Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

The fact that the Russian soldier was
what may best be translated as officer
aspirant, before he fell into the hands
of the Austrians, gave him the right
to reply to the comment of the camp
commander.
He said something in Russian.
VERY WELL" said Gen. Notes. please
yourself! You say 1t is your right and
duty to escape, II you can. That 1
grant you. At the same time 1t is my
duty to keep you here. will sec to it
that you are kept here"
AS he walked on, Gen. Notes patted
the Russian on the cheek.
Don't be foolish" he said. Its cold
out there" The Russian smiled and
faced about
''Plucky chap" remarked Gen. Notes.
'and good Russian. knows German
well, but never used 1t with the Of
ficers. The last time he managed to
get as far as the vicinity of Trieste. He
hoped to get across to the Italians. In
his Russian uniform at that. Speaking
of grit. his is an exceptional case. On
the way to Trieste no travelled at night,
hid during tho day, and must have
helped himself to food in a manner as
yet unexplained"
Gen. Notes has been spending many
months at the Russian front in Galfcia.
and like so many others of his coun-
trymen is a thoroughly good sport.
The daring Of the man impressed him
very much.
The Klein -Muenchen prison camp Is
a huge establishment. 1t covers an
area of about five square miles, and it's
barracks are capable of housing $4,000
men without crowding. So far about
$4,000 Russians and several thousand
Italians have been quartered there.
since the establishment of the camp in
January, 1915. At present there are in
the camp 304 Russian officers and about
1900 men. the remainder having been
detailed to do work on the Austrian
farms.
Arrangement Of the Barracks.
The barracks are large wooden struc-
lures, covered on tho outside with
thick tar paper. painted white. Above
the pine board floor, two stories of
platforms. eight platforms for each
building, provide the space upon which
the straw pallets of the men are spread
out at night. Sixty men are so accom-
modated. To the rear Of the barracks
Is the dining room, in which the pris-
oners gather for social purposes when
fatigue" or work is over.
The barracks described are intended
for the ordinary Russian, the peasant,
who. as a rule, is wholly illiterate, and
with whom the Intelligent" does not
want to associate. The experience has
been that the two classes do not mix
well, and rather than have constant
strife between the prisoners the Aus
them.
For the Intelligent klasse" a differ
ent sort of barracks has been built. 1t
resembles the common barracks, but
instead of having eight sleeping plat
forms it has two floors, upon which
sort of wooden field bed has been
placed This arrangement wastes a
great deal of space. Only fifty intel
ligents" can be housed in a building
of the usual size
I'VE try to satisfy, so far as we can,
the wihhes of the prisoners" said Gen.
Notes. I'm our own army we do not
know such distinctions. We have Off
GERS and privates and no other class.
But with the Russians 1T seems to be
different. The intelligents' are usually
people of some refinement, to whom
the constant association with the un-
tutored peasant would undoubtedly be
a great hardship. One has to bear in
mind that men in prison camps must
associate with one another more close
ly than anywhere else. 1t is not our
business either to reform Russia's So
cial structure or to make the enforced
stay in our prison camps more lrk-
some than confinement naturally is.
So we went to the additional trouble
and expense of building the barracks
for the intelligents.
Excellent gravel-covered streets run
between the rows of buildings. and
small field railway connects all points
needing that means for facilitating
transport The entire camp is lighted
has it's own water supply
and sewer system, an elaborate system
for fire protection, ornamental and veg
etable gardens, and resembles gen.
orally a social settlement camp. an il
fusion which Is quickly dispelled. how
ever. by the presence of the guards
and the ubiquitous wire fence.
The Cost Of the Camp.
An officer connected with the financial
a administration was of the opinion that
so far the Austrian government had
disbursed considerably more than 49,
ooO. 900 crowns for the Klein Muenchen
camp, and that the keeping of Russian
prisoners had entailed an expenditure
OF approximately 1,100,00O,o0O crowns,
and in Austria Hungary there are to-
day thirty other prison camps.
The recurrency of diseases is said to
he connected with the failure of many
of tho prisoners to do the best for
hygienically. Through re-
cent arrivals of prisoners showed no
case of cholera, five cases developed
a bout two weeks ago. One of the men
has died; four are on the road to re-
covery Typhus and typhoid also ap-
near occasionally, and tuberculosis is
ever present, because many of the pris-
oners were afflicted with the disease
In a dormant state before they were
drafted into the Russian army. On
january L. Camp nMuenchen had
patients of this class.
Very often Russians are brought in
whose wounds, received in actions prior
TO the one in which they were captured,
need attention. On the day on which
The Associated Press correspondent Wis
tied the camp close to hundred of
such cases had either been disposed of
by operations or were under observa-
tian Usually the trouble Is due to a