The National tribune., 1902-02-27
owe WE'RE FORCED no REMAIN BELOW DEck."


might have succeeded; but ii was frus-
trated by the basest treachery.
Among the 6S prisoners of war con-
fined in the pententiary there were four,
only those and no more, whose nerves gave
way, and, violating an oath already taken,
they took the oath in manner and form
as prescribed by the Federal authorities.
In other words, they deserted. One man
of this four betrayed the plan of his
comrades to escape. Men were sometimes
induced to take the oath by lack of
pride and fortitude, and absence of manly
stamina, who would have done nothing
else prejudicial to the cause which they
had abandoned, or that would have com
promised their former comrades. There
were men, however, who added treachery
to apostacy, and this man was one of that
infamous class. The four were so fearful
of exciting the suspicion of the other pris-
oners, and so well aware of the bitter
scorn and resentment which their con-
duct would raise against them, that they
carefully concealed their design until the
last moment.
Search was at once made for the
knives which the prisoners had obtained
and for other evidence which might cor
roborate the infOrmer's report. Fifteen
knives had been introduced into the hall
and were in the hands of as many pris-
OueTS. ne Search WIS LUuue secretly ana
conducted as quietly as possible, during
the time when the prisoners We're locked
in the cells, but information was 'tele
graphed' along the ranges, and only seven
knives were found.
FORT DELAWARE.
''In March, 1864, the Confederate Off
GERS, prisoners of war, were transferred
from the Ohio Penitentiary to Fort Della
ware, and the change was as if living
men, long buried in subterranean vaults
had been restored to upper earth.
Gen. NJ. jeff Thompson, of Missouri,
was the only Confederate officer in Fort
Delaware before our party arrived, but
many others came from Camp Chase
about the same time. Gen Thompson's
unfailing flow of spirits kept us cheerful,
and his hopefulness was contagious. He
possessed also an amazing pOetical genius.
He wrote with surprising fluency, and his
finest compositions cost him neither trou-
BILE nor thought. Shut him up in a room
with plenty of stationery and in "a hours
he would write himself up to the chin in
verse. His muse was singularly prolific
and her progeny various. He roamed
recklessly through the realm of poesy
Every style seemed his-blank verse and
| rhy me, ode and epic, lyrical and tragical,
satiric and elesiac, sacred and profane
sublime and ridiculous, he was equally
good at all. Perhaps his poetry might
| not have stood a very strict classification,
but he produced fair marketable sample
which deserved, his friends thought, to
be quoted at as liberal figures as some
about which much more was said. Gen
Thompson would doubtless have been more
successful as a poet if he had been less
honest and practical business man. He
persisted in having some meaning in all
that he wrote, and only a irst-class poet
can afford to do that. When a versifier
suspects that he lacks the true inspiration
he would better try the confidence game
and induce the public to admire by writ
| ing that which no one can understand
| 1t would seem, too, that writing poetry
and playing the fiddle have this much in
common, that a true genius at either is
| fit. for nothing else. The amateurs can
take care of themselves, but the born
| masters display an amiable worthlessness
for everything except their art. Gen.
Thompson was thoroughly wideawake and
competent in all practical matters.
AN AAnABLE RETALIATION.
"At Fort Delaware the prevailing tonic
of conversation was exchange; men who
were destined TO many another weary
month OF Imprisonment sustained them
selves with the hope that it would soon
come. AT last piece of good fortune
| befell some of us. 1t was announced
| that Gen. Jones, the officer in command
at Charleston, had placed 80 Federal Off
GERS in part of the city where they
| would be exposed to danger from the bat
teries of the besiegers. An order was is
sued that 90 Confederate officers of cor
responding rank should be selected for re-
taiiation. Five general and 45 field ofl-