Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-08-28
AMERICAN RED CROSS
TO CARE FOR AMERICANS
Captured And Held Prisoner In Ger
man Camps A Prison Relief
Committee.

AG AbAEAANQll IACu AAOHS has HCAT
fected plans TO care for Americans
who may be captured and held in Ger
man prison camps. A Prisoners Re-
lief Committee has been organized at
Berne, Switzerland under the super
vision of Ellis L. Dresel. of the Ameri-
can Legation. Mr.. Dresel served from
the outbreak of the war in 1914 up TO
our breaking off diplomatic relations,
as an attache of the American En-
bassy at Berlin, where his duties in
cluded relief work for men of the En-
tente nationalities in German prison
camps.
Today only about one hundred
American prisoners are held in Ger
many Most of these are civilians
taken of American merchantmen
that have been sunk by Teuton sub
marines. More recent arrivals in the
prison camps had served as gun crews
since the arming of our merchant
ships
Speedy provision for the relief and
for those who may be taken prisoner
is necessitated by the German policy
of giving their prisoners of war food
totally inadequate to keep men in
good health. The extremely high
death rate among Russian. Serbian
and Roumanian prisoners in Germany
and Austria $50 per cent in the case
of the Roumanians) has been largely
due to the inability of Russia and tho
Balkan states TO organize the ration
ing OF prisoners of their nationalities
from their home countries.
recent cable dispatch from Paris
tells of a French soldier just back
from a German prison camp and in
the last stage of tuberculosis. This
soldier was one of a battalion of
thousand young and healthy men cap
tured in a body, early in the war.
More than fifty per cent of the num-
ed to France, via Switzland. as incur
ables.
Malnurition, no less than unsani-
tary conditions, produces these re-
suits British, Canadian and Austral-
ian prisoners of war in Germany now
depend exclusively upon food shipped
to them from London, and generally
give the prison camp ration to pris-
oners of other countries, who are, as
a rule, less we'll provided. Bread is
already being dispatched from Berne
to the Americans in Germany, and ar
rangements have also been made for
transmitting letters and money from
fria N fhic
country.
Thus far only bread has been sup
piled by the Berne Committee of the
American Red Cross. Assorted food
parcels and clothing will also be for
arded soon. In the meantime the Gen.
tral Prisoners of War Committee OF
London is acting on behalf of Ameri-
can prisoners in Germany sending
them such foods as the committee reg
ularly dispatches tc British and colo
nial prisoners.
By arrangement with Germany,
these parcels are sent to the prisoner
three times a fortnight. These par
cells supplement the bread which is
also regularly supplied, and each OF
them contains ten pounds of meat,
butter, sugar, jam, coffee or tea, salt,
rice, and dried fruit The American
Red Cross is forwarding to Berne
stocks of the same foodstuffs. as well
as cheese. evaporated milk, Goldfish,
and mixed biscuit Timed goods can
not be sent to prisoners, for Germany
has made over the tip containers as
hand grenades.
Ninety-five per cent of the British
packages sent into Germany, with pos
tai card receipts to be mailed back by
the prisoner have been duly receipt
ed for. The American Red Cross also
will enclose postal cards, as means
of making sure that American pris-
oners do actually receive the food