we vtlnem-
Der that the space given each man in
the hunks was only twelve inches. and
! that they had TO SLEEP on their stiles
| four to every bunk, packed like sal
dines-heads to feet. Ii seems incred-
| ibie that they should have lived to tell
the tale, but there are still living wit
nesses among whom are Gen. Leon JAS.
tremski. Hon. BoIiver Edwards and
Judge w. Z. Kemp, Of Tnnsipahoa;
lieutenants D. Mahoney, j. Fickeissen,
and J. L.. Hemstead, Of New Orleans,
,pl rcut Rurvncc Of hvopalins