Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1915-04-15
WAR PRISON CAMPS
Germany Superior to Britain ir
Care of Prisoners.
Unheated Shelters, Bad Sanitary Ar
engagements and insufficient Food
Found in England-AlIT Treat
ed Alike in Germany.

Frankfort.-A German recently re-
| leased from the British prison camp
at Newbury, where he was interned
! for three months, has been Investigate
ing German camps. He compares
conditions as he found them in New
bury with conditions in the typical
| German camp at Ruhleben, near Ber-
lin. In arrangements for shelter, eX-
ercise, sanitation and the food supply
he found the German camps superior
to the British. His report is published
in the Frankfort Gazette, as follows:
In the German camp at Ruhleben
there is ample space for the prisoners
to move about The camp is located
on a former race course, and the
space behind the main pavilion and
the stables is at the free disposal OF
the interned. They are allowed to
take their exercises on the course it.
self for a couple of hours a day.
In the British camp at Newbury
there are about 1000 prisoners in
termed. Two-thirds were sheltered in
tents, the remainder in the small
stables of the hurdle race. Only in
the space between the tents or the
stables was exercise permitted. The
walls of the stables cut off all view
of the pleasant surrounding country
Always We had the same picture be-
fore our eyes-hundreds Of people
grown dull and apathetic by the un-
certainty of their fate, moving around
in the same small circle.
When rain or fog set in, as it does
almost daily during the English win
ter, it was impossible to leave the
tents and stables. The clay soil was
soaked through, and the dirt was sew
eral inches deep. Great pools Of wa
ter caused noxious mtasmas. Some
times these pools we're so large that
they barred the passage entirely.
When Prime Minister Asquith and
Mrs. Asquith paid visit to the camp
a sailor put a stick in the mire bear
ing a placard, Fishing Prohibited
Here" Then he sat on a bench he
had constructed and waited, holding
an improvised fishing rod in his hand,
until the prime minister passed the
spot. Mr.. Asquith shot furtive
glance at the commandant of the
camp, who accompanied him. Next
morning the fisherman was removed
to the Isle Of Man.
Day by day the administration
sought to improve the system of drain
age, but every time the thick mire
choked it again.
On the contrary, the cleanliness in
the German camp at Ruhleben is
worth emphasizing. The same room
that serves for nine or ten people in
the English camps serves for FIVE or
six people at Ruhleben. Not a single
table nor a single chair was provided
by the English government during the
time of my internment. Trunks were
used as seats; other pieces of luggage
served as tables. Two things have
been arranged at Ruhleben which
we're entirely lacking in the English
camps-covered alleys where the
prisoners can stay when the weather
is bad and steam heating in all the
rooms.
The food which is given to the pris-
oners in England is not bad. The
allowance, however, is not sufficient
for adults.
The food in the German camps can
be called ample. The treatment of all
prisoners at the German camp is the
same. The English millionaire has no
more right then the negro. Private
food is allowed, but only in exception
al cases.
In the English camps money is the
most important thing. He who is
fortunate enough to have money can
get whatever he likes if he is on good
terms with the sergeant major, the
representative of the commandant
This official is particularly fond of
good cigars and English pounds. Ey-
erybody in the camp agreed that this
amiable man would have all the money
of the German civilians in his pockets
if the war lasted long enough.