Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1914-11-05
END Of THE WAR
CORRESPONDENT
To Prison Is as Far as They
Can Go With Armies.
GEN. JOFFRE MOST SEVERE.

French officers Most Polite When Very
Ansry-Writer Tells of Being Arrest
ed, His Automobile ReSuisitioned and
Two Nights Spent In Barn With
Prisoners and French Deserters.
PariS.-Burg1arS in a miSer'S money
box are welcome parties compared TO
correspondents on the firing line. War
corresponding has come to be Il prison
offense in France. General Joffre sim
ply won't have it. Describing his eN-
periences one of the correspondents in
France says;
Il have just passed two days under
guard at the front, one day under
guard in Paris-part of the time in the
famous military prison of the Cherche-
Midland eight days of parole, all be-
cause General Joffre refuses to have
correspondents giving his war opera
lions the once over at close range
And l was not the only member of
this seeing the war party. There
We're seven of us in all-three of us
and chauffeur in our own party. We
had by rare good luck witnessed an
action around the French left wing
and We're bound toward the center, at
Rheims, when it happened. 1t was
merry captain who pinched US.
Hey he called out gayly, where
are you folks going?'
ITO Rheims we chorused How
far is it?'
Lets go ask the general, he said
and laughed.
SLOWLY we We're oozed into what
the joke was. 1t was on us The
general said Rheims was seven miles
away and quite too far to walk.
"'Oh, we have car" we chirped,
not comprehending the generals grim
humor.
"'Oh. I've requisitioned that" he
said. Captain, will you escort the
gentlemen out?'
The captain would and did escort
us out; Also in. Imagine a country vii
lage where there isn't even railway
depot. where a postotfice, government
tabac. three farmhouSeS and several
COW lots are punched together, and
you will have the scene of our arrest.
Imagine again a stone farmhouse built
in U formation with Il stone fence
across the top of the L and the ground
plan of our prison will be clear If
you add to the center of the COW lot II
tablcland of hay and other stable rak-
ings, the whole thing wet and very
smelly under the cold drizzle, the pic
ture will be fairly complete
Through Il gate in the stone wall
we were conducted by our smiling cap
tain. On the right was door leading
into the colonels Quarters-the rooms
of the farmhouse. At the back We're
two more doors through one of which
l Spied two of the biggest cows | ever
saw.
I'VE were ushered into this The
room was identical with the cows bed
chamber German prisoners. French
deserters, spies, suspects and pillagers
stood or lay about on the hay which
covered the floor
I'VE were put on parole not to try to
get away. They took our word for il
that we would not run. but to make
sure, they kept a sentry at the gate
with instructions to shoot if we show
ed any inclination to fee. They were
very. very nice about it, insisting all
the time that we were positively not
considered prisoners as prisoners
We're entitled to soldiers rations and
we were not.
"A kick about quarters among the
prlS0nerS-Since we We're not prisoners
and would be shot only if we ran-got
for us an empty hay loft and the prop
err use OF money got us hay to sleep on
ION tn" morning of the second day
our own car was given to Us. and we
We're taken to Partisan armed gen
darme going with us. Arriving late
in the evening, we had dinner in the
corridor Of the Cherche-Midi military
prison. We were shifted between mid
night and l II. IN. to the lnvalides
where in the shadow OF Napoleou's
tomb we slept in officers beds. Then
we were released.
The war correspondents game is
gone-that is. the game as it used to
be. No more will the correspondent
tell generals how to fight their battles
and also, perhaps. no more will the
generals have fine battle cries put into
their mouths and become famous for
having uttered them. The prison doors
yawn for war writer's and the lid
is on"