East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-06-22
BY WILBUR s. FORREST

!
| Omitted Press staff Correspondent)
LONDON. June ll.-(By Mail to
| New York. THAT the German au-
thorities have hoodwinked the various
neutral commissions that have made
J generally favorable reports on the
treatment and feeding Of prisoners Of
war in Germany is charged by three
Belgian non-commissioned officers
who recently escaped from the prison
camp Of Bergenhus
Questioned singly and then togeth-
er by the Belgian minister at Copen-
hagen. their stories, which have been
forwarded to the Belgian legation in
London, coincided. All agreed that
conditions in the larger prison camps
such as Parchim, where they were
first confined, are considerably bet
ter than those in the smaller camps
the former being under the command
Of superior officers. Though the rules
in the larger camps are severe, they
are applied with more or less equal
ity and there is not SO much arbitrary
ment. such as prevail in the camps
like Bergenhus which are under the
command of sub-officers OF the re-
serves or territorials who run them
according to their own whims and
without the necessity Of reporting
their own violations Of the rules.
In these camps English and Rus
sian prisoners are treated incompar.
ably worse than the French and Bel
gians, said the escaped Belgians.
They are given the most revolving
tasks to perform and are often bru-
tally assaulted. Parcels for all pris.
oners are opened. delayed, and pilfer-
ed, in spite of the rule that they
should be opened in the presence of
the recipients. The medical service
is lamentably insufficient, prisoners
not even being examined until after
they have been i'll for many days Even
then no rest from work is allowed eX-
cept in grave cases The only reply
to complaints is. You didn't come here
to be i'll or to rest, but to work The
prisoners have to pay for medicines
themselves, and the lot of those un-
able TO do so is frightful.
Both the quantity and the quality
Of food have been lowered in the past
three months AZ Bergenhus the ra-
tions we're; Morning-bowl Of brew
called coffee and a morsel Of black
bread three inches square and one
and a half thick. This bread. little
less than goo grammes, has to last all
day. Midday-soup, made Of water,
mostly quite inedible, and some beet
root; Evening-beetroot only. Vege-
tables, preserves and especially meat
are only distributed In special circum-
stances and in infinitesimal portions
Rarely, some bones from the meat
used at the table Of the guard are
dipped in the prisoners soup. The
waste from the German troops kit
chen is sold on contract to feed the
pigs of the countryside. The BelgianS
at Bergenhus one day complained of
the soup, whereupon the command.
ant replied. I know this soup is not
fit to give to pigs-but youll eat 1t
all the same
Commissions Of the Red Cross and
the neutral states have expressed
themselves as being generally satis-
fled with the nourishment Of the pris-
oners because they have been COM
pltely hoodwinked For instance.
when the Swedish mission visited Gr-
many they were shown the kitchens
whore the meals were being prepar-
ed, not for the prisoners as they be-
lieyed, but for the guards. At the