The National tribune., 1902-07-17
The Momenteus, nth of February, 1865,
Ends With the Burning of Columbia, the
Capital of South Carolina.

veloped since morning and was ris-
ing into Ia n gale as the boys
finished dinner and strolled up into
town again to see the sights and look
for the LIST Oshkosh, with their horses.
They wisely decided not to destroy their
boat for the present, but to hold on to It,
as an abiding place for Otterbein kramer's $
pots and kettles. and a possible sleeping
place for the night.
Might as well come with us, Kramer.
Shorty said. No use staying to guard the
boat. Nobody's going to steal from that
old broadhorn, when he's got whole city
to pick from. Better come along and see
Babylon as she's falling.
shall l be swift 10 witness the punish
ment of those who forget God, and the
bringing down of their high placesT mur-
INJURED Otterbein Kramer. "Will it be un-
Christian to go up there to giOat over the
misfortunes of others? No; it is the
Lords justice upon evil doers. and this
army is His agent. 1t is my duty to wit
ness the loosing Of the fateful lightnings
and the trampling out of the vintage of
wrath. l will 60"
Il wonder what they're going to do with
| the old treason hatchery, now that we've
got it?' asked Wash Lambert. Burn it
down. plow up the site, and sow it with
salt? That's what ought to be DONE"
Let me and Tom alone, and you won't
have no need for salt" remarked Abe with
a vicious set Of his jaws. mo need Of
anybody to help us. We can take care Of
this whole place, without anybody to help
us, and after we're through we wouldn't
yet be quite even with the Southern Con-
federacy for what we've had to stand"
There never was but 5000 people in
the whole blasted place. much more'n half
of them niggers," said Tom. 'Aint as
many whites here as in many Northern
County seats. Every one of them the
rankest rebels the devil ever misbegot.
1 Il
Oh this war, to torment and murder poor
people. What's the whole billing of them,
and all that they have, to what they've
cost the rest of the country! Taint a
drop in the ocean,"
Il wonder where the machine shops
are?" asked Sandy. ''I'd like awfully well
| to see what they have here. And I'd like
to see that place where they print the
| Confederate money, though they don't do
as good work as the common printing
offices in the North. They must have lots
of interesting places here"
''They say that they've got the finest
hospital in the South here said Alf Rus
sell. Must be that big building over
there, which is flying hospital flag. Let's
go over there"
"Confound your old pukes and purges."
calculated Monty Scruggs. You're al
ways thinking about something to turn a
mans stomach. I'm interested in some
tiIuS tudl WOTtH Wuile-LHedHS iutei-
lect-not sticking. out your tongue and
feeling your pulse, and charging So for a
cents worth of Epson salts. / wonder
where that Wonderful law library is? Big
gest one in the South, they say. Been
more than two centuries a-gathering. Got
lots of the d-black-letter books brought
from England, that you can't find any
where else. Won't it be great to get in
| among them?7 That building up there at
the head of, the street looks like q big
library. think I'll go over there.
Il believe that's their armory," said
Harry Joslyn. ''Pll go and take look at
it. Maybe they've got in there some Of
been reading about"
"Hold on, boys; don't scatter yet" COM
manded ST. "Wait till those troops get in,
and some sort of order is established, and
we know where we are"
what about burning down the old pest
house of treasonW inquired Shorty. watch
ing large spark blown from the burning
depot light on one Of the cotton bales piled
in n long row along the center of the
street. He stepped forward and brushed
it off, remarking, This cotton will be all
afire presently, unless something is done,
and then it'll burn down the whole town..
You never saw cotton burn, did you? It's
the meanest stuff in the world to burn.
You never can put it out. You put out
one fake and then another's ablaze, rises
up and flies off to carry the fire you don't
know where. II we're going to burn the
town. the. best ways to let this cotton
catch good and hard"
Let her co." grumbled Wash Lambert
It's been long time since Sodom and
Gomorrah, and the worlds been aching
for another. This places ripe for It."
"You all overheard Gen. Sherman's or
ders to Gen. Howard" said ST. stepping
forward to knock live coal off the cot
ton, which had been carried there bodily
by the gale "All the rebel factories, ware
houses, machine-shops, and SO on, were to
be destroyed. Everything else to be
saved"
''They weren't so blamed particular up
in PENNSYLVANIA last Summer" said Wash
Lambert sulkiy. "They burnt Chambers
burg clear to the ground, without errors or
burg it was good deal more of place
than this. l was born near there"
You Pennsylvania? l don't believe
it. laughed Shorty. II never knew n
Pennsylvania to be a grumbler, except
when he couldn't have scrapple three
times a day."
Il haint had no decent scrapple since I
left Pennsylvania. They don't know the
first principles of making it out West"
That accounts for your remarkably
even temper laughed 81. You're always
mad"
IItip. IIeiiD. My mousse s anre. ~, 1t
will burn down, and my home'll be gone.
., my poor children" screamed a woman.
rushing out of little frame house. evil
IDENTIFY the home of workingman, or one
who had been one before being conscript-
ed. My child's upstairs. | can't get at
her. She'll be burned up; o, she'll be
burned up"
The roof was already in a blaze. and
under the high wind was being licked up
ike prairie grass.
I'll go in for the child" said Shorty,
ilinging his carbine and belt to Otterbein
Kramer. 1.-THE rest Of you try to put out
the fire.
He rushed into the house, while 81,
Wash, Tom and Abe boosted each other,
and clambered on to the roof, and tried to
beat out the flames. Monty, Harry. Gid,
All, Sandy and Pete ran into the house
and began carrying out the things
81 and his, companions, after a few
minutes Of brave. lighting, in which they
were nearly caught by the cracking raf-
ters breaking under them, gave up the
struggle to save the house, and jumping
to the ground, ran in to help save the
household goods.
Shorty had run up the narrow stairway.
which was already on fire from a coal
falling through the open of-trap. The
smoke was binding, and in another min
ute his retreat would be cut off but he
rushed on. At the top of the stairs he
came to large, barely furnished room, i'm
mediately under the roof Round about it |
were the poor little beds of the children. |