The Dolores star., 1915-05-21

food Of various kinds went without =
purchaser. The prisoners bought 80.
arettss and tobacco, oranges ~
bananas. and other things. but tho
solid foods stayed on tho salss cUun'
ter. The man In charge told me tnas
there was virtually no demand for the
substantials.
The captives at Dorchester have .
recreation field three or four acres u
extent. aud there they play all sorts
Of games. They do ordinary WORK
around the camp aad, In addition %
the exercise from game and work. they
are taken out In big squads for tramps
through tho country outlying the
camp. Of course being constantly 10.
der guard.
Those Of the prisoners with whom
I talked individually proved to be most
interesting men. One OF them up 70
the time OF the outbreak OF the war
had been q professor Of languages IN
. German institution OF learning. He
knew the classics thoroughly and nov
while In prison he was striving hard
to add English to his lingual accom-
plishments.
With one exception there was no
prisoner In camp under the age Of
eighteen years. The exception was .
boy Of sixteen. who had been picked
up from the water after naval en-
gagement. II was the intention Of the
authorities to send him, In q day or
two. to another camp where Other
young naval apprentices are confined.
Are Closely Guarded.
All about the camp at Dorchester.
including Of course the recreation
ground. there runs double line Of
barbed wire entanglements. Back OF
these for a large part Of the inclosure
there is a high wall On a platform
back OF this wall the guards walk
with fixed bayonet and loaded rihe.
Escape seems wellnigh impossible Yet
II is true that recently two prisoners.
both offieers, escaped from another
prison, presumably just as well guard
ed as is this one, and they were not
recaptured until they had wandered
about the country for nearly a week.
In the camp at Dorchester there are
several members OF the Prussian
guard. They are huge men and OF
wonderful physique. The rest Of the
prisoners are Just about like the ~.
erage OF other nat!onalities In size
and build. All OF them look like pyg'
mics, however. by the side OF the Prus-
sian guard giants. There are no Ger.
man officers confined at this camp.
The enlisted men captives, however.
are not entirely from what some people
call the lower walks of life. They rep.
resent the merchant, the farmer and
the professional classes.
These captives hear from home un'
der certain restrictions, The Ameri'
caa embassy has taken over the af.
fairs Of Germany, and 1t is America
today rs represented In England
which has In its care In way these
German prisoners Of war. OF course,
1t must not be understood that Amer
| lea says that this must be done oy
that must be done. but 1t makes repre-.
sensations on behalf of the German
government. when SO requested. and
II looks after matters pertaining 10
the communication which Is kept W
between the prisoners and their kins
folk, and also to the transmission under
regulation OF money from father and
mother or sister and brother In the
Fatherland to the member Of the fam
lily fold who is a prisoner In an alien
land
The prisoners at Dorchester showed
an interest. and rather q keen one
when II was known that an American
was to visit them and wished to talk
to them about their welfare. The rea
son for this In large part was as
found somewhat to my establishment
that As near as could be determined
not one of the many captiyes at Dor
chester ever had visited the United
States. An American was a curiosity
I thought 1t was possible that ! could
find among them all some man who
would like to send message to a
friend whom he had known In the
United States. but not one OF them
ever had crossed the water 10 visit
the land where so many Of their coun
trymen have found n home