Bisbee daily review., 1916-04-09
PRISONERS ARE WELL CARED FOR WHEN IN
 RUSSIAN PRISONS
Treatment Compares Favor. ably with that Accorded to Prisoners in Any Other of Warning Countries.

PETROGRAD, Russia-The treat men given to prisoners of war in Rus sia compares favorably with that ac- corded prisoners in other countries. says d correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor. Thre were last au- tumn. full three-quarters of million German, Austrian and Turkish pris- oners in Russia. Probably by now the number is close upon 100000. Theseare located all over the coun- try from Siberia in the north to Baku in the south. The Turkish prisoners whom saw to the number of several thousand last June in an island camp near BalSu seemed philosophically con tented with their lot, which by no means an unsatisfactory one compar- ed with the rigors of a winter cam paign in the caucasus. The food was plentiful. and the men lolied and lcunged played mysterious games. and disputed in true oriental fashion. and a condition of dolce far niente seemed to suit them exactly. In Ode ssa, Kieff. Nishni- Novgorod. and some of the oth- CT towns along the Volga. Austrian and German prisoners were lodged in large buildings. such as disued factO- ries, while in many places, wooden barracks or sheds were specially en- gagged in building them themselves. Their food was precisely the same as that of the ordinary Russian soldier, that is tschi. or good strong soup. with half a pound of meat and plenty of vegetables in it; a couple of pounds of whole meat bread and every other day a plentiful portion of kasha, or buckwheat porridge. saw many wounded prisoners in hospitals in var iOus parts of the country. and they were well cared for. Large numbers of prisoners were utilized in agricul- tural districts around Moscow and elsewhere in getting in the harvests and other field. operations, and they were delighted as a rule, to have the opportunity of doing such work. In return they received nominal payment which enabled them to augment their food with few extras. The peasants people generally treated the working parties of prisoners kindly, for the Russian is naturally human person despite rough exterior.
 There was some doubt as to tue treatment of prisoners of war in such comparatively remote regions of Si-
 beria. But when I returned to Pc trograd last October a party of Ger man nurses in the charge of Swedish and aDnish Red Cross officers had been permitted by the Russian au
 thorities to go into various parts of the country to inspect the prison
 camps and the accommodation for wounded German and Austrian prison CTS. Members of the American Red Cross received similar permission and those with whom I conversed
 seemed we'll satisfied with what they had seen, their recommendations as to necessary improvements having met with the ready acquiescence by the Russian authorities. Delegates of the Geneva Red Cross have also been
 permitted quite recently to go into Si-
 beria in order to inspect the com pounds and camps for prisoners sf war
 and interned civilians. Favorable re ports have been published from time
 to time on such inspections But [ what has so far escaped reference is | that many of the prisoners are so well pleased with their condition and with the prospects of the country that they are eager to stay on after the war Many of the men are allowed a large
 amount of personal liberty. they have
 made friends anon gthe people of the places where they are located in and have entered into relations with the women. Not only do the prisoners work on the farms, poultry establish | ments, dairies and butter factories, for , laborers is very scarce owing to SC
 many men being withdrawn for the
 war, but they move about the towns
 and villages in almost complete lib erty.