A GERMAN PRISON.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4627, 14 May 1915, Page 1 (Supplement)

A GERMAN PRISON.

d BRITISH SOLDIERS IX RAGS. , c “Times” correspondent, writing I ' on J, Germany, describes a visit to one " or tiie German Kriegegefangenlager I (prison camps), where 8000 men, Britisii, I rench, Russian, Belgians, and lincos, are detained. He was escorted > oy an officer. There were ten “ pens ” containing buildings of stained pine ooards on a brick foundation, heated, fJgnted, and ventilated. All the buildI 'V"' 3 " ei e ne "’ ar >d specially constructed, s 1 lie mattresses were of shavings, placed f on floor 3 but the blankets were 3 scanty. Many of the men had been i there four or five months, but were in good spirits and optimistic. They asked t il the Russians were in Berlin, and dailv i expected to hear the boom of friendly , guns. ; “All discipline is maintained by their > own non-commissioned officers,” the b guide remarked. “They have full i charge and full responsibility. If any- • thing goes wrong a look-out touches’;! i bell, and then we take action,” and he pointed to the batteries of artillery posted on an elevated platform. XO CHOCOLATE ALLOWED. , The chief meal of the day is at noon. and consists of a big tin bowl of meat . and potato soup and a piece of black bread. For breakfast, 1 was told, the r prisoners received coffee, with sugar and > broad, and in the evening, bread, with , sometimes potatoes or other vegetables , —in all, one pound of bread daily for . I each man. Each “ pen” has a store, but no food, chocolate, or tobacco is allowed to be sold. In one of the buildings I came upon u group of British Guardsmen, tall, splendid fellows, far excelling in physique and bearing all the other prisoners. They seemed remarkably "ffL and only complained that it was harentfc pass the time, but otherwise they Wore well treated. I Questioned about the food, they said J it was good; but one man spoke up: — I “We want more bread.” I was informed that the allowance was the same as that of the German soldiers. The clothing of the prisoners was pitiable, and consistciTwif odd articles of all kinds of attire, and much of it was mere rags. ONE POST-CARD WEEKLY. The prisoners are allowed to write one post-card Weekly, which is forwarded through the Central Distributing Bureau, Geneva. The working day is j 1 at present five hours, and chiefly road building and repairing is done. Eagli receives a halfpenny per day for his work. By 8 p.m. all lights are out in lb a buildings, and silence must be observed thereafter. The matter of keeping prisoners occupied is of great concern to the authorities. “When spvring comes it will be different. Then there will he much to do, for the prisoners must till oir 1 soil and plant crops. They will no doubt he with us for the harvest,” concluded the officer thoughtfully.