SECRET PRISONERS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIX, Issue 9478, 16 December 1918, Page 8

SECRET PRISONERS.

CONCEALED IN GERMAN.!

The French persistently .affirm ihat, there are secret prisoners in< ; Germany, men whose families have.'lost all trace oi: them and suppose -them .to > be dead, but "whom the Germans have concealed for some unfathomable and unavowable .season.

No doubt they have more reasons for what they say than they have published. 1 myself know of one s<K!ret prisoner, whose story I heard; sit Ruhleben.

Long after the rest of us, there was brought into the camp .a man obviously of . some standing and consideration, whose manner was very dazed and depressed. By degrees, finding himself -among friends, he brightened a little and told some of us what had happened to . .him,.. and why it was ,that-lie. had been brought: .to join us so late in the day. Ho was one of the men—and . there were hundreds of .them—who had been arrested just before;'or just after, tlie outbreak of war, thrown into prison for no reason except that they were "suspected," and kept in solitary confinement .without the opportunity of communicating with .their friends'. .

As a rule, such men were released after a few days 'or a few weeks, though 1 have known a few who were detained in those .conditions for as

Jong as two months. But this particular man was kept in detention much longer. The time seemed an eternity to him, /and he was in dcs-

pair. At last he took a desperate step, and tried to smuggle out of the prison a letter written in invisible ink, describing' his plight. The attempt was detected, as, of course, it was bound to be. The offence—luckily, as it happened for offender—-was one which &he gaol governor considered too. serious for him to deal with. He therefore reported the case to Berlin, and asked.for instructions, and .tho rep;ly which Berlin sent was an astonishing one: "Who is this man.? We "had iori^otten all about him, .and, did 'nub know that he was in your .hands. Send him' to Ruhleben, aiid we ■.will' go into the case there." So he came to Ruhleben, and-so far as I know the story had no sequel. But if that' sort of thing has bapperied to one man it may have happened to several; and it is-quite clear that there will have to bo a very; thorough investigation of rail.the (Unman, prisons after the war in, order that the truth' may be sifted, -just-ice done, and-all those responsible for tho oversights, whether these foaye been intentional or accidental, punished as they destarve.—(By Frank (hihme., *n tbe'<"Da% Mail.")