The National tribune., November 30, 1882, Page 3, Image 3

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THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE: WASHINGTON, D. 0., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1882.
8
OUR YOUNG FOLKS,
The Pumpkin Giant A Story of
WoBderissi
A tsrj Hag 41si 2o, before our grand
tnrtherc tine, or our grer.t-grandniothera, or
cur fraadmothers' wifh a very Ions string of
fTt prefixed, thore were no pumpkins; peo
ple hid never eaten & pumpkin-pis, or even
ptttred pumpkin; and that v. as ths timo whon
&ft Pumpkin Giant flourished.
There havo been & great many giants vrho
hts flourished Binoe the world begun, and nl
(feough a solcot few of them br.va been good
bmu, the majority of them have been so bad
that their orimes even more than their size
hT f enc to make them notorious. But the
Pumpkin Giant was an uncommonly bad one.
and his general appearance and 1m bohavior
Tfere suoh as to make one shudder to an extent
that yon would hardly beliove possible. The
eonvulaiTe shivering caused by the mere men
tits. f his name, and ixi aomo cases where tho
Jteople were unusually sensitive, by the mere
t&eught of him even, more resembled th blue
&gno than anything clfca; Indeed, yiuj known
by tho name of "tho Giant's Shakos."
The Pumpkin Giant wm very toll ; he prob
ably would havo overtopped most of the giants
yon hava ever heard of. I don't Mippose the
Giant who lived on the Bean-stalk, whom Jack
-virttM, waa anything to compare with him;
nor that it would havo been a possible thing for
th Pumpkin Giant, had he received an invita
tion to spend an afternoon with the Bean-stalk
Giant, to accept, on account of his inability to
nuter the Bean-stalk Giant's door, no matter
eow much he stooped.
The Pumpkin Giant had a very largo yellow
bead, which was also smooth and shiny. Ilis
eyes ftere big and round, and glowed like coals
ef fire; and you would almost havo thought
that his head was lit up inside with candles.
Indoed there was s rumor to that effect amongst
tho ooinnion people, but that was all nonremse,
of course; no one of the more enlightened clnBa
fa-edited it for an instant. Hi mouth, which
Ftretched half around his head, was furnished
rlth row3 of pointed teeth, and he was never
known to hold it any other way than wide
open.
The Pumpkin Giant lived in a castle, aa a
matter of course; it is not fashionable for a
yiant to live in any other kind of a dwelling
rhy, nothing would bo more tame and uninter
esting than a giant in a two-story white house
Yrith green blinds and a picket fence, or even a
brown-Etono front, if he could get into either
ef them, which he could not.
The Giant's castlo was situated on a moun
tain, as it ought to have been, and thero was
r1m the usual courtyard before it, and the cus
tomary moat, which was full of bona! All I
have got to say about these bonos is, they wero
not mutton bones. A great many details of
this Etory must bo left to tho imagination of
the reader; they are two harrowing to relate.
A. much tenderer regard fdr tho feelings of tho
cudience will be eIiowu in this than in most
giant stories ; we will even go so far as to stato
In advance, that tho story has a good, end,
thoreby enabling readers to peruse it comforta
bly without unpleasant suspense.
Tho Pumpkin Giant was fonder of little boys
and girls than anything elso in this world; but
he was somewhat fonder of little boy3, and
mere particularly of fat little boya.
The fear and horror of this Giant extended
CTer the whole country. Even the King on
il throne was so severely afflicted with tho
Giant's Shakes that he had been obliged to
kave the throno propped, for fear it should top
ple over in some unusually violent fit. There
wa good reason why the King shook : his only
daughter, the Princess Ariadne Diana, was
probably the fattest princess in the whole world
at that date. So fat was she that she had never
walked a step in tho dozon yours of her life,
being totally unable to progress over the earth
fey any method except rolling. And a really
beautiful eight it was, too, to see tho Prin
cess Ariadno Diana, in her cloth-of-gold rolling-suit,
faced with green velvet and edged with
arzmne, with her rolling crown on her head,
trundling along tho avenues of the royal gar
dens, which had been furnished with strips, of
rich captting for her express accommodation.
But gratifying as it would have lxen to tho
King, her sire, under other circnrnttunccs, to
ksve had such an unusually interring daugh
ter, it now only served to fill his hea-t with the
greatest anxiety on her account. The Princess
wai never allowed to leave the palace without
a body-guard of f.fty knighta, th very flower
of tho King's troojis, with lances In rest, but,
In spite of all this precaution, the King shook.
Meanwhile amongst tho ordinary people who
eould not procure an escort of fifty armod
knights for the plump among their children,
the ravages of the Pumpkin Giant were fright
ful. It was apprehended at one time that
there would be very few fat little girls, and no
fat little boys at all, left in the kinghora. And
what made matters worse, at that time the
Giant commenced taking a tonic to increase
his appetite.
Finally the King, in deqwtration, issued a
proclamation that he would knight any one, be
he noble or common, who should cutoff tho head
of the Pumpkin Giant This was the King's
nsual method of rewarding any noble deed in
hi kingdom. It was a cheap method, and be
sides everybody liked to be a knight.
When the King issued his proclamation every
saan in the kingdom who was not already a
knight elraightway tried to .contrive ways and
atauR to kill the Pumpkin Giant. But thero
was ono obstaclo which seemed insurmountable:
thty wereafraid, and all of them had tho Giant's
Ehakes so badly, that they could not po.-sibly
have held a knife steady enough to cut off tho
Giant's head, even if they had dared lo go near
wiough for that purpose.
There was one man who lived not far from
the terrible Giant's castle, a poor man, his only
worldly wealth consisting in a large potato
field and a cottage in front of it. But ho had a
boy of twelve, an only boh, who rivalled tho
Prinos Ariadno Diana In point of fatucsa. Ho
waa anable to have a body-guard for his son ;
zo the amount of terror which tho inhabitants
of that humble cottage iuffpred day and night
was heart-rending. The poor mother had been
un&bltt to leave her bed for two yeuis, on ac
count of the Giant's Shakes; her husband
birely got a living from the potato-field ; half
the time he and his wife had hardly enough to
t, as it naturally took the larger part of the
potatoes to satisfy the fat little boy, their son
and their iituatiou was truly pitiable.
The fat boy's name was .Eneas, his father's
same was Patroclus, and his mother's Daphne.
It was all the fashion in those days to have
classical names. And as that was a fashion as
tftsily adopted by tho poor as the rich, every
body had them. They were just like Jim and
Tommy and May in theso days. Why, tho
Princess' name, Ariadne Diana, was nothing
more nor loss than Ann Eliza w ith us.
One morning Patroclus and .Eneas were out.
ic the field digging potatoes, for new potatoes a
were just :n the market. 1 ho Early Rose pota
to had not been discovered in those days; but
fchuro WRt another potato, perhaps equally jrood,
Xtklch 6ttaia?4 to a similar degra sf wlebrir.
It was called the Young Plantagenet, and
reaohod a very large size indeed, muoh larger
than the Early .Rose does in our time.
Well, Patroclus and ..Eneas had jnrt dug,
perhaps, a bushel of Young Plantagenet pota
toes. It waa slow work with them, for Patro
clus had the Giant's Shakes bRdly that morning,
and of courso iEncas was not very Bwift. He
rolled about among the potato-hills after the
manner of tho Princess Ariadne Diana; but he
did not present as imposing an appearance as
she, in his homespun farmer's frock.
All at once tho earth trembled violently.
Patroclus and iEneas looked up and aaw tho
Pumpkin Giant coming with his mouth wide
open. " Get behind me, oh my darling son !"
cried Patroclus.
iEneas obeyed, but it was of no use; for you
could see his cheeks wwsh side his father's waist
coat. Patroclus was not ordinarily a brave man,
but ho was bravo in an emergency ; and in that
is the only time when there is ths slightest
need of bravery, it was just as well.
The Pumpkin Giant strode along faster and
faster, opening his mouth wider and wider,
until they could fairly hear it crack at tho
corners.
Thon Patroclus picked up an enormous Young
Plantagenet and threw it plump into the
Pumpkin Giant's mouth. The Giant ohoked
and gasped, and choked and gasped, and finally
tumbled down and died.
Patroclus aud iEneos, while the Giant was
choking, had run to the house and loekrJ them
selves in; then they lookod out the kitchen
window ; when they saw the Giant tumble
down and Ho quite still, they knew he must
bo dead. Then Daphne was immediately cured
of the Giant's Shakes, and got out of bed for tho
first time in two years. Patroclus sharpened
the carving-knifo on the kitchen stove, and
thoy all went out into the potato field.
They cautiously approached the prostrate
Giant, for fear he might bo shamming, and
might suddenly spring up at them and JEncas.
But no, ho did not move at nil; he was quite
dead. And, all taking turns, they hacked off
his head with the carving-knifo. Thon .Eneas
had it to play with, which was quite appro
priate, and a good instance of the sarcasm of
destiny.
The King was notified of the death of the
Pumpkin Giant, and was greatly rejoiced there
by. His Giant's Shaken ceased, the props wero
removed from tho throne, and the Princess
Ariadne Diana was allowed to go out without
her body-guard of fifty knights, much to her
delight, for sho found them a great hindrance
to tiie enjoyment of her daily outings. It was
a great cross, not to say an embarrassment,
when she was gleefully rolling in pursuit of a
charming red and gold butterfly, to find herself
suddenly stopped short by an armed knight
with his Innco in rest.
But the King, though hisgratitudo for the no
ble deed knew no bounds, omitted to give the
promised reward and knight Patroclus. I hard
ly know how it happened I don't think it was
anything intentional. Patroclus felt rather
hurt about it. and Daphne would have liked to
be a lady, but iEncas did not care in the least.
He had tho Giant's head to play with and that
was reward enough for him. There was not a
boy in tho neighborhood but envied him his
possescssion of such a unique plaything; and
when they would stand looking over the wall
of tho potato-field with longing cyesf and ho
was flying over tho ground with the head, his
happiness knew no bounds ; and he played so
much with it that finally late in tho fall it
got broken and scattered all over tho field.
.Next spring all over Patroclus' potato-field
grow running vines, and in tho fall Giants
heads. There they were all over tho field,
hundreds of them ! Then there was consterna
tion indeed! The natural conclusion to bo
arrived at when the people saw tho yellow
Giant's heads making their appearance above
the ground, was, that tho Test of the Giants
were coming.
"There was one Pumpkin Giant before,''
said they, "now thore will bo a whole army of
them. If it was dreadful then, what will it ba
in the future? If dnc Pumpkin Giant gave us
the Shakes so badly, what will & whole army
of them do?"
But when some time had elapsed and nothing
more of the Giants appeared above the surface
of the potato-field, and as, moreover, tho heads
had not yet displayed any nign of opening their
months, the people began to feel a little easier,
and the general excitement subsided somewhat,
although tho King had ordered out Ariadne
Diana's body-guard again.
Now -Eneas had been born with a propensity
for putting everything into his mouth and
tasting it; thero was scarcely anything in his
vicinity which could by any possibility bo
tasted, which he had not eaten a bit of. This
propensity was no alarming in his babyhood
that Daphne purchased a book of antidotes;
and if it had not been for her admirable good
judgment in doing so, this story would prob
ably never havo been told; for no human baby
Cjuld possibly havo survived tho hotcrogoneous
diet which iEncas had indulged in. There was
scarcely one of tho antidotes which had not
been resorted to from timo to time.
Apneas had become acquainted with the pe
culiar flavor of almost everything in his im
mediate vicinity except the Giant's heads; and
he naturally enough cast longing eyes at them.
Night and day ho wondered what a Giant's
head cokW tnsto like, till finally one day when
Patroclus was away ho stolo out into the potato
field, cut a bit out of one of tho Giant's heads,
and ate it. IIo was almost afraid to, but he
reflected that his mother could give him an
antidote; ho ho ventured. It tasted very sweet
and nice; he liked it bo much that ho cut otf
another piece aud ate that; then another and
another, until he had eaten two-thirds of a
Giant's head. Then he thought it was about
timo for him to go in and tell his :notlu:r and
take an antidote, though he did not feel ill at
all yet.
"Mother," said he, rolling slowly into the
cottage, " I havo eaten two-thirds of a Giaut'a
bead, and I guess you had better give mo an
antidote."
"Oh, my precious son!" cried Daphno,
" how conUl you ? "
She looked in her book of antidotes, but
could not find one antidoto for a Giant's hoad.
"O, iEncas, my dear, dear eon!" groaned
Daphne, " thoro is no antidoto for Giant's head !
"What shall-wo do?"
Then she cat down and wept, and Eneas
wopt too as loud as ho possibly could. And he
apparently had excellent reason to; for it did
not seem possible that a boy could eat two
thirds of n Giant's head am1 survive it without
an antidote. Patroclus came home, and thoy
told him, and ho aat down and lamented with
them. All day they sat weeping and watching
Enuas, expecting every moment to see him die.
But ho did not dio; on tho contrary ho had
never felt bo well in his life.
Finally at Eunset .Eneas looked up and
laughed. " I am not going to die," said ho ; "I
never felt go well ; you had better stop crying.
And I am going out to get some more of that
Giant's head; I am hungry."
"Don't, don't !" cried his father and mother ;
but he went: for Le generally took his own
way, very like most only son3. He came back
with a whole Giant's head in his arms.
"See here, father and mother," cried he;
"we'll all have some of this; it evidently is
not poison, and jt is good a great deal hotter
than potatoes!"
Patroclus ajid Daphne hesitated, but they
were hunerr too. Sinoa the mm at ft!nntf
iWa hid 5tkx 9 1a fefr fiW Utftad J
potatoes, they had been hungry moet of the
time; so thoy tasted.
"It u good,"ssid Dnphrs; "but think It
would bo better cooked." 80 she put aomo in n
kottle of water over the, fire, and let it boil
awhile; then she dished it up. and they all ate
it. It was delicious. It tasted moro like
stewed pumpkin than anything else; in fact it
vat stewed pumpkin.
Daphne was inventive, and aomothins of a
genius; and next day she concocted smother
dish out of the Giant's heads. She boiled thens,
and sifted them, and mixed them with eggs and
sugar and milk aud spice; then she lined some
plates with puflf paste, filled them with th
mixture, and set them in the oven to bako.
The result was unparalleled ; nothing half fo
exquisite had over been tasted. They wero all
in ecstacics, -Eneas in particular. They gath
ered all the Giant's heads and stored thom in
the cellar. Daphne baked pics of them every
day, and nothing could snrpass th felicity of
the whole family.
Ono morning tho King had been out hunting,
and happened to ride by the cottage of Patro-.
clus with a train of his knights. Daphne wna
baking pies an usual, and the kitchen door and
window wero both open, for tho room was bo
warm; co the delicious odor of the piei par
fumed tho whole air about the cottage.
"What is it fcmolls 30 utterly lovely?" as
claimed tho King, sniffing in a rapture.
Ho sent his page in to no.
" Tho housewifo is baking Gjant'n h&d pie-V
said the page, returning.
" What ? " thundered th King. " -EriBg out
one to mo.
60 tho page brought out a pie to him, and
after all his knights had tasted to be ure it
was not poison, and the King had watched thom
sharply for a few moments to be sure they wero
not killod, he tasted too.
Then ha beamed. Ft wafl a sew sensation,
and a new sensation is a grrat boon to a King.
" I never tasted anything so altogether super
fine, so utterly magnificent, in my life," cried
the King; "stowed peacock's tongues from the
Baltic are not to bo compared with it 1 Call out
tho housewife immediately!"
So Daphne came out trembling, and Patroclus
and iEncas also.
"What a oharming lad!" exclaimed tho
King, as his glnnco fell npon Eneas. "Now
toll mo about theso wonderful pic?, and I will
reward you as becomes a monarch ! "
Then Patroclus fell on his knees and related
tho whole history of tho Giant's head pies from
the beginning.
The King actually blushed. "And I forgot
to knight you, oh noblo and bravo man, and to
make a lady of your admirable wife?"
Then the King leaned gracefully down from
his saddlo and struck Patroclus with his
jewelled sword and knighted him on tho spot.
The whole family went to live at tho royal
palace. Tho roses in tho royal gardens wero
uprooted, and Giant's hoads (or pumpkins, as
they came to bo called) wero sown in their
stead; all tne roval parks, also, were turned
into pumpkin-fields. ,
Patroclus was in constant attendance on tho
King, aud used to stand all day in his ante
chamber. Daphne had a position of great re
sponsibility, for sho superintended tho baking
of the pumpkin pies, and -Eneas finally mar
ried tho Princess Ariadne Diana.
They were wedded in great state by fifty
archbishops; and all tho newspapers united in
stating that they were tho moat charming and
well-matched young couple that had ever beon
united in tho kingdom.
Tho stone entrauco of tho Pumpkin Giant's
Castlo was securely fastened, and upon it was
engraved an inscription composed by tho first
poet in tho kingdom, for which the King in ado
him laureate, and gave him the liberal pension
of fifty pumpkin pies per year.
The following is tho inscription in full:
" Hero dwelt the Pumpkin Giant onoa,
He's dead, the nation doth rejoice,
For, while ho was alive, he lived
By e g dear, fat, little boys."
Tho inscription is said to remain to this day ;
if you wero to ko thero you would probably seo
it. Dectmbtr Wide Awake.
Consumption Cured.
An old physician, retired from practice, hav
ing had placed in his hands by an East India
missionary tho formula of a simple vegetable
remedy for tho speedy and permanent cure for
Consumption, Bronchitis. Catarrh, Asthma, and
all throat and lung affections, also a positive
and radical cure for nervous debility and all
nervous complainte, after having tested its
wonderful curative powers in thousands of
case?, has felt it his duty to mako it known to
his suffering fellows. Actuated by this motive
and a desire to relievs human gufiering, I will
send free of charge, to all who desire it, this
recipe, in German, French, or English, with
full directions for preparing and using. Sent
by mail by addressing, with stamp, naming this
paper, W. A. No YES, lid Power' i Block, Rochester,
N. Y.
GUtling anI fjin-Intf.
Prom (he London Society.
Lord Alvanley had been dining on one occa
sion with Mr. Grcvillc, whoso dining-room had
been newly and splendidly decorated. Tho
meal was, however, a very meagro and indiffer
ent ono. Some of the guests wero flattering
their host upon his magnificence, taste, aud
hospitality. " For my own part," interposed
Alvanley, "I would rather have seen les3 gild
ing, and more carving."
For Tint National TnntiTJH.
Tho Sotdior'K ThanbKgiYiRif.
Tho men y harvest luy are o'er.
Again wo welcome an of yore
Tho Iiulian aiumncr luys;
Throughout the land from .thoro to shore
A. countless multitude outpour
Their gratitude and pruiso.
But when ths soldier bends the kneo,
What Hlmll I113 lenedietioa hot
His years are fuding fast;
The buried hoprt, the vaeant chair,
The empty sleeve, tli silvered idr,
Speak mutely of the past.
He r-,r.e.s the flag be fought to save
In majesty and freedom wave
Upon the loyal hrceze;
The night of War has pushed nvfny,
For Peace has Hounded reveille,
And Uod bo praised for theeol
Tom lVeo.
By iCosa firaftant.
" Hear ye," the merry gonsips say,
"A tale of tho last Thankful Day:"
(9 o'clock.)
Up fiom his perch on grnndpRVs knee,
Up to tho dear faen, folierly
Looked Tommy "Ve, that merry lf,
The while bo murmured to himself:
" Ho'll go to church and pray and pray,
Uo'll hare r jolly time, hi way,
To-day."
(12 o'ctoc!:.)
Up lo tho turkey crisp and brown, '
Up to tho mince-nit n, (trolling down
Mid hosts of goodit-s from the shelf.
Looked Tommy, murmuring to himself:
" lie's gone to church to pray and pray;
I'll have a jolly timo, my way.
To-day."
I o'clock.)
Up fn hli little trundlo-bed,
Up, covered clo.so from foot to head,
Lay Tommy Wee, a eorry elf,
Lay Toininylznurniuring to himself:
" Oh, what is turkey ? what is jiioV
If only 1 don't dio don't die,
Nest time 'L'hanksgibin' comes this way,
I'll go to church and jiruy und pray
All day I
"Think you," the merry gonalpa oay,
"3I'll keep his word, thU Thankful DayT "
PRISON EXPERIENCES,
Little Red Cap Continues His Descrip
tion of Andersonvilie.
ConUtwidfttm foci wA
Tho weather had now beoome exoesaively hot.
By nine o'clock in the morning the rays of the
sun wero fierce enough to fairly singe every
thing in tho crowded pons. Tho high walls
of the stockade prevented tho prisoners from
getting the benefit of any breeze that might be
stirring outside, and tho foul stench from tho
swamp wm fairly sickening. Indeed, the air
we breathed seemed to be loaded down with
tho Rernui of disease and death. Tho water,
too, was utterly unfit for use, and tho prisoners,
with their half canteono, wero forced to dig
wcdls as a last resort. Some of thom nero as
much as forty feet deep, but it was difficult to
keep tho sides from falling in, and many a poor
fellow was injured thoreby. The water, how
ovor, which was obtained thoreby wai much
better than that to be had at the creek, although
it w&3 still far from boing puro, being impreg
nated to somo extent by the soepago from tho
filthy ground. Naturally tho Intonso heat
caused an intense thirst, and as a conHeqnenco
tho men drank large quantities of water, which
wai, in itself, destructive to health, and in
many cases hostoned dealh.
So scanty were our rations that the appor
tionment of thom became a very nico question.
Before I was taken outside- the stockade my
own mess adopted quite a novel plan of division.
Tho sergeant would cut up tho rations into as
ninny little pieces as there wero members in
the mes1?, then ono of tho boys would take
a position a few feet distant, with his back
to the rations, and the sergeant, in the presence
of the men, would point in the direction of ono
of tho piles, calling out as he did so : " Whoso
is this?" to which our comrado would re.ply,men
tioning a certain number, when the man who
had that number would take the ration. The
routine wa3 somothing like thia:
"Whose is this?"
"Number ton."
"Whoso is this?"
" Number ono."
And as each man's nnmber rrao called he
stepped forward and received the miserable
pittance that was to support life for that day.
LETTERS FOR EOM2.
By this time I had 'gained, to somo extent,
tho confidence of Commander Wirz, and ho
took very littlo notice of what I did. One
day I was with him at headquarters, where ho
was engaged in reading tho letters which the
prisoners had written for transmission to
their friends and families in the North. Ho
invariably destroyed all loiters in which ref
erence was made to tho condition of tho
prison, or any tiling elso concerning tho confed
eracy. I sat alongside of him, and, neeing that he
was not observing my movements, began taking
the letters out of the box in which he had
placed them to bo destroyed, and passing them
into the other. I removed quite a number,
but fearing that I would ho caught, did not
dare to change them all. Ho was accustomed
to fly into terrible fits of passion, and I did not
carff to arouse his anger.
Aigreat many of tho prisoners had written
hoi:fl 'o their friemln for boxes of provisions.
Food was what they desired most of all. Thoso
of tie prisoners who had been sometime in the
stockade wero by this time anxiously awaiting
tho answers to their letters. Many, I regret to
say, died before tho answers camo. One daj',
notlong after this; it was announced that tho
long-desired boxes had arrived. I had written
home myself for one, and accordingly weift
over to the depot to seo if it had come. I
searched around for somo time, and when I did
find tho box directed to me it was only to dis
cover that there was nothing left but a ham
bone. The rebels had broken it open and
rifled it of tho contents. Somo of the other
boxes, howover, contained dolicacics of tho
choicest kinds, prepared at homo by loving
hands, whilo others, I regret to say, wero
nearly, if not quite, empty, and I also was of
tho opinion that thoy wero rifled before thoy
reached the stockade. In fact, I noticed on
Wirz's own tablo many tempting dainties that
certainly had tho appearance of having but
lntely como from tho North.
iimo now moved with leaden foet. The
routine of camp life occupied but a small por
tion of tho day, leaving many weary hours of
idleness. The boys were no longer good com
pany for each other. Thoir stock of stories
had become exhausted, and the recital of per
sonal experiences had ceased to possess any
interest. The evenings, howevor, wero cool
and pleasant, and the men were in the habit of
forming themselves into little groups and
chatting far into tho night. If thero happened
to bo a good singer in tho moss his services
wero in great demand, for nothing so cheered
the hearts of tho men as to hear somo stirring
war song. Those who were so fortunate as to
have anything to read thumbed their books
until tho leaves fell apart from constant use.
Thoso who had paper, pens, and ink, amused
themselves by writing descriptions of prison
life, and some of them kept faithful journals of
events, although, as a rule, thoy usually aban
doned them alter boing confined a lew woelu
in the pen.
BOSTON COltnETT'8 PRAYING HAND.
One of tho institutions of the prison wnsalittle
band of devoted Christian workers. Ono of tho
most energetic, I well remember, was Bos
ton Corbett, who afterwards uhot John Wilkes
Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln. They
wore untiring in thoir efforts to evangelize tho
prison. Every onco in a while 0110 of their
number could bo heard in tiomo part of tho
Blockade striking up some familiar hymn, us,
for instance, "Como Thou Fount of Every
Blessing," and at once an audience of thousands
would bo attracted by the music. After tho
singing regular services would bo held, during
which addresses would bo made by various
members of the band. In spite of tho obstacles
with which they had to contend they did a
great deal of good work at Andorsonvillo; but
for them no funeral services whatever would
have been held over the dead. They wero
assiduous, too, in caring for the sick, und
smoothed many a poor fellow's pathway to tho
grave.
Tho only minister who ever visited the
stockado was a Catholic priest. Ilis ministra
tions to tho sick wero of tho most devoted and
tender character, and he wa3 unwearying in
his attentions .to thoso who wero in need of
spiritual consolation. Ho was known as Fathor
Hamilton, and he had been stationed at Macon.
Tho prisoners were very fond of him, and
venture to say there ia not a survivor of Andcr
Konville who doos not to this day entertain tho
greatest respect for him. He was full of com
miseration for the unhappy lot of tho prisoners,
but ho could uovor bo betrayed into expressing
an opinion as to the injustice of tho treatment
vvhich they received. Ho was often impor
tuned for news of what was going on outside,
but his invariable reply was that he was wont
to leave tho stockado at night with a heavy
heart, and instead of spending the night with
the confederates, devoted it to studying tho
word of God. Of "euch stuff havo Christian
hwoia 9T beca E&Adf, aafi I doubt no4 that
he would hav oboyad any call of duty without
flinching. t
WIKK AT HOME.
Ono day, while I was still at headquarters,
Commandant Wirz asked me whether he could
rely upon my good behavior if he took me to
his home to live. I ropliod that he could, and
that evening I accompanied him when" he re
turned from headquartors. I found that his
family consisted of himself, wife and three
children. Susan and Cornelia, who were re
spectively eighteen and sixteen years old, and
were familiary known in the household as
"Puss" and "Tug," wero tho daughters of
Mrs. Wirz by her formor husband, Mr. Wolf.
Cora, her daughter by Wirz, was only about
eight years old. The two former were well
educated girls, rofined in their manners,
and able to converse intelligently upon almost
any subject. Cora, on tho other hand, was
willful, impatient and spiteful in her disposi
tion, and, indeed, did not seem to possess a
Bingle winning quality.
I was now occupied in taking care of old
Wirz's horse at night, and doing all sorts of
littlo chores around tho house during the day.
In the middle of tho day I was in tho habit of
taking Wirz's dinner over to headquarters in a
ba-sket, and as mine was usually put up with
his wo generally ate together. After dinner I
was ofton dispatched with orders to various
points, and it was lato in the afternoon before
I reached tho house again. The house, by
the way, in which Wirz was living at this
timo belonged to a man named Baas, a gentle
man about sixty yenra of age, who belonged to
one of the Georgia reserve regiments that had
been dotailod to guard tho prison. I have al
ways thought Wirz confiscated the houso to his
own use. It was divided by an old-fashioned
hall, and Wirz lived in tho best portion of it,
leaving Mr. Baas to occupy what he had no
use for.
Mrs. Wirz was always oxtremely bitter in
her denunciation .of the Yankees, and it seemed
to givo her positive pleasure to learn from her
husband that tho prisoners were dying oil' so
rapidly. The men had to pass her door on the
way to tho stockade and they usually raised a
cheer as thoy passed. Whenever I could get
the opportunity I used to take position at the
sido of the house, where sho could not see me,
and answer their salute by waving my cap, at
which, of course, they would cheer the louder.
THE RAIDERS.
Moanwhilo the lot of the prisoners within
tho stockado was growing more and more un
endurable. They not only had to contend with
poverty and disease, but they were kept in a
stato of constant torror by the depredations ot
the bounty -jumpers, or " liaiders-' as thoy were
generally called. Thero is nothing moro shock
ing in tho history of Andorsonvillo thau the
outrages which they committed. Organized
into bands numbering from ten to thirty men
each, and led by scoundrels of the most un
scrupulous and desperate character, they in
augurated a reign of terror that almost baffled
description. Each band took its name from its
leader, and tho " Collins Haiders," tho " Delaney
Haiders," the "Mosby Haiders," the "Sarsfield
Haiders," and tho "Curtis Haiders "soon be
came bywords within the stockade.
In the early days of tho prison they met
with poor success, but later arrivals gave them
every opportunity which they could desire to
plunder. At first their operations wero con
fined to waylaying of prisoners at night, and
despoiling them of any article of valuo which
they might possess; but gradually they be
came emboldened by success, and it was a
common thing to see them set upon a prisoner
in broad daylight, and despite any resistance
which he or his comrades might make, strip
strip him of everything about his person. If
ho did not take it quietly thoy thought
nothing of knocking him on the head, and it
was a common thing to find three or four
men lying dead at the gates with their skulls
crushed in or their throats cut. Indeed they
kept every prisoner who was suspected of
having any money or owning valuables of auv
description under constant espoinage, and at
tho first favorable opportunity that is, when
ho had strayed away from his comrades they
wero ture to attack him. As -tho raiders wero
well supplied with such weapons as slung-shots,
brass knuckles. &c, it was almost impossible to
mako effectual resistance. Some of them had
managed to smuggle bowie-knives into the
prison, and therefore had tho rest of us at a
great disadvantage
It happened sometimes, of courso, that their
victims would call for help, and a pitched bat
tlo would then ensue, but tho raidors were al
most invariably successful. As often as a dozen
times a day tho cry of " Haider, Raider ! " would
be raised, aud as often as it was raised soraopoar
-fellow was sure to fall a victim to these insatia
ble ruffians. With tho proceeds of their depreda
tions tho raiders managed to live very well
indeed, as compared with the rest of tho in
mate", and whilo hundreds were dying from
starvation they actually grew sleek and fat.
With the blankets which they stolo they con
structed comfortable tents and escaped in that
way tho privation which tho rest had to
undergo.
THE REGULATORS.
Southern men havo often claimed that one of
the great causes of tho terrible mortality at
Andorsonvillo was tho climate, but tho fact that
theso raiders kept perfectly well and hardy
would aeem to show that it was tho lack of food,
clothing and shelter, rather than tho oppres
siveness of tho weather that brought about such
widespread sickness and death. The raiders
finally became so audacious that tho men could
stand it no longer. It was evident that somo
thing had fro be dono to crush out this lawless
ness, and as nothing could be expected from the
confederates, the mon resolved to put it down
themselves. I have thought sometimes that
the confederates wero rather pleased than other
wise at this state of things, for had they chosen
to do so thoy could have suppressed tho raiders
without tho slightest difficulty. At tho timo
of which I writo there was little or no attempt
at prison government. The highest rank in
the stockade was that of sergeant, and it carried
no authority with it. However, Sergeant Leroy
L. Key, of company N, Sixteenth Illinois in
fantry, resolved to take tho matter in hand,
and organ izo a movement to crush out tho
raiders. Ho was a printer from Burlincton.
Illinois, tall in figuro, of dark complexion,
Ktrong willed, intelligent and a bravo, daring
leader. A man who boro tho soubriquet of
Limber Jim, who was n member of tho Sixty
seventy Illinois, was his principal aido. Jim
wa.i a fellow of desperato courage, and was equal
to almoit any occasion. With these two wero
associated somo of tho bravest and mo3t daring
spirits in the stockado. They wore all of ono
mind as to tho necessity for taking prompt and
determined action. Prior to this time what
might bo called vigilanco committees had
already been organized within tho stockade,
but t-hey contonted themselves with simply set
ting guards to provent tho raiders from invad
ing their own territory.
To be continued.
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ANDERSONVILLE HANGING.
An Bye-wltnesi aires a Graphic Deiuripttaa of tki
Affclr.
To th Editor National Tbibtthi
At the reqnest of James A. McGInloy (in
your issue of October 19th), and with your per
mission, I will state what I know about tho
hanging in Andersonvillo. I was taken a prh
onor in Fauquier county. Vs., on January 1,
1S64, conveyed to Staunton, and from thers to
Richmond, whoro I was confined in Libby,
Scott's, and Pemberton prison!, each for a short
time. I was sent to Belle Isle about tho middle
of January, and remained there until tho fore
part of March, when I was ordered to Ander
sonville; arrived there about the middle of
March ; was put into squad No. 16, mess No. 2.
These squads, as they were called when first
formed, containod 270 men. Theso wero di
vided into three messe3, 1st, 2d, and 3d, of 90
mon each. Each DO, or mess, had a sergeant of
its own, who drew rations, feo. In my mess
there were two men, both from the 8tats of
Illinois, and both belonged to Illinois regi
ments. Their names were Adams and Madi
gau. Adams was a fine, soldierly-looking fel
low, with straight black hair and eyes, and
very dark complexion. He wan, I think, tho
son of a farmer, and about 22 yeara old. Madi
gan was very unlike Adams. Ho had curly,
red hair, blue eyes, and fair complexion ; was
lively, jolly, and full of fun, and tho son of a
merchant. I was told he was about 19 years
old. There were no better men in Andsrson
ville than theso two boys.
Ono morning Madigan camo to ma and nzid:
" Sergeant, I was the acting sergeant of mesa
No. 2, squad No. 16, we were raided last oven
ing, and Adams had a close call. Tho knife
just tickled hia throat and made a slight scar."
Madigan said that they know the parties who
had raided upon them. I asked him if thera
was not something that could bo done. For at
this time none of us felt safe from these rob
bers. Tho treatment that we recoived from
the rebels was, God knows, bad enough, but, in
addition to this, to have our own men stealing,
raiding, and indirectly murdering each other,
was, indeed, horrible, and made Andorsonvillo
at this timo a living hell on earth. He said
that he had heard Wirz say that if any one
would point tlicse raiders out, that he would
take them out of the camp. I asked hirn if ho
wa3 sure that he had heard Wirz say so, and
he said he was positive of it. Then I told him.
that it was his duty to go to the gate and tell
tho guards that he wanted to seo W1135, and
when taken to him, to stito that he could point
out the raiders. Madigan still hesitated, and
did not want to go. I urged him to go, stating
that it was a duty ho owed to the rest of U3,
for he and Adams knew positively who were
the parties who had raided upon them. I fur
then urged that as soon as one person began to
point out thtfse fellows, there would he plenty
who would take courage and assist him in ex
posing them. I urged him so strongly that ho
finally consented. He was taken to Wirz and
made his statement. Immediately Wirz
sent into tho stockade a guard with fixed bayo
nets. They came in at the south gate, and
marched between tho dead-lino and tho stock
ado southward from the south gate up to
nearly the corner or south stockade. Thoy
then halted. Madigan and Andrews, each ac
companied with a guard, began to point out
those whom they knew to be raiders. Others
then assisted, and it was not long until the
camp was rid of this ugly element. I presume
at this timo between 80 and 90 raiders were
taken out Shortly after there camo aa order
from Wirz for all of the sergeants who had
chaTgo of tho ninties to fell into line. After
we had formed into line, I judged that there
was about 80 or 90 of ns, or about the same
number as had been taken out as raiders. We
wore marched outsido and up to headquartors,
when Wirz made to us the following speech :
" Men, I cannot do anything with these men,
for if I do your Government will retaliate, but
I will leave you to try them, and punish theaa
as vou see fit."
-
Theso were not the exact words, but they
aro the substance of his speech. After the
speech we consulted as what was best to bo done.
We decided to select a jury of 12 men by lot
from among our own number to try tho prison
ers, when some one suggested that we divida
our number in half, and that the jury ba so
lected by lot from the half containing the new
est or last prisoners, as it was feared that tho
old prisoners who know so much about tho
prisoners, or raiders, would be prejudiced
against them, and would bo too severe with
them. Accordingly we divided the squad, and
we old prisoners were marched back into the
stockade, whilo from the last half the jury vfjts
selected. The trial took place in the pen, or
small stockado, that was built arouud the north
gate. It resulted in six men being condemned
to bo hung. Thoso who were not found guilty
of courso could not be punished, aud were put ,
back again into camp. Some of them woro
terribly assaulted by tho boys as they came
into tho camp.
Tho day was set for the oxecution to tako
place. On tho previous day tho scaffold was
erected close to the south gate, and everything
was in readiness. On the appointed day Wva
rodo on horseback into the camp. With him
were tho six prisoners under guard. They
came in at the south gate. Wirz turned over
tho prisoners to us, aud as ho did so he nzado
tho following speech :
"Men, I received these men of you In a good
and hoalsy (he could not sr.y "healthy") con
dition, and I return them to you in the same,
and may Gott (God) have mercy on their souls."
Having uttered these words, ho withdrew tho
guard and went out.
The priest, who was at the scaffold, now
urged the prisoners to prepare for death. Tho .
prisoners looked as if they did not realizo that
thej were about to bo executed. I thought
from their appcaranco that they thought that
it was merely a sham, or was done to frighten
them, but when the priest continued to urge
them to prepare for death, they showed some
sensibility. It was at this timo that the ono
who was farthest from the gate and tho last
man on the north, who was dressed in a suit of
gray, and who, I believe, was called Curtis,
with clenched teeth aud in an excited manner
said, "I will never dio upon tnat scailbld!"
and immediately ho broke away and ran in a
northeasterly direction towards the brook. Ho
was knocked down, I beliove, lefore ho reached
the brook, and in a weak and tottering condi
tion brought back to the scaffold, whereon tho
others had already taken their places. Ho
was then taken up onto tho platform, and tho
rope adjusted around his neck. Tho man
known as "Limber Jim" then sprang the trap,
when the six, with one exception, were ushered
into eternity.
Tho person who broke I113 ropo was ono of
tho two middlo ones, and was known aa
"Mosby, tho Guerrilla." He was a large, toll,
red-faced man. Tho ropo broke becauso of
eome defect or from the weight of the man, and
not through any effort of his own. When ha
fell to tho ground, Limber Jim went to him.
It was then that Mosby, as he was callod,
begged for his life, and said: "You seo I am
innocent," meaning that tho breaking of tha
ropo proved that ho was innocent. Limber
Jim took him up onto tho scaffold, however,
and tied the broken ropes together, and then
with his feet shoved him off of tho scaffold.
Should Madigan or Adams see this, I would
bo glad to hear from thom.
A. N. Fjiitctiev,
Private Co. C, 1st Md. Cav., P. H. S.
CSSOMTB OXXT, KAX.