The Washington herald., 1914-03-30

I March H. twenty days after the prison
was opened, he found himself at Ander-
sonville.
The prison then contained ! 800 men. He
/ found 1t a plot without streets. Huts.
shacks and shelters. which had been built
| by the prisoners, were scattered about in
! haphazard fashion.
"A dismal hole II is" wrote the ser
geant on the day of his arrival. On
March Is he drew as rations a quart OF
cornmeal. half a pound Of beef and some
salt. This Is splendid he wrote. BY
March q he got a pint Of beans or peas,
three-quarters Of a pint Of meal. and q
piece Of bacon each day, and wrote that
he was doing very we'll
| The prisoners were "sguadded' by this
| time into groups of 100. Prison life had
made the men nervous and irritable. and
there was much fighting going on in the
| stockade.
Rations by April 10 had dwindIed to
one-half in quantity. Scurvy had ap-
| peared. and the men were dying at the
rate OF eighty a day. Clothing was wear
| ing out, or was traded for food. BY
the middle of April the sergeant was re-
duced TO his shirt, trousers. and hat. Yet
he SAYS he was well dressed when COM
pared with many"
On April II new onions at 81 Com
| federated for a bunch OF five were offered
the prisoners. with few purchasers. BY
April 30 the rations had got down to one
quarter OF what was needed. BY May
| "A quarter OF a loaf of cooked bread and
! five ounces of bacon" were given out,
which the sergeant found was 'an I'M
prOvcment
Prisoners Hang Thieves.
Among the prisoners was a band Of
| thieves who made a business of rob-
bling the constantly arriving newcom-
ers of all their possessions.
This evil increased to such an extent
that the prisoners took the matter in
hand. arrested six of the raiders. tried
them before an impTovised court and
sentenced them to be hanged. This
sentenced was carried out by the pris-
Oners. and thievery in the prison was
stopped.
on May Il there was picnic and
dance Of the guards on the outside Of
the prison, with a band and women
guests from Macon. The music cheer
ed the men inside the stOckade.
There was much singing in the
prison, and many good singers. God
| bless a man who can sing in this
place" wrote the sergeant. BY May
% the sergeant was taking in washing
| for a living. for which he received
small pieces Of bread He was in
The firm was prosperous.
By May II. the laundry firm was
| Baptiste. Ransom & Co. and business
was on the increase. Rv June the
sergeant was a hair cutter.
The sergeant showed himself in his
early entries in his diary TO have been
a cheerful. optimistic person who
made the best of Iifes adversities. and
who was always looking for better
| things. His diary is a striking illus
| tratiOn OF the effect OF starvation. At
| first his paragraphs were full in guam
| tity and animated in style. By Sep
| tember the story of the days doings
was reduced to a feeble. single line.
| News came on September that
| prisoners who could walk should I've
| transferred to Savannah. This would
have been good news to SerGt. Ran
som. but he could not walk: he was
not able to stand. His faithful Indian
friend actually carried him in the lin"
and got him aboard the train. He wa.
| transferred to Savannah hospital.
where he eventually recovered.
| Conditions at AndersOnville in Au-
gust will be described in this seriesD
Tomorrow: The Red River Cam
PaiEn-
| (CnT77i-hf. ELL