The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1914-12-25
Take Life Easy
None Need Fret
From Fridays Daily.

From Fridays Daily.
Chester. England, December 49,
The concentration camp at Queens
ferry. ten miles from Chester. now
contains more than 2.200 aliens. The
camp is housed I'm score OF spa
cious factory buildings formerly oc,
cupied by n firm OF boilermakers
The buildings set aside for dor.
mitory purposes are divided into
wards" blocks" and bays" Ali
the buildings are solidly built, and
the sleeping and living quarters are
by no means crowded, the number
of men in each ward being dictated
by the cubic feet Of air space. with
due consideration for matters OF
light. ventilation and heating. A
central heating plant. fomerly the
factory power house. furnishes steam
heat and hot water for all the build,
inss. There are washhouses with
hot and cold showers at convenient
points about the camp.
Hooms are pecordtcd.
The men have shown considerable
interest In decorating their rooms.
Some of the wards, containing from
-four to ten men, are decorated In
alleged imitation OF familiar hotels,
ships or streets Sign-boards, painted
with more or less elaboration. direct
the visitor TO "Villa Emden." an imi-
tation Of the famous German cruiser.
"S,adt Hamburg" "Unter den Lind
en-" ana Windsor Castle" Each
man is provided with three blankets
and q mattress for his bunk. There
are n few day rooms" fitted up for
lounging and for indoor games such
as checkers, dominOes, chess. and
cards. No gambling Is allowed.
In the Hospital
The hospital contains provisions
for twenty-five patients. and Is amp
~ equipped with medical and sur.
gical appliances A resident medical
officer is in charge, with two sani.
tary officers who continually inspect
all parts of the camp. Every new
prisoner Is submitted 10 n rigid ex-
animation. and the medical officer
keeps regular office hours. during
which any resident may consult him
without charge. Every man whom
he sees Is given card on which
are entered. his name. the nature
of his complaint. and the prescribed
treatment. Cases of severe illness
are sent to the civil hospitals in
London. The general health OF the
camp has been excellent.
The Camp Postoffiee.
The camp postoffice handles about
1900 outgoing letters each week.
and a rather larger amount of In
coming mail. All letters are read
by censors. and outgoing mail is
limited TO two letters man per
week. No letter may be written on
two sides Of an ordinary sheet OF
notepaper. The censorship of in
coming mail has caused some an
noying delays: letters from Germany
are often in a handwriting difficult
to decipher. Letters from the Unit.
ed States are more satisfactory,
large proportion of them are In
and many are of purely
business character. Nothing relat.
ing to the war passes the censors.
Camp Library ALSO.
there is o camp library, from which
res,se.ts may borrow books of var
led character. Newspapers are for
hidden in. all the camps. Facilities
are given by the postoffice for the
receipt of money. and all sums are
accounted for and paid out as the
prisoner directs. Prisoners who
have money can take full advantage
Of the ''canteen," where special tar.
III. lists for purchases of all kinds
are posted. Much of the routine
work of governing the camps Is done
by the prisoners themselves. There
is n head captain for each block"
n captain for each bay" and the
various bays are again broken up
into messes, under charge of petty
officers All these officers are chosen
by vote Of the men themselves. The
captains and head captains hold
stated meetings mt which they con-
slider and adopt regulations for the
conduct of camp affairs.
Officers at the Camp.
The eommandant and his adult
ant have Office hours during which
they may be seen on any matters
which the captains wish to bring
TO their attention. Any prisoner is
privileged to appeal for the remedy
Of grievances. The occupations with |
which the men busy themselves are
as various as the callinss and trades /!
A number of men devote
themselves TO constructing models of |
steam or sailing ships. and derive !
some profit from their skill by offer. |
ing their handword to the highest bid |
iers Some with a less mechanical |
urn undertake outside work. such as |
eveling, laying ashes. using the tar
brush and painting. An attempt has |
been made by the trade unions to !
,ut stop 10 this activity on the |
ground that the laborers are not paid |
inion rates. A few men occupy |
heir leisure In painting water colors
opportunity Cor Sport.
Thara a. s.luotx, nf ,y.r,n rt,.uff., Pa