The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-11-28

that 1t was to last all day. AZ ten
o'clock we drew one-half LOAF OF
bread and one pint of soup each. AS
wee were all sick, the rations liz very
we'll for a time on Saturday eacn
man drew a loaf of bread 20 last
until Monday. l carefully hid my
half of my first loaf, | thought IN q
safe place, but when / went Tor lt
Eunday evening 1t was gone. NO
one can imagine my disappointment
at my loss. I feel sure that the bread
was not stolen by a Confederate. Tor
they did not steal. One might nave
borrowed it, and though l feIt nara
towards whoever got II then, L nave
forgiven him since, if he were a Con-
federate and only borrowed it. After
that first Sunday / hid no more bread.
but put it where friends could not
borrow TO- thieves steal L spent
Sundays in fasting and praying, ana
in watching the negro guard march
ing around in a white paper collar
and white gloves, which made then.
appear more hateful to US. ! heard
some Texans say: Those black sons
of perdition are afraid Of getting
sunburnt.
After 1 had been in prison q few
days l began to suffer from hunger
| saw some Of the boys eating brol,-
ed rats. They smelled Very appe-
thing, but l could get hold of none
of them to eat. [ decided that l
must either find something to eat or
starve. On looking out | saw some
oats or rye growing beyond the dead
line, but knowing that II was almost
sure death to be caught beyond this
line. I waited until dark to venture
out for some of the grain. AS l
thought 7 could make soup Of it, [
got a turn Of it and came bac and
put it on to boil, but the longer il
boiled the tougher it became ana
the less fit it was to eat. So I gave
up trying to find ore to eat than
my captors chose to give me.
while walking 0 one day l
accidentally passed the guard at the
hospital gate. Passing through the
wards down to the lead house, l saw
thirty or forty of the poorest objects
[ had ever seen before. There were
two that looked rather f1eshy. See
ing a fellow standing near, I thought
[ would ask some questions; SO be-
gan: How long ave you been here.
brother? Eight months, he replied.
Of what kind Of sickness did those
men die? He replied, They starved
to death What killed these f1eshy
ones?' They were drowned diving
into the SOU kettle after beans I
then asked him if he thought there
was any chance for me to get a
cooks place; that I would gladly
all day and part Of the night to
keep from starving. He shook his
IlCdu ILL WdIhcu OIL. pdSScu On,
disguised with all 1 had seen.
Now I come to the toughest thing
I had yet struck. After leaving the
dead house | came to the guard, who
told me to halt. I told him hat I
belonged to the other side and must
see down its barrel, he said: That
ball is whirling fast, it wants to get
out He then called q white man
who came and talked to me for a
while, and then said, You need some
jewelry, something like a twelve
horrors, if any OF my piney-wood
friends could have heard me then
but my pleadings were in vain. I
d down and received the .jewelry.'
l sat there for a while thinking. I
can't express how badly I felt; can't
| felt SO much better a few years
later when / asked my girl a civil
question and got the right answer.
I finally concluded that as long as
that d chain and ball must be my
constant torment for a while at least,
l had just as we'll move off with it,
so I gathered it up and went to my
tent. The boys just gazed at me
when I threw the d-n thing on the
ground in my tent My bunk mate
asked me what had happened. and
| gave him the whole story. After
l had told him all about it he said:
That durn thing will give you more
trouble than twins ever gave their
mother at night l don't think he
missed it very far either. If posi-
Bile, I think my 'jewelry' gave me
more trouble at night when the Jeru-
salem oyertakers were on strictest
duty. / began to notice that those
who had been wearing a ball and
chain were not wearing them any
more, SO l began inquiring and found
hat fh0r0 UnC q rn0N ~ r.
had a file and would file a ball and
chain off for q chew of tobacco. I
found him and had soon concluded
a bargain. The gate on the bay stay
ed open during the day. Any one
noticing could have seen me going
oward the end of the wharf carrying
my haversack, but only one person
knew what it contained. That ball
and chain is now resting on the OF
tom of the Chesapeake Bay.
49, e