Evening journal., 1905-05-03
STEALING
...-H c A r
IOriginaIl

from as many mouths. and the smob-
ing comrades pricked up their ears.
"Neyer lcsrl O. that raid" remark
ed one Of
Lets BE- g." sald another.
'Aie and friend Bill Acres tun-
neled out G. Andersonville prison pen
and made seccessful escape-that is.
we escaped from the prison and had
the whole south to roam In. Gettin
into northern territory was a far diff
ferent matter. l found dead Coufed-
crate that hadn't been buried and ap-
propriated his clothes. There wasn't
much uniform about 'em, but they had
the southern cut. and the coat at least
was gray. with c. S.A on the buttons
"Well. Bill and l concluded TO sepa-
rate. We wouldn't be Of use to each
other, and it might give me away as a
Confederate to be seen assoclatin' with
a miserable escaped Yankee prisoner.
So when we came TO a forE in the road
Bill took TO one fork and / 10 the other.
/ didn't see anything OF Bill for two
weeks. and in the meantime ia gone
over a good deal of ground. When l
did see him II was this way:
zone night-T always Travelled nights
and hid in daytime struck a rail-
road. l was pretty near worn out and
determined TO follow the track tin ]
reached a station and try to beat my
way on a train goin' north. relyin' on
my cheek and Confederate uniform
for protection. Fact is, was so des-
perate that was even willin' TO run
the risk Of beln' taken in for a spy.
1 walked on the ties for an hour, when
: came to sleepy little station. A
! freight train stood on a side track with
3 locomotive headed south. walked
along till / came to the rear car. a box
! car and heard voices inside of it. l
r listened and soon learned from what
7 they said that they were a lot OF Un-
+ ion prisoners OF war on their way TO
5 Andersonville. But what startled me
most was hearin' Bill Acres voice
: among the rest. There was no guard
r about. which surprised me, and, call
0 in for Bill, | made myself known to
S him. He told me Of bis capture and
e said that the prisoners had all given
S their parole to the guard not to escape
on condition that they be furnished
: with a first class meal the next day
J. Then the guard had gone of TO q
i dance in a barn. There wasn't much
S use takin' the prisoners parole, fol
e they couldn't git out nohow.
d while we was talkin' 1 heard .
n putin below and knew there was Z
l. train comm up from the south.
e made up my mind to play a desperate
It game. / told the boys in the car t
, keep still. Seein' a lantern on tn
l. station platform. swung it and stop
II ped the comm train, a freight
e "'What d'y' wantT asked the COP
IS ductor, gittin' out o. the caboose ca
d in the rear and comm forward with I
II lantern.
II 81 want that -r coupled on to you
a train
K "'Got an orderT
"'Not a railroad order. The arm.
10 can't wait for railroad red tape. That
e what brought il down here when it,
p wanted farther north It's full o
ammunition
''This settled the matter. and the mai
gave the necessary orders. / had learn
ed from the men in the ear that W
were between Raleigh. n. c., on tn
south and Lynchburg Va, on the
north. I told the conductor that
wanted the car pulled TO Lynchburg
When it was coupled on behind the ca
= boose and we had started, the conduct
or invited me TO ride in the car witt
him, but l told him that I wouldn'
leave the ammunition out OF my sigh
for a moment. / had my plans all form
ed. My intention was when we reaches
a convenient point 10 uncouple the cal
break open the door, free the prisoner
and all make tracks for the Blue Ridge
"Of course the nearer we could get
the mountains the better. but of cours
all the time we stayed with the trai
we were at great risk and under terr
bic suspense. As soon as we got int
Virginia ] began 10 think Of droppir
Y away from the train. Luckily at
station where we stopped l was abb
u to steal crowbar for Openin' the ca
le and laid it on the roof Since all wa
: gOin' well. kept with the train till W
- reached a point ten or a dozen mile
"a from Lynchburg and as many from tn
u mountains; then I went to the couplin
= The door of the cabOose was right u
n against the coupled end of the priso
a. car, but the caboose door was shut, an
r all the risk took was Of its bein' sue
denly opened I couldn't pull the eouI
lin pin. so ! got my crowbar, an
: this helped me out After drawiu' III
Or pin / waited while the car fell slowl
i back, not DARN to make a sound wit
lt the brake. l tell you / watched tha
" caboose door with terror till my ca
N was far enough away TO apply II
n brake when ! had drifted a hundre
IN yards behind and the train before m
1. disappeared around a bend through
D. cut my heart was beatin' like a drum
x Il stopped the car. broke open II
III door, freed twenty-four Union soldier
/. and we set off for the Blue Ridge. AT
SO er crossin' two chains OF mountains W
ne reached West Virginia, which was III
IN ion ground. and Bill and l turned U
le eventually in Ohio"
le "But l thought" remarked one Of II
Us listeners, 'that the men had given
OF parole not to escapeT