New-York tribune., 1908-11-15

TO by some Of the historians, that OF certificate
of committee of American Snlpmasters uhdeI
parole from the prison hulk Jersey that tnS
treatment received by the prisoners on ooa.
those hulks was all that could be expected ana
that what they needed only was hberauoh alia
exchange. The circumstances under Which luis
certificate was exacted by the EngIsn colnLllS ct
sary Of prisoners, David Sproat Were sum 81 81
to deprive the certificate of any real eVlden'as
weight. This brings me to q CONSIDERATION "a
the circumstances of the imprisonment
The prisoners were sailors. They were, theIe-
fore, turned over to the naval authorltles anu
not to the military authorities The naval au-
thOrities used, as was natural, ships rather than
dry lands for their detention. 1t meant less
number of sailors to be used as guards. ana
meant economy in every way in the cost OF lhe
custody. They took the old vessels which had
ceased to be useful for war or transpofta'ioil
purposes Such vessels were usually ieaky. IN
tested with vermin and when their porthoies
were boarded UP to prevent escape. there was
very little ventilation. The Jersey was Sixty
four-gun ship and capable OF CARRYING crew ..
four hundred persons. When dismantled and
after space had been assigned TO the officers ana
crew in charge, there was left space under the
upper decks into which fourteen hundred mlser-
able victims of the system were thrust t1eFe 70
spend their nights in the summer in an 1ntoler-
able heat and to suffer from cold in the winter
With only one surgeon, who did not apparently
attend to his duties at all. with one cook, and
with guards in charge, all of whom resented the
employment. it is not to be wondered at that
the poor prisoners were gradually subjected To
greater and greater cruelty at the hands or
their aptors Yellow fever and smallpox were
rife among the prisoners. 4ne cleanliness Ol
the vessel depended upon the energy or the
prisoners well as the severity Of the discipline
of the guards but how could cleanliness be ex-
pected when the whole fourteen hundred were
affected with disease, and were dying at the
rate of from five to ten a day? The filth and
the eff1uvia were horrible. IT is hard to under
stand how men lived on from month to month,
from year year, in such fetid atmosphere
Il is impossible to determine exactly who was
responsible for the lack of food and the insult
ficient quality and quantity which were fur
nshed There is evidence that the orders were
that tWo-thirds of the daily food furnished to
British sailors to be furnished to these pris-
oners but it is certain that the bread and meat
and dried vegetables which We're furnished We're
so worm eaten and rotten to provide little
sustenance These abuses probably from
the fraud and cupidity of the guards and i'm
mediate attendants but the officers in higher
authority cannot escape the responsibility that
is necessarily at their door for failure to order
constant inspection and to protect the human
beings whose lives, as they must have known.
were being sacrificed from day TO day by the
awful environment in which they were COM
PEELED 10 live.
SUFFERINGS on THE JERSEY.
The dangers OF infection and contagion from
the pesthole which the vessels at once became
doubtless drove away inspectors and persons of
charitable intent who might have assisted the
victims Of this Imprisonment. Indeed the very
cruelty and danger Of the surroundings exposed
the prisoners more and more TO the absolute
authority of the immediate attendants and
guards, who themselves had TO undergo the risk
Of living near and in the pesthouse. and who
by the dangers which they themselves had 70
run. Thousands and thousands of the victims
were buried on the shores OF Wallabout Bay, not
more than five hundred yards from the ship and
buried in such insufficient way that the re-
curing tides disclosed their bodies to the air
and washed their bones further upon the shore
Finally, in 1883, this ship which seems TO have
been used a prison ship only fer three years.
was abandoned: those who had lived through
the awful miseries were released. and the ship
was allowed to remain in its place until II IeI
apart and was destroyed by the elements and
the storms. For years afterward its frame and
ribs at low tide could be seen 10 remind the on
locker of its terrible history. No list OF those
confined no list of those who died, survives To
enable to identify its victims. We know
this: The men who were there confined
Americans who had taken service on privateers-
men to destroy British commerce and 10 ham
per the British operations upon the sea- and who
after their confinement were generally afforded
the opportunity OF betraying their allegiance 10
the cause Of the Revolution by enlIsting in the
British navy and engaging in the suppression II
the war against their own people We know
that they, with only few exceptions preferred
the death which was present 70 them every GtF
I'm their lives upon those prison ships to the dis
honor of deserving the cause OF their country.
Efforts from time TO time have been made to
put into permanent form expression of the
gratitude Of this government and its people To
those who thus offered up their lives rather than
TO be unfaithful TO the Country's cause. The
Society of TammaHy and others and the private
association known as the Prison ship Martyrs
Association" with Stephen White at its head.
took the matter in hand with an energy and
persistence worthy OF the cause. and finally
secured governmental aid. and q suitable
testimonial has been reared in memory Of those
contributed SO, ,0Oo the city OF New York $4,000
the Prison Ship Martyrs Association S25 600 by
private subscription, and the government of the /
United states 100000. From the plans mado
by the architects, MCKim. Mead IL White the
work OF construction has gone on under the Ill |
rection OF Colonel Marshall now chief of en-
gineers Of the United States army. and to-day
this noble memorial is dedicated a reminder
TO living Americans of the gratitude due 10 un-