Decatur Eagle, Volume 10, Number 45, Decatur, Adams County, 8 February 1867 — Page 1

THE nil 1111! EAGLE.

VOL. 10.

DECATUR EAGLE, JRBUED EVERY FRIDAY MORNING, BY A. J. HILL. PUBLISHER AND PROPRIETOR. OFFICE —On Monroe Street in the second story of the building, formerly occupied by Jm*« Niblick as a Shoe Store. - ■ Terms of Subscription: Ona copy one year, in advance, fI,SO If paid within th 4 ? year. If not paid until lhe year has expired, JJ-papers delivered by carrier, twenty five tents additional will be charged. ETNo paper " be discontinued until all • rrerages are paid, except at the option of the ytbliaher. Rates of Advertising: One column, one year, *q-’nn One half column, one year a-'.uv One fourth column one year. f ,uu Leas than one fourth column, proportional rates will be charged. Legal Advertisement’! One square [the spa-e of ten lines bre Tier] one insertion, ' Each subsequent insertion. i yXo advertisement will be considered less than one square: over one square be counted and Charged as two; over two as three de. TTbocal notices fifteen cents a line for each i[7 > Reli< r ions and Educational notices or >dverti*ements, may be contracted for at lower by application at the office. CTDeathsand Marriages published as news JOB PRINTING. W» are prepared todoall kinds of Plain and Fancy Job Printing, at the most reaionable rates. Giv us a call, « feel confident that satisfaction can be given . John Morgan—How He Escaped from the Ohio Penitentiary. From the advance sheets of the forthcoming life of John Morgan, th. rebel freebooter, written, we believe, by Basil Duke. wo extract the following account of the escape of Morgan and bit confederates, from tho Ohio penitentiary. They bad succeeded in breaking through the stone floor a hole large enough, to admit of a man, and had reached the air chamber. The narstiv e proceeds, The method adopted then was for two 01 three to decend and go to work while the others kept watch. In an hour or two a fresh relief would be put on, and the work would be kept up in this way throughout the day, until th# time of locking up arrived, except at dinner time when every men who was away from the table had to give a reason for his absence. Tue work, conducted un-, del-ground, was tedious and difficult, bu’| .all labored with a will. The candles, which had b--n purchased aud hoarded j away. n>w dll g"od service. Without] them it would have been almost impossible tv finish the: task. A code ofj was inven el to meet every con- . linger. By pounding a bar of wood ; upon the stone floor, those above communicated to those underneath, inform-, ation of every danger which threatened end called on them to come forth -t. necessary. The walls of the air chamber were two or three feet thick and bu.lt, huge stones. Two or three of these stones were removed, and a tin < was run straight so the outer wall of U e Mll . Fortune favored the workmen at ; this juncture, and threw in than’ way an adequate tool with which to accomph.h this part of their work. Some on had] ~ • - n the vard through discovered lying m t- . which we passed on our way to br ak f.st, an old rusty spade with » broken hank, h “ — *7™ i that the said spade must be seem - Accordingly men were •trusted tn their respective pnr.s, and a the flrst opportunity the spade was -s---forred to the air chamb . g workind.ggtngup t e- , hat the manner in which that v old. -«■»• sr " !e ' ~,j, .bout 1 ’ ll ‘ long, 100.0 .«* Sil ?' „„ l.i. .eenmpliy l> ibeiriurnal ‘'” s . h ‘ J reran and ruffle with each other m I yard The conspirator were. Uns morning exceedingly frolicsome. At leng | fell, apparently by an ftCCIJ ° ’ J 1 the spade, bis accomplices tumbled in a , P \- ltn No i dexterously »hp, heap upon him- u* but- !

| toned it up. He went into breakfast l with it and sat wonderfully straight and < carried it safely into the hall and down t into the air chamber. i When the main wall of the hall was ■ reached the heavy stones of its found i- i tion were removed in sufficient number i to admit of the passage of a man. But iit was then discovered that lhe tunnel 1 i led right under an immense coal pile. J It was necessaiy that this difficulty 1 , should be remedied; but how? Without ( a view of the ground just outside of the . wall, no one could calculate how for,or . in what direction to run a tunnel, so that ‘ when it was conducted to the surface, all I obstructions might be avoided. In this i emergency, General Morgan engaged 1 Scott in conversation about the remarkble ! escape of some convicts, which had occurred a year er two previously, and l| which Scott was very fond of describing. $ ’ These convicts had climbed by the bal- ,- conies, in front of the ranges of cells, to j- the ceiling, and had passed out through the skylight to the loofol the prison r Scott declared bis belief that there were r,, . , I no two other men on the continent who s could perform the feat of ascending by the balconies. 1 “Why,” taye Genera! Morgan," Cap-, t tain Sam Taylor small as he is’ can do It., Thereupon a discussion ensued, ending ‘ by Scott’s giving Taylor permission to attempt it. Taylor, who, although . verv small, was as active as a squirrel, immedietely commenced the ascent, nnd [ sprang from one to the other of the bal- ■ • conics, until he reached the top one ll# was one of lhe nr n who hid been selected to escape with General Morgan | aadcomprehended immediately the latter’s I , cbject in having him attempt this lent . Li would afford him a chance to glance ' ■ out of the windows at the groud just be- ] vond the wall. As ho leisu reiy swung , himself down, he studied” the position , carefully, and his observations enabled them to direct the tunnel aright- Once luring th# tunneling, while Captain Hocksmith, ( another of tho projectors! of th# plan) was at work under the ground , Scott called for him, and seemed anx- ' ious to find him at once. Gen. Morgan’s ] presence of mind prevented a discovery, ' ' or, least a strong suspicion of the plot ' from at once resulting from Hockersmitb* ■ absence. The Genei tl said to Scott, J Hockersmith is lying down in my cell; he is sick.” and he requested Scott to examine and give bis opinion upon a memorial which he propsed forwarding to Washington. It was something regarding our removal to a uiiliitary prison. Scott ( highly flatter.d by this tribute Jo his judgement ) took the memorial, looked at it attentively for some minutes, and returned it, saying, ‘I think it will do first rite.” It did do. In the tnentime Hockersmith had" come up,” and he i made his appearance complaining ot a ' serious indisposition. ] While the work wat going on, General. Morgan and those who were to escape ! with him, habitually slept with their faces , covered and their hands concealed. TuiSj was dine to accustom the night guard , to take their presence in the cells far granted, by tho appearance of the bulk upon the bed, without actually seeing them. This guard went the rounds at ! the expiration of every two hours during [ ' ‘he niwht, r.nd he would place his lantern i close to each ceil door, so that the light should fill the cell and show the occupant. |. Gen. Morgan used to say that a peculiar., shuddering and creeping of the flesh , would assail him whenever this man ap-|i P ’Hew'oiild frequently creep about with * JistsHppnsonhis feet, and he moved.; then without the slightest noise He ( used to remind me of the sly, cruel bloa.-, ed, suspicious, night prowling spider. When tho tunneling approached its, completion, all the other necessary prep- I erations were made. The prison yard . into w hich they would emerge from th ~ tunnel was surrounded by a wall tueu-y ( , I five feet high, and means for scahng that. had to be provided. There was an mne . 1 wall runing from the corner of the East j . I Hall” ton smaller building, in which I ( I som ; of lhe female convict, were tmprts-] ; oned. but it wa« comparatively low, . m ,

"Our Country’s G-ood shall ever be our Aim—Willing to Praise and not afraid to Blame.”

DECATUR, ADAMS COUNTY, INDIANA, FEBRUARY 8,1867.

they anticipated little difficulty in getting over it. The coverlids of several beds torn into strips were plaited into a strong rope nearly thirty feet in length. A strong iron rod, used for stiring the fires in the stoves, was converted into a hgj’g, and th# rope was attached to it. Rope and hook were taken down to the air' 'chamber, where all the “valuables” were I stored. General Morgan had managed to get a j suit of citizens clothing, and the six men who were going toescape with him weic similarly provided. The warden bad , prohibited the introduction into the pris- ( l on of uniform clothing, but occasionally . allowed plain suits to be received. The ■ . General had gotten a card of the ached-1 ule lima on lhe little Miama Railroad,] and knew when the the train left Colum-' bus and when it arrived at Cincinnati— ' for this he paid fifteen dollars, the money used in effecting his escape. I Despite ths strict search instituted when ' we first entered th# penitentiary, several lof the party had managed to secrete ! money so that it was not found. This] was now divided among the sever) who I were to escape. These were, besides. Morgan, Ciptaia Thomas 11. Hines, Ralph Sheldon, Samuel Taylor, Jacob Bennett, J unes Hackersmith and Gustavus McGee. It is plain that, ns each man was locktd in a seperate cell, and could not get out of it by the door, withI out an interview with the night guard, ; it was necessary to cut an op- ning into ; 'the air chamber, through the floor of I 'each cell from which each one of the seven would escape. It these aperatures j were cut from the top of the fl -or of the 'cells, the risk of detection would be proportionately increased so an accurate 'measurement of the distance between J the cells was taken, and with Hines’ 'cell as a point of departure, it was easy Ito calculate where to commence culling i from underneath, in order that floors of ' .-’.ll these particular cells should be perforated A thin crust only ol cvmcut I was left, but to all outward appearance I the floor was as sound as ever. By means of an arrangmeut which had been perfected for obtaining all absoluItely necessary articles, each ono of the , party about to escape bad procured a . stout, sharp knife— vtry effective w#a-: pons in case of surprise and an attempt to stop their escape When everything was ready, they waited several nights for rain—trusting to elude lhe vigilance of the guards more easily in the obscurity of such a night—and taking the chance, also, that the dogs which were turned loose every night in the yard, would be driven by tho rain into their kennels, which were situated on the other side of the vard from that where tney would emerge: Two or three days before the effort was made. General Moreen received a letter from an Irtshwom 'an in Kentucky, warning him not to at- | ! tempt to make his escape, from winch I she predicted, great evils to him wotbd - result, blis alluded to his kindness to 1 the poor in Lexington, and claimed that I she was informed of th# future in some I supernatural manner On the 29th ot November, General Morgan learned that there had been a ! change of military commandants a. Col- ' timbus. Well knowing that this would be followed by an inspection o! the prison | and a discovery of lhe plot l.e determined that the effort should be made that verv night. His own cell was in the second rang#,from which it was impossible to reach the sir chamber and tunnel, but this cell of hm brother, Colonel Richard Morgan, had been prepared for him, and when Scott tapped, as usual, on the stove, as a signal tor each X to retire to bis cell, the exchange was effected. There was a sufficient resemblance between them to dece.ve a m an who would not look cose y I cially when they were seated with their faces turned away from the door At any rate, Scott and the night guard wercbath derived, and efforts were made j by the occupants of the ce ” ne . ” hut, c,t those where close inspection tn themselves the attention of the guard wh n h went the rounds. As it was essoecWlv necessary, on this occasion, to know -ertainly when the night guard apknow .eitatniy of 1)B(1 been . Sprinkled’, iust before the hour tor lockB P o up. on'the floor of the first range, so that, (tread as lightly as he would the iking cur could not help mating a loud noise

It had been arranged that, just after! the twelve o'clock visit from the guard 1 Captain Taylor should descend into ’.he! air chamber and giye '.he sional underneath ths- fl-,or of eaoh cell, Fortunately the only man who was vile enough to have betrayed tho plan, was absent in the hospital. Six hours elapsed after the locking in; regularly the night guard during that time went his rounds, making an awful cracking as tie passed along the lower rang#. Sixty odd men lay awake, silent and excited—with hearts beating-louder and blood rushing faster through tho veins than the ap proach of battle had ever occasioned. Perhaps the co-lest of ail that number - were the seven who were ab)ut to incur the risk. i Twelve o’clock struck, and the clang 'of the bell seemed to be in the hall itself ! —the .. uard passe 1 with his lantern —a Jew minutes elapsed (whilo the ad ven- ' tures lay still lest that ha should slip ■ back, and then at the signal they sprang from their hods; lustily stuffed flannel ! shirts with material pi epared beforehand, and made up bundles to lie in their beds and represent them. Then stamping j upon, the floor above th# excavations, ! the thin crust of each gave way and they i decended into the air chamber. They i passed one by one along tho tunnel, un- | til the foremost, man reached the terminus, and with his knife cut away the sod, which had of course been left untouched then they emerged into the open air. The I’ncht Rico. The yacht lace across the Atlantic has i .’Uggested the followng thoughts to the I Chicago Time), and (hey are well worthy : of consideration. It is fresh within the memory of all that an American yacht, not long sinceawoke our English cousins from their dream of pre-eminence in swift modi Is and suprior shipwrights. It is only a few months ago that a cockleshell, called th# “ Rod, wite and Blue,” crossed the ocean and astouud-d hairope with the completion of an undertaking that partook more of the miraculous than of the practicable. And now European sailors are once more agape over the ocean race and the speed, skill alld-daring shown in ti c enterprise Tl’.e ownc-rsjof these very yachts, save Mr. Bennett, of th# Henrietta, crossed the'ocean in English Seamers to await the arrival of tlteii beats.

One day last week the last two American steamers engaged in piling b—j tWeen Europe nnd America were struck ' off at auction at about tho value of : their machinery. To-day the only ves- ' seis plying between the old world and the new are soma yachte. John Bull puts on his oye glass to scan the microscopic character of these Yankee vessels. We need no magnifying glass to note the character of English vessels which ' reach our shores. They are of thousands of tons burden, and reach here and depart every day. Our triumph is that of littleness. Failing in ability to succede in the domain of the great, we have taken up with that of the small. We on send smaller boats across the Atlantic than any other power. Wo cun send oyer I vessels so limited in their tonii-ige that | even their owners feel compelled to make I the (rip in a British vessel. Ours is the triumph of Lilliput- England is the Brobdingnag, and «e excel her infinitely iu the minuteness of our performances. The subject of a bridge across East river from Now York to Brooklyn is being agitated. It is intended to make it high ■enough to allow shipping to pass under. ' It is designed to be 4,239 feet long, of which 2,500 feet will be a suspended platform, 1 350 foot a single span ex tending from water’# edge to water s edge It will be 93 feet above high water mark at the shore, en-J 123 feet in the centei. The estimated cost is $3„080.000. Muscular talent in Congress.—lt may not be generally known that Hon. i Roscoe Conkling, United States Sooator I elect, is a man of muscular as well as mental talent. Ho is, with tho exception perhaps of General Rousseau, tue finest specimen of the physical man in the ! present Congress. He is several inches over six feet in Light, with proportionate builJ. And what is more, he is an accomplished boxer and an ardent admirer of th# “manly art,” though we do nst learn that he ever put up his hands in tho ring. In the next Congress New York will have two representatives Conkling, in the Senata, and Morrissey in the House—who can take care of themselr#!. — Rochester Union. B|

j IMPORTANT STATISTICAL FACTS The following statistical article which w# havs compiled with great care, contains a greai ammeunt of information wbieh every intelligent sitizen will be pleased to have for present reading and for future reference. TUB TBEASURT, I The amount of the public debt on the 31st of August, 1865, when it hadreach- ! ed its highest point, was $2,7.57,808,68fi ] Amount, Oct. 31, 1860.. .2,551.424,121 Reduction in 14 months. .5206,379.565 ; Income ol the United States, from all I sources, including Bonds, for the fiscal year ending with i June 30, 1866. .. .§1,273,960,215.20] Expenditures in same time 1.141,072,676 09 Balance, June 30, 1863 132,877,540.11 Exports, gold value.... 41 5 935,159 00' Imports 423,975,036 00 ! Balance against u 58,009,576.00 | Owing to tho undervaluation of iaiported goods, lhe balance against us is esti- | mated at nearly. .§100,000,000.00 i Total value of Bonds of the United States, the several States, and of i various railroads held abroad, is estimated at-$600,000,000.00 I The total value of bullion deposited at the Mint for the fised year wa5538,947,157 88 Total coinage 28,640,779 40 | INTERNAL JtBVENUB. Tho aggregate- receipts of Internal Revenue tor the past three years: 18645117,145,748.52 1465 211,129,529 17 1866310,906,984 17 The income in 1866 was nearly treble (that of 1864. Os this large supi the chief sou rces were: Income Tax 860,894,136.00 . Distilled Spirits, etc Fermented Liquors ....34,313,318 00 I Tobacco and Cigar 515,814,360.87 Licenses 18,015,743 32 ' Revopuo 5tamp515,044,373.18 i ’Bank and Insurance Tax.. .7,649,991:77 1 . The r< ci-ipts of Internal Revenue, for ] I the fiscal year 1867, are estimated at 8285,000,000, after reducing the tax on i many articles which now orc too h.avoly taxed. rational banks. Total number of bunks organized up ' to Oct. Ist, 18661,663 Total Resources ....$1,525,493,930.00 iTotal Liabi1itie51,024,274,376.00 i Surplus for capital aud earnings 501,219,544 00 ] Capitol paid in 417,245,154 07 ! Bonds deposited in treasuiy Departments.. 332,467,700.00 ; Circulars 155ued292,671,753 00 i TUB AIIMF. Total expenditures of the War De ] partment the past year, 8259,374,317; ol ] ' which sum $205,272,324 was paid to Joldiers mustered out. The military railroads operated at an ; expenditure of 845,000,000 last, year ] have been restored to their owners Th# military telegraph; which cost , 83,219,000 has bseti discontinued. 1,023 021 volunteers have been mustered out, leaving, June 30, 1866, 11,1043 white and colored volunteers in the ! service. ] The present strength ofthenrmyis i 54,302; of these 10,000 are colored | troops. THE NAVT. j Total numbsr of vessels now in the i I navy, 278, armed with 2,351 guns. Os these 115 ara inactive duty, carrying] 1,029 guns. Total number of seamen in naval and coast survey, 13,600. Rescued for year ending June 30, 1866... .$142,291,910.40 Expenditure 543,324,526.42 Leaving a balance of. . . .98,967,392.98 Appropriations (or current year 18,976,667.50 Total available resources for year ending June 30, 1867.117,944,060.48

The Secretary asked for appropriations amounting to 823,568,436 16 for the current year. C MMF.HCB. Foreign comtn - ce declined during the war nearly fifty pe, cent. The tonnage of American vessels engaged in foreign trade was: ! In 1860 5,921,285 tons. ] 18652,943,661 “ i 18663,372,060 “ | Ter.age.of such vessels which cleared from the United States: In 1860 6,165,924 tons 18653,025,134 “ 18662,383,176 ” Tonnage of . foreign vessele enjuing ' our ports: In 1869 .2,353,911 tons. 18653,216,967 “ 18664,410,424 “ i Tonnage ol foreign vessels cleared: ! In 1860 2 634,005 tons. ; 18653.595,123 “ 18664.438,384 “ PLBI.IC LANDS. The entire nm -unt of the public Jo- : main is 1,465 468,800 acres, of which •17 4,160,551 acres have l >een siirvey#d. Public lands so Id during the year 4,629, 312 acres Cash receipts, $824,G45. PENSIONS. Total amount of pensi' ns ia tho roll’ June 30, 1866, 128,722. Total amount paid pensions $13,457,996. The inJ creased rates of pesions will cijl! for over $33,000,000 additional this year. The : surviving revolutionary soldier rec-ires, in addition to his original pension, 8100 I per annum under an act approved April 1, 1864, aud S3OO par annum under an i act approved Feb. 27, 1885, 1)31 widows iof revolutionary soldiers are on the pen- ] sions rolls. Number dropped flora rolls ; during past year 9,342, with an allow--1 anco of $880,173. , PATENTS. During tho year ending St pt. 39, ’66, ] the total applications for pattuts were i 14,039- Receipts $39 ),116, being 81IG, J 719 mor# than txpensc. UNITED STATES COURT’. I The various expenses of the United I State-< Courts amounted to $989,550. j POST OFFICE. I The expenditures in the Post Office Department for the fiscal year 1866, were 515,352,079 ’Receiuts 14,386,983 ■ Deficits96s/93 ! The deficit is owu:; to the heavy expenditure for carrying the mails throughI out the South. ) The-Postal Money Order System has i been very successful. 243,649 money orders hero been issued involving remiiI tance to 'h# amount of 84,000,000. Os this sum only $533 arc reported as !ost in the mails. Foreign conntries sent to the United States 4,543.630 letters, and wu sent abroad 4,886,916 letters. , Special appropriations for transportation from California, Japan, China and Bmz ! l, will be required to the amount of $1,500,000. THE FREEDMEN, The r.nmber of rations issued to refugees and freedmen from June 1, 1865, to Sept. 1, 1866, was 13,412,273. The I monthly issue will be greater '.his com- | ing winter, owing to the shurtnesa of I crops aud the great distrass among the poor in the South. ! 159,000 persons attend th# sch ools in the South. The Bureau controls 275,000 acre# of 'and and 1,100 town and city lots. Fer the ensuing fiscal ytar an appropriation of 33,386,300 is needed. AaniCL’LTURFThe estimate* o( the crops lor the year 1866 are as follows: Wheat, 180.OOO,<<OO bushels; corn 83t,000,000 bushels—an increase cf 40,000,000 over ’.bat of 1859;cottou, 1,759,000 bales of 400 pounds each. Ths farm slock in the South is from 56 to 80 per eeut. of the amount returned by the census of 18 r ’O.

NO. 45.