The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-02-22
CITIZEN COVERS
FORT JEFFERSON

CONTINUED from Page One)
tie room in which was a museum.
with many rare and beautiful
specimens of shells and marine
life in it. Beyond this was the
cell where the famous DR.. Mudd,
who set the leg of John Wilkes
Booth, murderer of Abraham Lin
coin, was sentenced for the deed.
Above the main entrance was an
other cell in which DR.. Mudd was
later kept. This was the place
where DR.. Mudd wrote that he
was tortured and given old vege-
tables and little drinking water.
The ingenious doctor dug into the
floor with a sharp instrument and
made a little canal at one end Of
which he dug a wide basin. The
drippings from the roof, when it
rained, ran into this basin and
he secured plenty of water. The
canal and basin can be plainly
seen. Marks of a partition be-
tween this cell and the adjoining
one are clearly visible. Not a foot
away from DR.. Mudd's canal and
basin is another, and DR.. Mudd
probably passed his instrument
through the wall to another pris-
oner and instructed him to do the
same. Mr. Puderer said. Both of
DIR. Mudd's cells have been au-
thenticated. Mr.. Puderer and Mr..
Morris stated.
On the inside of the walls are
iron ratings. The military strate-
gy in this, Mr.. Puderer said, was
that If the garrison was ever TAX
en- the soldiers could run planks
on the ratings, run out on them.
and fire into the enemy soldiers
within the walls. OF course, if
the enemy ever got that close the
garrison would have surrended,
anyway.
Powder Magazines
Going into the powder maya
zines in the walls of the Fort. the
wood. long leaf yellow pine. was
found excellently preserved. The
original square cut nails have
been left as they were. some even
bent. and others projecting from
the wood. The wooden inlay
work is marvellous, the circular
roof being made of hexagonal
lines beautifully fitted. The brick
is even mere wonderfully fitted.
Everything was done to protect
the powder. Wood insides. zig
gag ventilators and entrances be-
ing part of the safeguards obServ-
ed. A l2-foot solid brick wall
one of the powder
magazines.
On the firing platform of each
casernate. as the gun sections are
called. are granite blocks from
Massachusetts,. The floor is of
six-inch shale. with the iron gun
tracks set on granite bases Be
low the classmates are eiSterns.
Pipes from the arches and valleys
of the terreplein. or upper roof of
the Fort outer walls. run into
them. Cistern openings are in the
sides Of the classmates. into which
a bucket could be quickly drop
ped TO douse the hot guns The
classmates stretch all the way
around the Fort and behind them
are other communication arches
through which the many batteries
could be reached by messenger
soldiers. The sun playing on the
brick arches makes the most
beautiful shadow and lighting ef-
fects imaginable. The original de-
sign called for $50 guns but these
many were never installed.
Theory that DR., Mudd broke
out the battery gun ports TO let
the fresh air into the Fort and
cure yellow fever is not true. Mr..
Puderer said. the ports being has
THY constructed with only a few
inches thick wall TO give the ems
my ships the impression Of being
solid massive structure. The
unfinished brick svork has beeh
falsely construed as being broken
Ous By Or. Mudd.
A huge eiStern was secured by
one officer in an ingenious man-
ner. Fearful that his requisition