To which I replied, "They very
much need more clothing, and must greatly suffer without it." He
answered, "Oh, our soldiers in the army suffered a great deal more than
these fellows do, and you thought nothing of that. The fact is, you have
too much feeling for these men." I left, with the remark, "I think we
ought to have some humanity about us."

Thus was the attempt made to plaster over this outrageous cruelty by
alluding to events which could not, in the very nature of things, be
avoided. I say outrageous, for there was bedding enough on those unused
beds, such as it was, to have done something towards relieving this
suffering, but they would not permit them to have that. Then New
Hampshire possessed wood and water enough to keep that room comfortable.
If the boiler needed repairs, workmen for doing that were at hand; or,
if it needed renewing, that could have been easily accomplished. Or they
might have set large coal stoves at work.

But all did not thus lack for bedding. Some, by oversight or favoritism,
had a surplus, using comfortables as a substitute for straw. A man thus
supplied sent one of his extra number to the relief of another, as this
sufferer subsequently informed me.

On those cold Sabbaths, the men would wrap their bed clothing about
them, sit reclining on their beds, and read. The warden would not allow
the shop to be warmed at all. Those cold mornings and those cold days it
was excessively severe. The overseers had to bundle up with extra
clothing to prevent suffering. One day the men had become too much
benumbed to work and the foreman stopped the machinery, let the steam
into the shop, thawed them out, and then went on again.

Having heard the warden say that the water in their reservoir was low,
causing him fears of its failing, and meeting the governor, to his
inquiry about our prison affairs, I alluded to the coldness there and
the warden's remark, and received the reply, "Why, it won't do to let
the men suffer with the cold. If need be, he must haul water from the
river," and he sent the warden a letter to that import. But no water was
hauled, and no amelioration had from the cold till, at length, when the
severest weather had nearly passed, one of the council visited the
prison and ordered a coal stove to be placed in a part of the hall,
which gave a measure of alleviation. Still the men continued to suffer
more or less till the change of weather brought the desired relief. They
will e