New-York tribune., 1915-07-16
GERMANY INDEXES
WARS PRISONERS
Names Included in
Card Catalogue Grow
ing Day by Day.

ing Day by Day.
Berlin, July 14.-The exact registra-
tion Of the huge horde Of more than
1000, 1000 prisoners Of war in Germany.
so that rank, service, division and
place of confinement Of each man can
be instantly determined, has been per-
fected to an astonishing degree by
Count Schwerin, q sixty-year-old cap
tain Of cavalry. The relatives Of any
French, Russian, English, Canadian,
Italian, Serbian, Montenegrin, Belgian
or japanese prisoner IN Germany can
ascertain within twenty-four hours
where that soldier is and what his
condition Is.
Gard Catalogue Is Kept.
This is made possible through a
card catalogue that is probably the
most perfect thing of It's size and kind
in existence. In It's creation two other
systems have had to be discarded as
inadequate, and the work and pains
lavished on them duplicated In its
gagged while its inventor, Count
Schwerin, works twelve hours a day
overseeing things,
Each day dozens and scores Of lists
Of names pour into Count Schwerin's
department Of the War Ministry in the
Dorotheenstrasse. These lists give the
necessary information for filling out
the cards, so that each shall contain
the name and forename of the pris-
oner, his service branch, regiment and
company, the place and date Of his
capture and the place where he is held.
IF he is wounded the nature Of his
wounds and the hospital where he is
are added.
Scores Of young women FIJI out the
cards, which then 60 70 sorters, under
the inspection of a man who IN peace
times is a head instructor in one OF
Berlns higher schools. Before the
sorters stand wooden cases built after
the fashion of type cases, but deeper
Ii was the sight of compositors throw
ing in" type that led Count Schwerln
to adopt these cases.
Sort Names by Alphabet.
The rrSt SET OF sOIltIa taho I"N
cards just as they come, IN alphabet
ical confusion, from the writing room,
and divide them according TO the initial
letter from A TO Z. Other sorters then
take the AS and subdivide them sys-
tematically in Aa, Aaa, Alb, Aba, ADD
and so on. Thousands Of cards are
sorted and filed daily, for the list OF
prisoners never stops growing.
ri L. lrrs1nnh nHC0E0-
ing 10 nationality and put away IN the
cases that flank all four walls OF three
rooms. There are between 25,OOO and
10000 Belgian names, from lG,OUO 10
Is 600 English names and hundreds OF
tbousands of French and Russian.
With but one exception, the SerDlans,
Montenegrins and Japanese who are
prisoners in Germany are civl- ans OF
military age interned here.
Approximately 500 letters come 70
Count Schwern's "kartothek' daily -
requests for information about rela,,
tives or friends II is the boast and
pride of this officer that no request
remains unanswered longer than TWEEN
tv-four hours forty-cight at the very
outside when the letter or inquiry is
in difficult Russian.
To facilitate relatives In getting IN
formation about the foreign soldiers,
however, Count Schwerin has for
warded the complete data about prs
oncrs as fast as received at the War
Ministry and fled in the card cata-
logue, 10 the governments at London,
Paris and St. Petersburg, and TO the
Red Cross headquarters at Geneva,
Brussels, Copenhagen and Berlin.
TLoi. TJaptitv
One Of the most interesting features
~ the card catalogue work is the fact
that many men give false names ana
1ats because they are ashamed OF be-
ING in captivity and do not want any
one in their native land to know that
they have been taken prisoner.
An interesting example Of this came
to light recently IN a case concerning
nineteen -year-old Prince Chlmay, ot
Belgium. He had enlisted under an
assumed name and was captured. lie
was put in a prison camp as prlvate
eoldier. In due time inquiries about
the young man came IN. MS name
did not appear in the card catalogue,
and before the young man was iouhd
il had been necessary to hunj out every
soldier in his regiment, scattered IN
ndlt OOLeU campo H4A 49, '-'
10 take them before q military court
and demand Of them under oath what
thew knew about his case.
Count Schwerin's "Kartothek" con
tains between 100000 and 100000
names. Two or three hundred thou
sand OF the latest captives thus are
missing. In n months time, however,
these. too. will be duly catalogued ana
slowed away for future reference.
So much for the catalogue about the
living soldiers OF the eight countries
now at war with Germany. smaller
catalogue contains, as far as avail,
able. the names of the dead supplied
in variety OF ways. but chiefly by
means Of the metal tags worn by the
soldiers around their necks.
yaluables Sent to Heirs Of Dead.
In thousands Of cascs the men foil
IN such places that ths Germans can
search their garments before burying
the bodies. All valuables, kecpsakes
ard possessions are then tied up and
forwarded 70 Berlin. where the Treas
ury Of the War Ministry takes charge
Of them.
An exact list Of the contents OF each
pnckagc il made and forwarded TO the
departInent which Count Schwerin
heads, and the possessions then arc
sent 20 the war ministries In France,
England or Russia, which are best
81 80 90 that the yaluablps come