Grand Forks daily herald., 1914-10-05
GERMANS SUFFER
N PRISON CAMPS
Life of Kaiser's Subjects.
Held by English, is Far
From Pleasant.
lBy Huhert cora,,

-
London, Oct. 5.-Dust clouds whfr-
ling up from bare, gray field before
a bleak and bitter wind. A triple
trocha of high wire. Here and there
faint wisps Of smoke whipped away
from the cooking holes that pit the
sandy surface. Detected figures wan
dering to and. fro and beating their
arms to get warm.
That is ones first impression Of AL
dershot prison camp, where 5000 Ger
mans are held under guard
At night the wind screams fiendish-
~ chill over this Aldershot moor. Arc
lights glow high above the wire fences.
khaki-clad sentinels tramp their
rounds. In the sentry boxes at the
corner Of the square prison inclosure
me men stand continually upon watch.
The conical white tents within the
l'rison flap and strain at their moor
irgs and gleam cold under the moon.
Little figures tramp about wrapped in
their blankets, thrashing the blood
back into their chilled bodies
No doubt the prisoners are in bet
ter case than If they were fighting
In that bloody campaign in France.
cry. Even greater than the bodily
suffering is the mental anguish. They
know nothing of what is going on.
There are moneyed men in that en-
closure who would cheerfully pay
have offered to pay-ten pounds for
any newspaper They know nothing
ftheir folks at home. A little blond,
blue-eyed German boy came to the
headquarters tent and spoke to the in
terpreter.
This boy wants to see his father"
HE can't see his father" snapped
the officer on duty:
Tears came into the blue eyes. The
boy began the long trudge back to
town.
How They Are Guarded.
There is no sentimentality about the
English in dealing with their Ger
man prisoners. The captured men are
provided with food and with certain
elementary comforts. The rest they
must do for themselves.
1--WE give them a blanket each," said
the officer on duty, land shirts and
They have the same tents that we
have to sleep in. and each tent has a
wooden floor. The tents are not heat
ed in any way"
There are German officers inside
the trocha. A casual question wheth-
er the officers messed with the men
brought smile.
"There is no mess" said the ofiicer.
I'VE give them food and a tin pan.
They dig holes in the ground and cook
it to suit themselves"
So those casual wisps of smoke
blowing across the sandy desert were
explained. Nobleman and peasant.
stoker and gun captain, met over the
cooking pot in democratic equality.
Fuel was rigidly limited. Groups OF
cold figures, shrouded in blankets that
had once been white, huddled over
some of the fires. '..
The lucky prisoners have overcoats.
I saw one stoker from the cruiser
Mainz in bare feet. The single blanket
dealt out to each Is Of no extraordi-
nary weight. It is about the thickness
Of the ordinary bed blanket. The
sufferings on cold nights may be left
to the Imagination. Most nights are
cold at Aldershot.
The road from London runs parallel
to and at distance of 100 yards
from the camp fence. Each day that
road is jammed with luxurious motor
cars. Pretty women nesting In furs
shiver as they watch the wretched
raree-show. Their men stand with
glasses at eye.
Death Lies in Encfrcling Fence.
Three wire fences encircle the camp.
The innermost one Is perhaps seven
feet high If prisoner were to sur
mount this fence, unseen by the SEN
tries In the corner ooxes OF oy one oi
the guards that increasingly pace the
outer ring, he would come next to
twenty foot high fence. Significantly
insulated wires run from the arc lights
to this fence.
electricity" said the commandant.
THAT is not enough to kill every man.
but it would kill most men. 1t would
shock any man into inseisibility."
A path runs around the outer ring
of this fence There the soldiers do
sentry-go The final certification that
no prisoner can escape Is a double
wire ENHANCEMENT 100 feet from the
electrified fence. This is a double row
row of posts six feet tall. Barbed
wire is strung along each line of posts
and crossed and looped and compli-
Gated between them. Given wire clip
pers and solitude and no man could
get through in less than ten minutes.
Scattered around the outside Of the
prison inclosure are the conical tents
of the guards.
Most Of the German officers who
have been captured are held in Wales.
The German soldiers and seamen held
at Aldershot rarely have risen above
non-commissioned rank. Here and