GERMAN PRISONERS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17095, 18 February 1916, Page 5

GERMAN PRISONERS.

. HOW THEY ARE'TREATED. VISIT TO A BRITISH CAMP. (“New* York Herald.’') “ The only difference between us and the prisoners here is that we have the keys.” In this verdict of the hardbitten "soldier who is adjutant, and who, in conjunction with Colonel Sir John Gladstone, the commandant, with the approval of the British War Office, permitted the “Herald” correspondent to inspect the 125 German army and navy officers, some of them well known in America, prisoners in the abandoned Holt port Military School, near Maidenhead, I heartily concur. This school is a commodious building, plainly but comfortably furnished, with attractive smoking and reading rooms, a spacious dining-room, a hi" kitchen, presided over by the chef of a once famous German liner, and more than enough -light, airy bedrooms for those interned there.

When I arrived at Holyport- the prisoners, who, by the way, aje served by forty-two German orderlies, were trooping out for an airing, and to play /football in a big field near by. The teams, made up of splendidly-built young fellows, wore football “ togs,” and although they wouldn’t stand a chance against Vest Point or Annapolis, nevertheless they put up a lively game. The non-players, among whom there was a sprinkling of navy men, all in service uniforms, were a mixed lot—thin ath-letic-looking cavalrymen, squat infantry officers, and a couple of Jaegers. The majority of the soldiers are from Saxony, but the Imperial Prussian Guard and the stout Bavarians have contributed their quota. As a rule these prisoners are not sociable —except when they have a sing-song on a feast day—and the soldiers and sailors do not. mix. The former speak slightingly of the navy, which has left the army to do nearly all the fighting, but this feeling does not apply to Second Captain Bochammer, of tlie Gneiseuau,. who was rescued when his cruiser went down with the Scharnhorst in the battle off the Falkland Isles. He is the senior in rank among the prisoners, and through him they address all necessary communications to the commander of the camp. The only really affable prisoners are those who have lived .-n America, and among these is OberIJeutenant Victor von Borosiui Holienstatt, who, with his American wife, was identified with the work of Miss Jane Adda ms and Hull House in Chicago for seven years. Von Borosini, whose wife Is in Saginaw, Michigan, now, is a doctor of philosophy. In fact tho camp seems to be full of Herr Doctors, and among them arc: Dr Arnold Ivollschaetter. astronomer, formerly attached to Mount Wilson Observatory. California; Dr Karl Friedenberg. engineer, formerly of Washington, D.C., who knows every foot of the Panama Canal, and delivers lectures upon it, illustrated by maps made by himself, to Ilfs fellow-prisoners; Dr Geoigo Lutz, an authority on Spanish literature, who is instructing a class in that language; Dr Kurt von Basser, captain of cavalry, formerly of Los Angeles. California.

DESCENDANT OB' LUTHER. There is another doctor there, too— Dr Martin Luther, son of Pastor tin Luther, a descendant of the gien Reformer. Dr Lutlier is a rather solemn person, and it is said that when recently lie spoko disparagingly of the food of England contrasted with tlia of the Fatherland, a young Bavarian towhead interjected rather indelicately, “ English food is better than the Diet with which your ancestor was associated.’’ The prisoners, who are paid by the British Government from 4s to es a. day. according to rank—the fortytwo orderlies are paid too —have clubbed together to buy thoir own food, and have nearly.every delicacy dear to the German heart, at a cost of, approximately, 2s 6d a head a day. 1. saw an abundance of ham, real pumpernickel, made in London, German sausages from Holland, and lager beer, made in Glasgow. Forcing there to drink the latter is the nearest tiling to cruelty inflicted on the prisoners. The dining room was full of ja.ni, marmalades, sweetmeats, and sauces, some from home and some from Dundee, the napery was snow-white, the chinaware and cutlery were of good quality, and the presence of several little Christmas trees gave the big room a cheery atmosphere. There is a piano in the dining room, and when they hold

a “Komniers” the prisoners indulge in tlie songs of the Fatherland—there is no restriction in this respect—-with “ Deutschland über Allies ” the prime favourite. They are visited on alternate Sundays by a Lutheran pastor and a Catholic priest. They don’t care for long sermons, but they always want to sing “ Ein teste Burg ist tinsor Gott ” and “ This is the day the Lord has made.” All the prisoners get plenty of outdoor exercise—everyone is compelled to take an airing at least twice a week —and it is this sanitary precaution which accounts for the tact that there is only one slight case of illness in the camp. When we had inspected all parts cf the camp, including the bath houses, with their hot and cold showers. I returned to Colonel Gladstone's headquarters, where 1 met Lieutenant von IJorosini. who eagerly inquired about everything that is going on in America, particularly in Chicago. When told that the great boulevard svstom is nearing completion he seemed interested, but the thing that gave him most pleasure was the information that the work of Hull House continued to prosper, that the slums near hy are being thoroughly cleaned up. and that Captain Kel'y, an honest, able policeman, and famous traffic expert y is Chief of Police of the “ Windy City.” Of his connection with Hull House tlie lieutenant spoke modestly, though he was a hard worker in the foreign colonies that surround that institution, and his marriage, when hi' was a. teacher there, is one of the romances of Hull House.

“XO CAUSE FOR COMPLAINT." Pressed to speak of life in the camp, lie said there was no cause for complaint. The food is good and plentiful, rooked by German cooks; tho prisoners have plenty of exercise, and nearly all of them are studying languages. In addition to English, which he speaks as fluently as his native Gorman. Lieutenant von Borosini has also mastered French, lias completed a course of Russian and Persian, and is now studying Spanish. Nearly all <.f the prisoners arp diligent students, said the lieutenant, and the walls if what, was once a class-room are plastered with maps showing the positions of the armies in -tlie theatres of war, the mineral and other re-

sources of the United States, and statistics cf Germany’s sea-power, proving that even in prison the Germans will not abandon the quest of “Kultur." When 1 asked the lieutenant how he came to join tlie German army, liesaid : “ I was in Germany when the war broke out. ana ns n retired officer I offered my sword to my country. 1 was rejected at first, but overcame the scruples of the doctors and war, assigned to the 25th Saxon Rifles. 1 was oaptured near Ypres, about- a year ago, ton days after we had got to the front..” Lieutenant von Borosini. who has been visited by his wife since his imprisonment, admitted that the officers had many privileges. They receive visitors at stated intervals, and they are supplied with English, French, Russian and Italian newspapers. As I was leaving the camp lights were turned on and the guard which surrounds the wire stockade was being changed. “Oh, it isn’t at all like Libby prison,” Lieutenant von Borosini remarked, after saying “ goodbye.” “Wo have everything but one tiling.” That thing is fervently desired by everyone here, from Captain Muhlbauer, the dean, who was the first prisoner of war raptured by England fie was taken from his steamship, which was interned at Gibraltar ten minutes after war had been declared—down to tlie baby of the camp, Lieutenant Millington Hermann, cf the New York branch of the Deutsches Bank of Berlin, of which his father is president, and it was voiced by the tall, closelycropped, iron grey-haired, bine-eyed Saxon soldier, when he said, with a wan smile, “It’s a long, long way to Chicago!”