HUNGRY GERMANS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 4497, 14 March 1917, Page 3

HUNGRY GERMANS.

Wearing the white cross, superimposed on the red disc —the distinctive badge o£ all civilians returned from Germany—nine mere repatriated prisoners arrived at Gravesend by the Flushing boat. All are over 45. and few are under 55. All men over 55, except a ship’s captain, are discharged ; the mistrers of the seas must not have 'the benefit of the services of a man who understands the navigation of a ship.

I talked with half-a-dozen of tlm men, all of whom desired that thennames must not be mentioned, as the Germans read the statements in the .English papers and retaliate on tnoso known to their friends, writes The Times correspondent. One told me something of the conditions of Ruhleben camp during the two years lie was a prisoner there. He was iirsr sent to Giessen, where he' c-ame into contact with some of our own soldiers all of whom were treated with scant consideration. Afterwards he was removed to Ruhleben, where the conditions cf the first 12 months were horrible. They improved about IS months ago, about which time parcels began to arrive from England. Life in the camp was made tolerable by the general cheerfulness; the British were never downhearted. But. according to the members of the party, a wonderful change has come over tiie Germans. The arrogance of the early days of the war has entirely disappeared. No longer do the guards hustle the captives, no longer do they threaten them or boast of what they are going to do to the hated English. They are distinctly friendly and, what is more, longing for the war to end. Every guard has seen service at one or other of the fronts, and the experience of the might of the Allies has been disciplinary. But there is one thing at Ruhleben which is almcst unendurable, and that is the mud. • The Germans are very fond of boasting of how they have broken the English blockade with the Deutschland submarine, and declare that- 140 similar U-boats are being built to carry on Germany’s trade and commerce. The British are fond of making tne inquiry. “Where’s the Bremen ?” but the only answer the Germans make is a shrug of the shoulders. The Ruhleben Sanatorium is in a 'esidental quarter, in which well-to-do people live. At first these people were very arrogant towards the prisoners, and the children especially, taught by the elders, were most insolent. They are now glad to linger around LTe compounds and eagerly snatch the b ts of food sent out from home, which the Enghsh toss over the Bit fence to them. It is the big towns which'surfer from the scarcity of foed; in the south of Germany it is more plentiful, but the south will not let it go. There is no business in Berlin : it .s exceeding'y quiet. Everything is deteriorating.