The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1915-05-22

food of various kinds went without a
purchaser. The prisoners bought Gig
arettes and tobacco, oranges and
bananas. and other things, but the
solid foods stayed on the sales coun-
ter. The man In charge told me that
there was virtually no demand for the
s~ubstantials.
The captives at Dorchester have a
recreation field three or four acres in
extent, and there they play all sorts
of games. They do ordinary work
around the camp and, in addition to
the exercise from game and work, they
are taken out in big squads for tramps
through the country outlying the
camp, of course being constantly un-
der guard.
Those of the prisoners with whom
talked individually proved to be most
interesting men. One of them up to
the time of the outbreak of the war
had been a professor Of languages in
a German institution of learning. He
knew the classics thoroughly and now
while in prison he was striving hard
to add English to his lingual accom-
plishments.
With n exception there was no
prisoner in camp under the age of
eighteen years. The exception was a
boy Of sixteen, who had been picked
up from the water after a naval en-
gagement. 1t was the intention Of the
authorities to send him, in a 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 a double line of
barbed wire entanglements. Back of
these for a large part of the Enclosure
there is a high wall. On a platform
back of this wall the guards walk
with fixed bayonet and loaded rifle.
Escape seems well-nigh impossible Yet
it is true that recently two prisoners,
both officers, escaped from another
prison, presumably just as well guard
ed as is this one, and they were not
recaptured until they had wandered
0DOhA NhC OOuuNlg lOl uCdllg d NGbhs
In the camp at Dorchester there are
several members of the Prussian
guard. They are huge men and of a
wonderful physique. The rest of the
prisoners are just about like the av-
erage of other nationalities in size
and build. All of them look like pyg-
mics, however, by the side of the Prus-
cfon o,,ord aIon4- Tlo~a ,,, -. C1r.
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 IN
der certain restrictions. The Ameri-
a embassy has taken over the af
fairs of Germany, and it is America
today as represented in England.
which has in it's care in a way these
German prisoners of war. OF course,
it must not be understood that Amer
lea says that this must be done or
that must be done, but it makes repre-
sensations on behalf of the German
SOftILllGul, Wu6H SO requested, anu
it looks after matters pertaining to
the communication which is kept up
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 a keen one,
when it 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 l
found somewhat to my establishment,
that as near as could be determined,
not n of the many captives at Dor
chester ever had visited the United
States. An American was a curiosity.
l thought it was possible that l could
find among them all some a who
would like to send a message to a
friend whom he had known in the
United States, but not one of them
ever had crossed the water to visit
the land where SO many of their coun-
trymen have found a home.