The copper era and Morenci leader., 1915-12-24
LIFE IN PRISON CAMP FAVOURABLE Man Released From the Isle of Might Gives His Ex-
 periences.
WAS NOT TREATED BADLY
lnterned Germans Are We'll Supplied With Food and Diversions-SeIf- governing Prison camp-Abuses
 Are Remedied.
By FREpA rcAERKEsoFF,

London.-Wishing to obtain some authentic information about the life of alien enemies" in the internment camps, 1 went to see my friend, Lud- wig, who had been interned six weeks in the knockaloe camp on the Isle Of Wight, and who now was released on the ground of having no nationality at all.
 Ludwig was born in Russia of Ger man parents. He had been educated there, had married a Russian, taken part in the revolutionary movement of the University of Moscow students, and finally had been expelled by the Russian police, going to Germany. Here he was not only not welcomed but was denied the rights of German nationality. At last, after some years spent in Bulgaria and France, he came to London.
 When the war broke out all Ger mans were forced to register. My friend, from an excess of honesty, con- fided to the police the puzzle of his nationality; from an excess of pru- dence the authorities interned him until his papers of identity had been examined.
 Did you find life in the camp very hard?" I asked.
 Existence in the camp" he said, is quite bearable; of course one must fix in ones mind once for all that one is no longer free and has to submit to regulations. Within certain limits, however, we were quite at liberty to organize our internal life, and we, in our compound, made full use of this permission. We chose among us our own police for each section, and this arrangement worked so perfectly that the English soldier-guards left the keeping of order entirely to the men elected by us and entered only on their request-a good deal of unpleas- antness and friction being avoided in consequence.
 Generally speaking, the food is good and sufficient.
 Settling the Meat Question.
 Each person is supposed to receive half a pound of meat, including fat and bones, or four ounces of corned beef. But the German cooks, who are NPPO1AbO0 oA0 pau Oy IhO Gh6lAoh contractors, are hand in glove with their masters, and even some of the officials know what is going on; in any case, the amount of cooked meat each man receives is nearer two than eight ounces. This question of the meat portions has given rise to much friction and was at the bottom of the riots in the Douglas camp, when many were killed and wounded.
 T was impressed at once by the evi- dent disparity of the official and the real portions of meat, and consulted with my fellow prisoners. Whenever a public question has to be debated general meeting is called A resolu- tion was passed and a delegate sent to the governor. As similar resolu- tions had been forwarded to him on several occasions, he told us that now we would receive each our half-pound of raw meat.
 This caused consternation among the wealthy prisoners, who did not like at all the idea of having to cook their own dinners. The poorer ones proposed to find among the prisoners some cooks and walters who could prepare the food for us all together. But a resolution was carried by the majority asking the governor to revert to the old way. As result of our protest, however, we received after ward somewhat larger portions.
 Worry Over Hot Water Supply.
 "The next cause of trouble arose in this way: An excellent rule had been made by the authorities that hot water could be obtained in the official cookhouse from early morning till late at night. But the German cooks en- forced an unwritten law that a penny must be paid by each person each time hot water was required. I paid my penny, like everybody else, and obtained the hot water at once. I mo- ticed, however, a sailor who did not get any until all had been served. When asked for an explanation, he frankly told me that he had no money and therefore was bcycotted by the cooks
 "The next day I asked for water, but did not pay. On the succeeding days I was ignored systematically by the cooks. At my request our section chief called a general meeting, to which made my complaint about the impossibility of procuring hot water without payment, and explained that as about three thousand men three times daily fetched hot water this meant about e3 to e4 ($15 to $20) a day for the six cooks. Accordingly, a unanimous resolution was sent to the governor, who promptly abolished the abuse.
 Regulating Camp Affairs.
 "As rule the military officials were willing to make any alterations sug- gested by us. For instance, there was much delay in the delivery of letters and postal parcels sent to the prison