Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1918-12-18
OLD SLAVE CELLS
STILL IN PlAcs
Hotel Basement Prison for conven.
fence Of Shareholders Who Visit
cd City and Wished 70 be
Freed OF Responsibility

Savannah. Ga.-EAcept perhaps FOR
cid slave market at M!ledville. Sa'
vaunah probably has. in the founda-
/ tions OF the old Pulaski Hotel, on the
corner Of Buzz and Bryan streets.
/ Ceorslas most remarkable mementO
CT the days when men were sold as
ohattels.
The basement OF this ancient hostel
~ is honeycombed with bricked up
cells jsed during the period before
the war by slave owners for the safe
keeping of their charges en- route 70
and from the big slave markets TO the
north There are very few people Of
tais generation who know Of this fam.
Gus 'underpinning" Of the old hotel.
Some Of the cells are large enough
10 contain a half dozen men, Others
are smaller there not being room In
them for more than one or two hui
man beings In each Of the under.
ground apartments there is door
with grated iron bars. through which
TODD and water were handed tC the In
mates detained al the request Of their
masters
When Ia. Pulaski hotel was built II
was necessary to have something OF
this character, because many OF its pa
tro were among the most famous
slave owners Of Georgia ana the Caro-,
linas.
Savannah was great stopping point
tor the slave owners enruute to their
rich plantations, who wished to spend
a short time in Savannah. then the
metropolis Of Georgia. or who went
through toward the North carrying
their slaves to sell in the markets at
Milledseyille, Augusta, Charleston or
Richmond It was matter OF CON
yeuieuCe TO these slave owners that
,he underground apartments were pro-
yided when the Pulaski was built
something like 100 years ago.
Since that time the hotel las under
gone many above ground changes,
but, except in few instances. the
Slave cells have remained as they
were originally constructed Now they
are valuable only as a reminder OF
days that haze long passed in Georgia.
These dungeons are a point Of great
interest to those who know about
them, but there are very few people,
even In Savannah, who are aware OF
their existence.
One of the largest OF these human
safety vaults was torn out about 10
years ago to make room for the ele.
Yator machinery in the hotel, and an
other was torn away to secure room
tor the large boiler that supplies the
hotel with heat. Except for these in.
yasions in the name OF progress and
the installation of modern ideas, the
underground compartments remain "a
they were constructed In the days be.
fore the war.
They are a submerged link between
the new South and the old.
The underground passages now are
inhabited only by cats. Hundreds OF
felnes make their homes there. Many
OF them seldom COME above ground
and as consequence they are grad.
ually losing the use Of their eyes IN
the daylight, although 1t Is presumed
that their sight in the darkness OF
their underground habtation is inten-
sified. These cats have bred and null
tiplied in the gloom OF the old dun
geons for fifty years. and each new
generation finds their eyes of less use
in the glare of the sun.
The cats are never molested. Indeed
nobody ever goes into the dungeons
for any purpose whatever. The cat,
keep the hotel clean of rodents, and
30 are regarded as useful Usually,
they wait until night to come above
ground, Each new generation of cats
shun the daylight more and more.