REMAKING SERBIAN ARMY WONDERFUL
PATIENCE COMMANDER'S WACHWORD
WAR ZONE OBSERVATIONS
SOLDIERS SAY TRENCHES HELL-HOLES
GERMAN PRISON CAMPS ARE MODEL
SERBIAN
ARMY
QUICK
TO RECOVER FROM A
' MASHING "DEFEAT"
f j
Character of People and Aid
From French and British
Are Also Factors.
FLEE FROM THE INVADERS
cores Dropped on wayside During
Ittmtj Loaf Httrt Breaking
Marches Forced Upon Kan.
Salonikl, July S. (I. N. 8.) Tne
way In which the Serbian army hua
bean reconstituted la one of the mira
cles of the war. Seven months ago
lit , would hardly have been said to
exist. It waa worn out with fighting
againat enormoui odds and the retreat
through Albania had reduced It to a dis
ordered maaa of famished and dis-
spirited men, without a chance, one
would have aald, of ever pulling thein
elvea together and taking the field
again.
Yet today, when Generals Sarrall and
Milne were the guests at a festival
of one of the moat famous Herblin
regiments, the burly vigorous men that
marched past them with even, swing
ing step, and afterwards sang their
ongs and danced their national rianciH
were splendid examples of the pea
sant soldier at his best.
Their discipline was excellent, their
high spirits undeniable; and the.e were
the very men who came through Al
bania laat winter, leaving thousand
Of their comrades dying of sheer ex
bauatlon by the way.
Serbian Character Praised.
The credit of It falls chiefly to the
courage and resiliency of the SerhiRn
:haracter, but without t tie help brought
by the French and Rrltlsh missions li
would have been Impossible for tl::
Serbian army to come Into existence
again as such.
The first and most imperative neces-
Uy when the invasion awept the Herb
Ian army atill fighting out of Its own
territory Intorocky, foodies, and ho,
tile mountainous Albania was to mee
the Serbians with food and save them
from absolute starvation. These sup
piles of food had to be gathered at
Brlndlsl and run the gauntlet of trie
Austrian fleet In the Adriatic befoit
they even reached Albania And then
thera remained the hard task of gel
j ting them inland over roads so bad
that nething but the roughest tracks
In the highlands can be compared with
them.
Officers and men of the RrifiMh
' trmy service corps were aent to Medua,
Durraio, and Avlona to organise this
service along the line of the Serbian .
.retreat.
rood Depots- Plactd.
So exhausted and dispirited wera
they that it waa necessary to place
food depot at Intervals along the
' coast as as to enable them to con
tinue; their Journey. Between 60,000
, and $0,000 men had struggled through
from Bcrbia to Scutari. Day after day
they had marched by goat-tracks over
precipitous mountains in heavy rain
and anow, often literally with no food
for days together. Kvery few yards
ft man would sink down in the snow
. to die and only the strongest came
through.
' A party of British officers was sent
out at the end of November, and of
these an advance party rushed on to
meet the Serbian general staff at
Scutari, while the rest established
. their headquarters at Rome and a base
. for food supplies at Brlndsi. But for
their endeavors. It is difficult to see
now the Serbians could have done any-
thing but collapse and die of sheer
hunger at Scutari. Bread cost J2.50
to $4 a loaf. Some of the men went
lx days without tasting food.
March Is Difficult.
At considerable risk from mines, the
Italian navy insured the transport of
food to Medua, but it was pot possible
to embark the Serbians trlere, as the
Austrian fleet lay at Cattaro, close by,
and might at any moment make a sor
tie. So the weary Serbians had to be
roused again for another heart break
ing march southward to Durazzo
through dangerous marshes and In con'.
Itant apprehension of an Albanian or
ft Bulgarian attack. It was another
Tearful Journey, during which hun
dreds died of dysentery. At Durazzo.
ij nly part of the army could be taken
pn board ship, and the rest had yet
another seven days' march to Avlona.
From Avlona the French quickly
hipped the Serbians to Corfu. But
even at Corfu their troubles were not
aver. The 80.000 troops who had
marched from Scutari had been in-
' 2r 60 000 who "ad come
, straight from Klbaasa into Avlona and
the difficulties of feeding and lodging
such an army In the island were very
, treat. The landing of troops began
- In wretched weather, and the men went
- n dying of dysentery and exhaustion
: lor weeks afterward.
Icaoh Work Performed.
,. , Roads and Jetties had to be built.
Slothing; had to come from France and
England, rifles were shipped and
horses and machine guns.
1 Then the Serbians were transported
to Salonlkl through seas, where they
were awaltted by submarines which
were even sighted from shore by the
' Serbian troops at drill.
The Serbian camps stretch for miles
. In a beautiful setting on a green plain.
, flanked by a black mountain and shin
ing sea. It is not only an army you
see When you visit them, hut n.tinn
That Is the one melancholy thing about
.- this Serbian force that it should be
all that is left of the manhood and
, vigor, bodily and Intellectual, of so
gauant a people.
Some English Towns
In Desperate Plight
Pear of Bombardment steeps Ylaltors
V Prom East Coast Points and Plsb.
lag Industry Declines.
.London. July 8. (I. N. 8.) Owing
to the' war the picturesque East Coast
summer resort towns of England are
li desperate plight. No visitors go
there because of the fear of bombard
ment by the Germans and for other
reasons, and the fishing trade and
other activities nave dwindled. Mem
bers from the districts where these
towns are located have appealed to par
liament for relief and tho government
is about to take action to remedy mat
ter x -
Swiss People Protest
Export of Bread
Newspaper Declare That Public Will
Pat Stop to Practice XT Government
Does Jf ot Eaforoe Embargo.
Berne, July S. (I. N.S.) the Swiss
papers are protesting violently against
the export of foodstuffs to Austria
Hungary and Germany. These exports
were prohibited by the federal council
several months ago, but they still con
tinue. The St. Gallener Tageblatt
says:
"Under the (pretext that flour, is be
coming more and more scarce, our bak
ers have again raised the price of
bread. Along the Austrian frontier
frontier Swiss citizens are turned
away from the bakeries, while tons of
bread are taken across certain bridges
to Austria, where higher prices are
paid. Meat, butter and cheese are also
continually taken out of the country in
large quantities. If the government
does not see fit to enforce its embargo,
the people wilt take the matter into
their own hands and see to It that no
more food is carried across the border
while our men, women and children
suffer from want"
Top Picture Ulustratlnjc immensity of number of men engaged in fight at Verdun. So far as eye can reach is a maas of human fight
ing machines. In this corps there are 40,000 men, or about l-lOO of the total number of men engaged. Bottom Group of members
of Russian Duma which recently visited England. Seated on the extreme right is Professor AUUnkoff, the leader of the Liberal
larty In the duma. Seated in center with arms folded is Speaker Lo wither of the British house of commons, and seated next to him
on right of picture is Baron Rosen, formerly Russian ambassador to Washington. The vice president of the duma, M. Propopotoff, is
seated fourth from left, and next to him on right of the picture is Count Benkendorff, Russian ambassador at the Court of St,
James.
SOLDIERS ARE TIRED
OF LIFE IN TRENCHES,
CALLED HELL HOLES
Letters Are Found on the
Germans Taken Prisoners
Near Verdun.
London, July 8. (I. N. S.) H.
Warren Allen, special representative
of the British press with the French
rmv. sends some extracts from let
ters written by Herman soiaiers De
fore Verdun and taken from their
rockets when the writers were cap
tured. Many complain of the great
slaughter of men.
From a letter written by Lieutenant
Klllgen of the Sixth reserve Infantry
regiment and intended for dispatch to
another lieutenant belonging to the
202nd reserve regiment:
"April S You can form some Idea
of our position from the fact that all
our officers have been renewed. The
losses of the regiment are high, for
Its position on the plateau of Vaux is
simply disgusting. Our battalions re
lieve one another, but our positions
when in reserve or resting, receive,
with few exceptions, as many shells as
the first line."
From a letter dated 'April 11, writ
ten by a private soldier, named Shro
dtr of the Eightieth Infantry regiment.
"We are absolutely In a hell hole
here. The artillery fires night and
day. I never Imagined It would he like
this. If only this wretched war
would come to an end. No reasonable
man can justify such a butchery of
men. Though we have not
been long in the firing line we have
all had enough of It, and are longing
for peace. We should like to send to
the front all these gentlemen who
caused the war and who profit from
it. If we had done this we should
have had peace long ago."
From a letter written by a soldier
named Schmole of the 201th reserve
regiment, dated April 15:
"You can't Imagine how tired wears
of life sometimes. We are made to
toll In every possible way. There is
no rest until one falls on his nose in
the mud. How absurd what they write
In the newspapers seem. Our beloved
soldiers! If you knew what they have
to suffer, to say nothing of having
their lives worried out of them, they
would not serve us up such lies. Yes
terday the weather was still abomi
nable, and we were again wet to the
bone. Then we were asked why we
were not singing, so, in all our misery,
we had to sing."
A - nAstcard written bv a snlritar
named Keltsch of the Third rrenadter
regiment of landstrum, to his son.
Frits dated April 30:
"Since Good Friday I have been be
fore Verdun. It is terrible. We are
in holes on the slopes of a mountain,
and we scarcely dare put out ot'
noses. The bombardment is Inces
sant: sometimes it is too awful for
Vords. It seems as if the mountain
was collapsing. If I escape altve I
shall remember this Easter. Our
kitchens are two hours to the rear.
There Is not a drop of water nets."
Japanfs Shipping
Progress Now Active
Company Working Under OoTermneat
Subsidy MftkM Bapld Strides; Pas.
eager Traffic Is Xeavy.
Tokyo, July If. The demand for
passenger accommodations on the lin
ers plying between Japan and America
continues to be unprecedented.
The Toyo Klsen Kaisha has pur
chased the former Pacific Mail liner's
Korea and Siberia to replace the Chiyo
Mam which ran aground at Hongkong
a few weeks ago. The vendors are the
Atlantal-a Transport Company and the
("price is put at 11.000,000 gold.
Further evidence of Japan s snip
ping progress is seen in the position of
the subsidised lines, the Nippon Yusen
Kaisha. which celebrates its thirtieth
birthday in September next. When it
was started the concern was only en
gaged in coastal shipping. It is now
the eighth largest shipping concern in
the world, with a fleet of 102 vessels
(480.000 tons) and a staff.of 760 em
ployes on shore and 6000 afloat. No
foreigner can hold shares. The imper- j
lal family Is interested In the company. I
Patience and More Patience Watchword
Of English Commander in "Great Push"
Sir Douglas Haig Is Soldier Without Illusions, Who Sees With
Soldier's Logic ; Scotch by Birth and Canny by Nature.
By Frederick Palmer.
British Headquarters; France, July
8. (I. N. S.) No military leader is
more averse to publicity or works
more silently than Sir Douglas Haig,
the British commander-in-chief in
France. To those who were Importu
nate for the offensive his answer was
patience and yet again patience, while '
the new munition factories began to'
produce and he continued his building.
His generals say that he never tells
(hem his plans; only what they are
to do.
Probably not one man out of ten of
the million or more under his com
mand would recognize him if they saw
him. Not given to reviews or any kind
of display, this quiet and studious
Scotsman was the choice of the pro
gressive, practical, driving element of
the army as the one fit by equipment,
training and experience, to succeed Sir
John French. At o, he is nine years
younger than Sir John and 10 years
younger than Joffre or Von Hinden
burg. Of the men of command rank in the
British army in August, 1914, he and
Sir William Robertson another man
who had risen from the ranks and is
now chief of staff in London were
the two who were appraised by the
generation of officers who had devel
oped since South Africa as having pre
pared themselves for the direction of
large bodies of troops on the scale of
continental warfare. They were not
the magnetic, dashing leader type, but
organisers.
West Throogn Tongs School.
Going out in command of the first
army of the British expeditionary
force. Sir Douglas had 17 months' ex
perience Mons, Ypres and Loos of
the warfare of the western front,
which ail agree is the toughest school
any soldier has ever known.
There was no doubt who commanded
the first army. It was Haig. He
was no figurehead, for the work of an
able chief of staff. London gossip
did not bandy his name about; he was
not a personality to the public, though
he waa to the army.
When anyone asked at the front
who was the best man to take Sir
John'a place the answer was almost
Invariably. "Haig." He had not cap
tured the army's imagination, but
Us reason. The tribute was one to
brains.
A wisp of a flag and two sentries
designate the entrance to the chateau
smaller than that occupied by many
division generals which is the head
quarters of the commander In chief
I The only occupants of the chateau
besides Sir-Douglas are his private sec-
i retary ana nis aiaes, wno are "crocas.
tbe army word or officers who have
been wounded and are not fit for the
physical exposure of the trenches. In
other words, if a youngster wishes to
become an aide he must hae fought
and then have the decision of a doctor
that he cannot stand living in the cellar-like
dugouts,.
Xturt Keep Appolntmeatn.
- The hour of any anointment is exact
to the minute, and whoever baa one at
this chateau Is expected to be thereon
the minute, general headquarters time.
There is little ceremony. Life at that
small chateau has a real soldierly sim
plicity. At luncheon the soldier serv
ant places the food on the sideboard
and everyone takes his plate and helps
himself. Few guests come. Sir Doug,
laa keeps his time to himself for his
work and his own choice of recreation.
One of his aides receives the caller,
and a minute later the man with iron-
gray air and mustache, sturdy, athletic i
of build, slightly above medium height, !
who comes into the hall, could not be
miataken. whether in or out of unl-1
form, for anything but a soldier.
though something about the well-chiseled,
regular features aiso suggests the
scholar.
"Oxford and Sandhurst and India."
said one of his admirers, "and hard
work at a desk when be was not tak
ing exercise in the open air, best de
scribe him.''
In one of the rooms on the ground
floor the walls are hung with maps,
including a series which have been
crowded on a roller. Any portion of
tbe front in all its details may be re
ferred to in a moment. In tue center
of the room is a desk, and against the
wall a table with more maps and draw,
tngs and some of those strange photo
graphs from aeroplanes, of grayish
lines of trench systems in a dusky field
of shell and mine craters, which make
one, think of the dead world of the
moon.
Xalg- Zs Alwaya "Calef."
The staff always refer tohim as "the
chief." There is something impersonal
about it, and yet personal, for he is ab
solutely the chief. There Is no sugges
tion of any commission system in the
command of the British army these
days.
Like General Joffre, he sleeps long
hours. A rested mind is a clear mind
for responsibilities. Like Von Hinden
burg, be never reads fiction. When
reading has not to do with bis -profession,
he reads serious books and month
lies and quarterlies. Even during the
battle of Ypres. when it was touch-and-go
with disaster, k-e slept as soundly as
Joffre during the battle of tbe Marne.
At a crisis of the retreat from Mons
he remarked as quietly as if he were
giving a direction to an aide
"We shall have to hold on here for
a while if we all die for it." I hand.
There is never any fustian about The famous one-armed Hungarian
these modern scientific soldier organ-' pianist. Count Gaxa Zichy, might be
Uers.. Again during the retreat, when mentioned bere. Having lost his right
a certain general became somewhat de- arm in a hunting accident, he succeeded
moralized. Sir Douglas took him by the ' in making himself such a brilliant pi
arm and walked up and down with bim anist that Liszt and Hanslick were
In silence until he was over hie fit of j amazed, and another admirer declared:
nerves on that terrible August day. "Zichy does not play one-banded he
Those who work with bim know that plays four-handed."
his sign of anger is a prolonged si-1 Count Zichy. now an old man, recent
lence ot a telling kind. He has a tern- j y played in Berlin to an audience cen
per, but does not let it get past hisl8istlng of soldiers who have lost their
lips, they say. He has. too, a keen j arms fighting for Germany. He never
sense of humor with a Scotch flavor, plays in public except for charity. ,
The impression he leaves on, a caller j The lord provost of Glasgow has just
is that of a leader without Illusions; a inaugurated a fund: to establish and en
soldler Who sees with a soldier's logic, dow a 'Scottish hospital for limbless
wbo is not afraid to be patient. - j soldiers and sailors.
J
FEATS
BUILT
IN FACTORY
Hands Made That Almost
Equal the Work of Nature
in Cleverness,
London, July 8. (I. N S.) Soldiers
who have lost an arm in the war are
doing some amazing feats. Indeed,
with the artificial limbs now offered.
11 " "UBS1U" lor a Ptraev"m Dlan; to
aImost equal;nature.
Queen Mary auxiliary hospital at
Roehampton is exclusively for disabled
- J M 1
soldiers and sailors. The king and
queen recently visited this institution,
founded by Mrs. Gwynne Holdford, and
were deeply impressed.
At one of the benches the king saw
a Tommy working, and found that, al
though he had lost an arm and leg at
Armentleres, he is now able to do use
ful work. With a special clip taking
the place of a dummy right hand, be
used a variety of tools under the king's
Inspection, and afterward took a
match from a box and lighted it with
dexterity and ease.
"Can you shake hands?" asked tbe
queen of an armless private of the
First West Ontario regiment. -
'Try me, your majesty," promptly
replied the Canadian. The queen shook
j hands with him, laughing merrily at
me convincing grip oi we amiiciaj
1 hand.
Professor Laverau recently showed
the French Academy of Sciences a re
markable substitute for a missing arm
invented by Professor Auber. The arm,
hand and fingers are of aluminum and
very light With a glove on It, It Is
almost impossible to perceive tbe limb'
la artificial. Certain movements of
the thorax acting on fine steel wires
give to tbe hand and arm almost all
tbe movements of : the natural limb.
Mutilated soldiers equipped with this
deVlee played .the violin, made ciga
rettes and gave out change for a bank
note belore the academy.
, A pupil of the London School of Art
' went to the front early in the war and
lost the use of his right hand. He has
, now taught himself to draw with bis
! left hand, and his work is considered
! as good as he ever did with his right
MAIMED
GRFA
MBS
English Lad Promoted
At 17 After Continual Baptism of Fire
Young Fellow Who Ran Away
Times and Blown Up
By W. S. Forrest. ,
Ixndon. July 8. (U. P.) Scads of
thrills enough to make the wildect
dreams of a movie hero pale to insig
nificance have been packed Into the
yOunff life of Lieutenant Clifford
Probert. aged 17.
The full story came today from
Blaenavon, Wales, Probert's native
village.
Daring deeds under fire. promoUoi
from the ranks, awarded the L). S. 0
wounded 22 times, blown up while- on a
hospital ship and lapse of memory are
a few of the youthful soldier's expei
iences. Before the war young Probert
operated a haulage engine in a coul
mine and was the assistant chief boy
scout of the district.
In September, 1914, he joined the
army by misrepresenting bis tie to a
recruiting sergeant. He told the ser
geant he waa 18 when he was only 1j.
His parents objected to his militarism
so he changed his name to William
Gordon Williams.
At hill 60 in northern France, the
youthful soldier received his baptl&.n
of fire. He also went to the hospital
for 12 weeks with two wounds in the
head and two In the legs.
Some time after he had rejoined his
regiment, the colonel, commanding, de
cided that a distant tower was being
used as an enemy observation posu
The colonel chose two men to cut'the
wires that connected the tower with
enemy batteries.
The men chosen were Lieutenant
Murphy and Williams (Probert).
After crawling I'OO yards through
darkness, in the direction of the tower.
Murphy was shot through the head.
Probert crawled forward and event
ually arrived. He dug in the ground
around the tower for an hour with
his hands before he discovered the
wires.
There were 17, which meant that
17 German batteries were being in
formed of the accuracy of their file
on the British positions. Probert tried
to snip the wires with his pocket
knife. The me tall c sound produced,
however, made the operation danger
ous and he searched his Red Cross
packet for vaseline.
Smearing the oil on the wires, he
spent several hours in noiselessly cut-
Italian Deserters
Have Gruelling Time
Tares Xeaab Swiss Tillage is Deplor
able Condition After Climbing a
Hlgn Mountain.
Berne, July 8. (I. N. S. Three
Italian deserters recently arrived t
the Swiss village of Lourtier. in the
canton of Vaud, in a deplorable con
dition. Tbe men had escaped from the
training camp in Geneva just as they
were about to ba sent to the front.
After many dangers and hardships
they reached the Italian frontier vil
lage of Blonaa in the Val Pellino.
From there thev started to climb
over the mountains, which are over J
10,000 feet high. When they left Bionaz
they had only a small pice of brea1 j
and they suffered greatly from the I
cold In the high altitude. Wnen they j
reached Lourtier their shoes and stock
ings 'had fallen from their feet and
they were so weak that they had to be
sent to a hospital.
German Crops Will
Be Good, Is Report
Starrest Prospects Bail to Be fcxoaUeat
Thronghont Empire, Especially in th
Southern States.
Berlin. July 8. (I. N. S.) dffictal
reports just published show that tbe
harvest prospects are excellent
throughout the empire, and especially
so in the southern statea Baden, Al
sace, Wurtemberg and Bavaria will
have at least SO per cent more barley,
rye and wheat than last year, and in
Prussia. ' Saxony, Hesse and the other
northern states the,, crops also prom
ise to be above the average.
As a result of the rainy weather dur.
ing May, there will be an abundance
6f hay. Tbe condition of the orchards
and vineyards is satisfactory, and ex
perts calculate that the apple harvest
will exceed that of last year by 2.00,-
000 barrels. The Black Forest and the
Odenwald will furnish enormous quan-
1 titles of berries.
to Lieutenancy
to War Has Been Wounded 22
While in Hospital Ship.
ting all 17 and then crawled tediously
back to the British trenci.es.
It was on September 25. the start
of the big British offensive, that the
young trooper again got into action,
His regiment charged. A handful
reached the third line Cicrman
trenches.
Probert was one of the handful. A
shell exploded nearby and threw him
into the air. Dazed and suffering
from shock he arose and charged again
but came under the fire of a ma
chine gun and fell with five bulltt
wounds in his abdomen, both hips He
died and his head badly battered. He
lay In the open, without attention, for
two days before stretcher bearers came
along.
Probert hovered between life anJ
death in a base hospital for weeks
Youth and vitality finally conquered
until he had sufficiently recovered
strength to be sent to Kngland.
Subsequently, with other wounded
men, he was taken to Boulogne and
placed aboard the hospital ship Angli".
The Anglta was half way across tne
English channel en route to Folkestone
when she was mined. The explosion
occurred just as a nurse was raising
Probert's head to see the coast of
England.
The nurse and an orderly carried
Probert, cot and all, to the main deck
and, telling him to hold on tight, slid
bim into the sea. A rescuing de
stroyer picked him up before he had
swallowed too much sea water.
Eventually he arrived in an English
hospital. Here he was awarded the
medal of the Distinguished Service
Order for gallantry and apprised of his
promotion to a lieutenancy.
Weeks later Probert was well enough
to be discharged from the hospital.
But he had not gone long before some
thing seemed to snap in his brain and
wipe away his memory.
The young officer finally was found
in London, wandering. Someone recog
nized him from his photograph pub
lished in a London newspaper.
It was not until he caught sight of
familiar scenes in his native village
that Probert regained his memory. He
hopes to rajoin his regiment in another
month.
"I want to get bark Into the scrap
before it is all over." Probert Is telling
his townsmen up in Blaenavon. Wales.
Fortune Teller Sees
Early End of War
Highly Sdooated Japanese Womaa
Makes Prediction by Beading Signs
of tbe Zodiac.
Tokyo. July I. (I. N. 8.) The Jap
anese method of fortune telling by
reading the signs of the sodlao
is still practiced by educated, per
sons. The lata. Prince Ito never
took an important decision until
he had consulted bis fortune teller. A
highly educated Japanese woman living
In Tokyo and married to an European
of good standing was asked by some
American friends if her method would
tell when the war would end. She
made her calculations carefully and an
nounced that fighting would cease be
tween the eighth snd ninth moons this
year, but that the treaty of peace
would not be actually signed until the
second moon of 1917.
This amounts to a prediction that
there will be no great battles after tbe
end of August or beginning of Septem
ber and that the belligerents will Ini
tiate peace talk which, will materialise
into a settlement by February of next
year.
Combine Formed by
ijig nye uompames
Berlin, July S. Seven of the largest
aniline dye factories of Germany have
formed, a combine or trust. 'They in
tend to work their plants throughout
the war in order to pile np large
stocks which are to be exported as soon
as peace ia restored.
At home the trust Intends to sell Its
products at the highest prices permit
ted by the government, while In for
eign countries tbe prices' are to be re
duced to the lowest possible level until
the dye Industries which have been
started during the war in the bellig
erent and neutral countries and are
sttn In their infancy shall be destroyed
everywhere. The trust is willing to
spend 110.000,000 to reestablish tbe
German dye monopoly. , '
P
CAMPS-ARE
AS
BY SWISS LECTURER
Germans Give Enemies Cap
tured Every Attention That
Is Possible,
SOME ARE EMPLOYED
Susslans Orerlook Slothing la Lias of
rood Cooks of Wide Bsperleaea
la Charge of Kitchens. '
Basle. July 8. I. N. S ) The Ger
man prison camps were praised as .
models in a lecture here by Dr. Paul.
rrtunrrii, t-miii in inc viiiimi
corps of the Swiss army, who went
to Germany in April as a member of
the sanitary commission appointed of
the Swiss government at the request -of
the allies and visited every camp
in the country, lie said:
"The German prison ramps are
built In exactly the same manner as
the training camps for German troops .
Ths barracks of the prisoners consist
of small buildings which contain a
stove snd two or three big mattres
ses. Only In a few cases did 1 find,
more than 10 men In one room. All
of the buildings are kept scrupulous
ly clean and present a neat appeal -ance.
The interior decoration of the
barracks Is left to the taste of the
inhabitants who have made some of
their quarters qulis cozy and evea
artistic. Not too much can be sal!
In praise of the sanitary arrange
ments. Many Oood Sntertalaers.
"In every camp special buildings
have been erected for religious serv
ices, theatrical performances and con
certs. - Among the French prisoners
there gre many Kood amateur actors
and musicians. The English pit-
oners care more for football and other
sports than for histrionic art and
music, but they alxo have brass bands
and sometimes arrange vaudeville per
formances.
"The kitchens are exemplary. . An
old German non-commissioned officer
acts as 'chef for every oompsny or
Dattauon or prisoners ana is assistea
by a number of French soldiers, some
of whom are professional cooks. All
food Is prepared carefully and fur-,
nlshcd In sufficient quantities. Some."
times Ihe prisoners even get luxuries,
which are bought with the money ob
tained for the sain of waste to the
farmers for their plas.
"While the French and English
prisoners do not eat everythlna that
Is furnished to them, the Russians
always have an enormous appetlts,
and devour any food they ran get.
The Frenchmen and Britishers re
ceive many dellca-len from home and,
of course prefer them to the coarser t
fare of the camp, but this is not"
alwaya Rood fur them, because they ',
otten suffer from stomach and intes
tinal troubles.
Books Are Paralahsd.
In the libraries of the ramp the
prisoners get books In their own lan- .,.
guages and they are -"Permitted to .
write two letters snd four postal cards V
every month.
"The employment conditions ate
also highly satisfactory. For a lafg';
number of the prisoners there is work .
enough In the camps. Others are aent ''
to nearby farms under the escort Of t
Landstrum troops every morning and
return to the camp In the evening.
Many of the prisoners, mostly Rus
sians, are assigned to farmers fat '
from the camps and remain there "
unguarded for several weeks. .They
enjoy full liberty and only in rare
cases attempt to escape. A large
number of French soldiers are em
ployed in factories. The Frenchmen
are splendid mechanics and the de
mand for them is great. !
"With the colored prisoners, Hln-
dus, Turcos, Senegalese, Negroes and -
Maoris little can be diine. Most of
them are entirely unfit for any work r
and the remainder are Indescribably
lasy. The Englishmen in many case
refuse to work, becaase they consider
manual labor below the dignity of a
British soldier. ,
The measures taken for the pre?
ventlon of epldemk-s are thorough.
Newly arrived prisoners are Isolated
for four to six weeks. On the day
of their arrival they are cleaned of
all vermin and vaccinated and their
clothing- la dlsmfected. During their
terms of isolation they hsve to take '
three baths weekly. Some of tbe
Russians object to being cleaned so
often and have to be scrubbed f orol--biy.
.
Sail Inspection Bifid.
The sanitary service In tbe camps
ia organised in military fashion."
Every morning and evening, at roll
call, the prisoners are inspected by
physicians. If they complain about -their
health, they are minutely aa -anilned
and sent to tbe camp. bospU
tals, which are models In every way.
Prisoners wbo die are burled With .
military honors. The commander and .
the German officer of tbe oamp aj ,
waya march behind the coffin of the
dead enemy to the small prison ceme- ?
tery where a squad of Landstrum '.
troops fires a salute over the grave.
ine camps for officers have, f
course, more comfortable barrack t
than those for private soldiers. Each ?
of the neatly furnished little houses "
serves as quarters for four to five
prisoners. The officers sre permitted -v
tn t a V a lonr walks lln, imi
guard and dally receive not only beer -and
wine, but also limited quantitla
of whiskey. The. latter is saved up -by
some of the Russians until they -have
enough to get drunk."
More Than 3000 in :
Single Production
Soma of racoons Oarmaa Aetors Take
Part la Ores test Theatrical Br eat
Tr Arrajtged-
Berlln, July t. The greatest theatrl- ,
cat production ever arranged brought
tens of thousands of people to ths sta
dium tn the Grunewald on five con-'
secutlve days. On a stage 660 feet
wide and 410 feet deep, "Wallenatetn'a
Camp" by Schiller, and one act of;
Richard Wagner's "Melsterslngsr"
were produced for the benefit of tha,
German war sufferers.
More than 3000 persons took part in ,
tha performance and the principal parts ,
were in the hands of famous German
actors and opera singers. Boms of,
them came directly from the front.
The performances netted nearly. Siaa.
000 for the general relief fund. ,
RISON
PRAISED
MODELS
1