Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1915-08-21

from 5000 to $1,000 English names,
and hugdreds of thousands of French
and Russian. with but one cNcep-
ton the Serbians Montencgrins and
japanese, who are prisoners i'm Ger
many are civilians of military age
intcrned here.
Approximately 500 letters come to
Count SChWerin's "KaTtOthck' daily
requests for information about rel
atives or friends 1t is the boast and
pride Of this officer that no request
remains unanswered longer than "a
hours-4S 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 Schwcrin has for
warded the complete data about pris-
oners, as fast as received at the war
ministry and filed in, the card cat
aloE, to the governments at London,
Paris and St Petersburg, and to the
Red Cross headquarters at Geneva,
Brussels, Copenhagen. and Berlin.
one Of the most interesting fea-
lures Of the card catalOg work is the
fact that many men give false names
and data because they are ashamed
Of being in captivity and do not want
anyone in their native land to know
that they have been taken prisoner.
An interesting example Of this
came TO light recently in a case con
cerning 1g-year-old Prince Chimay
of Belgium. He had enlisted under
an assumed name and was captured.
He was put in a prison camp as a
private soldier. In due time inquiries
about the young man came in His
name did not appear i'm the card
CatalOg, and before the young man
was found it had been necessary to
hunt out every soldier Of his regi-
ment, scattered in half dozen camps
all over Germany to take them be
fore a military court and demand
Of them under oath what they knew
about his case.
Count Schwerin's "Kartothek"
contains between 500, 900 and l,O00,-
600 names. ywO or three hundred
thousand of the latest captives thus
are missing. In a months time,
however, these too will be duly cat
alleged and slowed away for future
reference.
So much for the catalogue about
the living soldiers of the eight COun-
tries nav at war with Germany. A
smaller catalogue contains as far as
available, the names Of the dead
supplied in a variety Of ways, but
chiefly by means Of the metal tags
worn by the soldiers around their
necks.
This list is incomplete for variety
of obvious reasons, but partly because
many OF the soldiers, especially the
French, take the tags off, through
superstition, and throw them away.
Even at that there are, I'm the war
ministry building, boxes on boxes full
of the little tin disks.
The French tags are clearly
stamped with the soldiers name, regi-
mcnt and home station. The English
tags are far less clear. and sometimes
cannot be made out at all. The Bel
gian disks are fairly plain, and those
of the Canadians. made Of leather, are
good. The Russians rarely wear any,
and It is an almost hopeless task 10
try to keep track Of their dead.
In thousands Of cases, Of course, the
men fall in such places that the Ger
mans can search their garments be-
fore burying the bodies. All valu-
ables, kecpsakcs and possessions are
then tied up and forwarded 10 Ber-
lin, where the treasury Of the war
ministry takes charge Of them.
An exact list Of the contents Of
each package is made and forwarded
to the depa rtment, which Count Sch
werin heads, and the possessions then
are sent to the war ministries in
France. England or Russia, which are
best able TO see that the valuables
come into the possession Of the right
full relatives Of the fallen soldiers.
The huge catalog has grown to
be Count Scherwin's pet" his great
est pride and care. Though past mid
die age he gladly gives long hours and
infinite patience to its extension and
upkeep. Recently he desired TO 90
into the field for active service. but
it was found that in the months he
has been in the war ministry he had
made himself practically iDdispens-
able, and that no one could be found
who could take up the catalog
where he would have to leave off.