expressed themselves entirely satisfied and had not the slightest complaint to make. The exception was Colonel Stone, who thought that the fried pork breakfast was too salty and that the coffee was too weak. It was suggested that these evils might be somewhat remedied by complaining to their fellow-prisoners, the cooks.

Hospital. - There are in the hospital about seventy-five sick, some two or three in a precarious condition. The diseases prevalent are pneumonia and diarrhea brought with them, or on generally by exposure previous to their arrival at Alton. Their own surgeons have charge of the hospital. The two whom we found in attendance seemed to be intelligent men and tolerably careful in their attention to the sick. They said that their partients had everything that they needed; indeed one of them volunteered to say that he had been surprised to hear contrary statements, and had denied emphatically to sympathizing visitors that the sick were not as well cared for in every particular as they could be anywhere else. The hospital hall in large, well ventilated and not crowded. All of the sick were not confined there, many with colds, &c., preferring their own quarters.

In conclusion we would report that so soon as the straw for bedding shall be mor generally distributed and a few blankets supplied here and there (all of which we understood was done last evening) the condition of the prisoners at Alton will be entirely comfortable and beyond the reach of reasonable complaint. The quarters are far from being crowled; the provisions are sound and abundant and the grounds for airing and for exercise amply extensive, and these facts are sustained by the almost unanimous confession of the prisoners themselves. The wants of each squad are presented every day in its morning report, and these are supplied either from the public stores or from funds deposited by relatives and friends to the credit of the different prisoners.

Six Illinoisans, under charge of assisting prisoners of war to escape. - These six men (W. P. Brooks, N. T. Brooks, A. C. Gish, W. S. Hutton, W. G. Nabb and William Richardson) are citizens of Auburn, Sangamon County, Ill., and were arrested for extending aid and comfort to an escaped rebel prisoner of war, and they are now confined in separate cells in the Alton Penitentiary and have been so confined for the last two weeks. Charge: They are charged with giving money varying in amount from 50 cents to $2 to a rebel prisoner who acknowledged that he had escaped a short time previous from the cars while en route from Camp Douglas. Defense: The prisoners have each presented a statement of their interviews with the rebel soldier. They confess that they gave the money, but say that it was done unthinkingly and on the assurance of the soldier that he was a Union man; that he would return home and tell his friends of the false stories circulated at the South in regard to Northern people and that he would report himself to the proper military authority. They moreover say that they are loyal men, and to this effect also five petitions have been received at headquarters of the department from 165 citizens of Auburn. Some of these petitioners have been guaranteed as sound Union men by the Governor of Illinois. Recommendation: It is not believed that the State courts of Illionois could take cognizance of the charge against these six citizen prisoners. Complaint could be made to the U. S. district attorney at Springfield and the charges investigated and tried by the U. S. circuit court in Illinois. Considering therefore that the publicity already given to this case of assisting a rebel prisoner to escape has had its proper effect, that the prisoners are loyal men who acted without thought or disloyal intention and that they have been kept two