The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1915-05-03
JAMES o'ooNsElI BENNETT
TtLs now FATE PLAYS a
PART IN CAPTURE
Trsatrrent ~ All Prisoners 10 E.eeli-
ent-Aeeount o. Capture %
Governor Of Wsrsa~

Treatment ~ All Prisoners 10 E.eeli.
ent-Aeeount % Capture OF
Governor Of Wsrsa~
sr LANES o'0oNNEII BENNETT.
WALLS. Holland. April lO-If one
watches closely the long lines OF
weary. foOtsore prisoners being
marched into or out OF French ana
RUSSIAN towns one sees many A bitter
tOsen OF the fortunes OF war--those
grim, lronic touches -Aai Undue with
singular fascination the shlfung
pageantry OF victory and defeat
The voice OF the past seems audibly
70 De mocking the present and new
ieuds 20 Be msking a Jest OF ancient
friendships when you see German
soldiers with Belle allance" Water
lool on their caps marching a column
OF English prisoners down the station
platform OF Belgian town-Char-
leroi. Tor eHample-which Just a cen
fury ago caught the echo OF the artil.
lery IRE at Waterloo Those guards
were drawn from a regiment whose
most glorious inheritance IL their
Waterloo memory.
once the strange tumble of con-
trnsts and ironlss which war creates
offered an Irresistible temptation TO
a droll and satirical officer who. in
civil life Is the widely known. DR. Lie
ven or Aachen.
One night he had TO 10 from COM
partment TO compartment Of a train
nlled with prisoners. one first class
carriage contained British officers.
among them Officers OF the Gordon
HiKhlanders.
Now. everybody knows what the
Gordon Highlanders did at Waterloo.
There Is. as the London papers are so
Iond OF saying no more glorious
page in British annals" Il MAS the
Ninety-second then-may still be for
aught | know-and was more fire.
quenuy spoken OF in those times by
the numerals than as the Gordon
Htghlanders."
DR.. Lieven speaks excellent Eng
lish. and with the lettering infection
one aeon acquires In London. lie
swung open the door OF the compzrt-
ment In which the officers OF the
Hlghlanders sat, and. civilly saluting.
said: How many. gentlemen"
There was an instant OF surly sill
ence and then ungrscious utterance
OF the words:
,"Thirteen officers Of the Gordon
/ Highlanders."
Any wounded"
.No"-still CURLY.
s The e,i doctor ,v was angry He know. knows
ouatre Bras and Waterloo record
two days lighting with a loss In kill
ed and wounded OF one colonel one
major, six captains. fourteen lieuten-
ants. six ensishs, thirteen sergeants.
and so on. He looked straight into
1 the eyes of the surly spokesman of
the Highlanders and said:
Thirteen officers Of the Gordon
HrIghianders and none wounded.
The last two words with the upward
London tilt-and on those words the
I doctor slammed the door.
| Il shouldn't have said IT," he re-
marked TO me. but their stupid sup
wish was TO help them was more than
could let pass"
/ For one thrust like that you see
numberless instances OF the most
kindly feeling. as when long train
load of prisoners was held for ten
minutes while a nauseated and cruelty
wounded Frenchman was lifted out OF
q freight car and carried by two
| French and one German soldier to
sheltered place nifty feet away where
/ he could be sick without shame.
Most OF the hardships prisoners
have TO endure are confined TO the
hours Immediately following their
capture OF 20 the stuffy days OF tran
sit from the front to the military pris-
ons in Germany.
! The confinement pending the ar
rival of the trains in which they are
10 make the journey is the hardest
part and during one OF those waits |
saw twenty-one Frenchmen and six
/ Belgians packed into a low ceilinged
room 13xl3 feet. They were there two
| days and two nights. except for a
| three hour interval in the morning.
when they were taken out to clean the
streets of Beaumont.
But even under the conditions OF
hurry and worry the best that IL pos
sible seems to be done for the prison
, ers. In Brussels a Belgian major who
had fallen as II for dead after one OF
/ the explosions in the siege of Antwerp
occupied the kings waiting room
suite, comprising parlor, bedroom,
I and lavatory. in the Care du Nord.
: His windows overlooked the Place
Rogier. which IL always a diverting
scene, and the mOnOtony OF his life
was occasionally relieved BY friendly
calls from German officers. who like
visit were quaTtered In the station but
not nearly so well quartered as the
major was.
could pick an atrocity yarn of every
brush. but the Belgian prisoner would
have none OF them.
"As TO my treatment" he said. Il
cannot utter a word Of complaint. Il
was especially fine after ! came into
I the hands of the German doctors"
Sec" he added. they try TO make
mo comfortable even In the little
| things "--snd pointed to the half dozen
I long strips OF hy paper which ha
been hung around his room.
lie and the German officers shook
hands at parting.
Once arrived al the military prisons
the Captives swing pretty promptly
| into a life of which monotony Is the
| only desperate feature. n Is a long.
/ long way from the courtly days fol
1 lowing great Frledrick's tremendous
| 65-minute battle OF RosEbnch. when.
~ may be read In the old memoirs:
Berlin and the court were extreme.
| ~ gay. and French and others OF
every nation. having become prison
ers OF war. made the queens soirees
the finest In the world for splendor
and variety"
There are no royal soirees for the
prisoners now. but foot ball games.
/ tennis matches and song hours are
arranged 10 provide exercise and as
4 suare monotony.
u n IN order 90 keep on human
terms with each other that prisoners
Of war ny % occupations as soon az
the routine Of their life o. established
Some choose diversions that will BE-
q source ~ permanent culture.
Two HclFian boys. sons Of noble
family. and both 81 them counts,
wrote not long ago from their prison
| IN Munaer 20 friend o. their mother
Z iu German town
"Brcaufe Of your love for our moth