Arizona republican., 1903-05-04
"Our every-da life within the prison

Our every-day life within the prison walls was one of misery ana depriva-
 tion. Our houses were rude affairs that We constructed ourselves by | throwing ragged blankets over poles i set in the ground. The tent in which
 three of us managed to exist was To- | cated on the side hill. We excavated | the upper side of the hill and put the | dirt on the lower side, thus making | the floor Of our tent level Here we were compelled to live on the bare ground with a leaky roof of blankets | above us and practically no shelter on | the sides. Our entire cooking outfit 1 was a tin cup which We had secured | by some stratagem. Fuel in the prison | was worth almost it's weight in gold. ! In order, therefore, to live as economi- | cally as possible we built a little oven ! of mud, leaving an opening at the top | just large enough to be covered by the ! cup. We made a small hole in the ' front of the oven for putting in fuel and another small opening at the back to serve as an escape for the smoke.
 In the cup we would cook a quart of mGsh which served as q meal for four hungry men. Sometimes we would be compelled. to go for days with but one of these meals. The roll would be called once a day by the sergeants. This was done so that they could as certain just how many had died or escaped during the previous twenty four hours. so that no more rations
 than necessary would be issued. Our fare was very meager. Sometimes we
 werS given a little piece Of meat about
 Ill
 get a little rice, cooked Tn sandy water.
 Once in q great while each of us was
 given a teaspoonful Of salt.
 AS the number of prisoners in
 creased our rations decreased. On ac- count of these starvation rations and
 the filthy condition of our prison an
 epidemic of smallpox broke out among
 us. Word came that everybody was to
 get vaccinated. The surgeons used
 poisonous virus, and then death began
 to stare us in the face. The prisoners
 were crowded within the stockade so
 that every available space was occu-
 pied. This crowded condition aggra-
 vated the situation and the boys began
 to die at a fearful Ia te. Go Where you
 would you would fiEd dead and dying
 men lying on the ground. Corpses
 were loaded upon wagoIs s and taken by
 the hundreds to the greenhouse. The
 Confederates required prisoners to
 carry away their dead to the green
 house under heavy guard, and as re-
 ward issued to each of them a stick of
 cord wood for each body carried away.
 Only one stick Of cord wood was issued
 to every ninety prisoners once in
 twentyfour hours. Carrying away
 their dead, therefore. offered an oIpor-
 tunity to secure wood, and it was no
 unusual sight to see men fighting over
 the body of one of their comrades.
 In the midst of all this suffering and
 death there were many who did not
 forget their devotions. Surrounded
 with death, profanity, lice, worms,
 darkness and rain they could be heard
 offering up their prayers to God. These men were the true Hebrew children:
 this was the genuine fiery furnace:
 there the pure gold was separated from
 the dross. War made patriots and An dersonville tried them. This little band of Daniels continued to meet from day to day to pray. sing and hold their love feasts. Many of them had to crawl to the meeting place. their limbs being drawn out of place by the sCurvy.
 ~ Ia AAON SUI lil iSAllS- lllEt tADIt ltldl men risked their lives daily to escape from such place of miserable exist once. At one time myself and several other prisoners were taken outside the prison to gather wood, accompanied by a heavy guard. In some way two of us managed to get out of sight of the guards We then made a break for liberty. As soon as we were discov- cred gone bloOdhounds were put on our trail. Finally we were overtaken by the dogs and l narrowely escaped being torn to pieces by one of the animals. ! l was saved, however, by one of the guards and taken back to the prison 1 to endure many more days of the life 1 that was worse than death A fruitful ! method of escape was by means of tunnels, which the prisoners dug under the walls. During the dry season we were allowed to dig wells for water. From the bottom or the wells We would start tunnels and labor for months ta cut . way out of the prison pen. Men separated their canteerss. which formed a little tin scoop, shaped like a saucer 1 These they used for shovels for re- 1 moving the dirt. These tunnels were | seldom more than eighteen inches in l diameter and often foo feet under the l ground. It was not unusual for pris- i oner to labor for several months all | most night and day in one of these | tunnel dungeons and make his escape. | only to be brought back to the prison | by bloodhounds to undergo punish | ment.
 When finally the time cane for our | release few of us could have been rec ogni2ed as human beings. Here is a | man who through many living. deaths ! has survived the greenhouse. His 1 form is merely a skeleton. His face | is as black as the earth itself. He has | not seen soap for ten months. He is | almost destitute of clothing. A long | exposure has left him almost nude. His | hair is almost as long as your arm and | protruding through one of the holes in | the top of his hat Many of these after their release, whose constitutions | were shattered by the suffering and | exposure. lived only a few months. | Others have survived to the present | lay and to these the scenes of Ander- sCnville will always be as fresh in their