The Columbus commercial. (Columbus, Miss.) 1893-1922, 1917-03-04
fosMrs COLUMBIAN osr
of -FOUR AMERICANS
TO RrAcH SAFETY.
TO BE RELEASED
ON MARCH 7
Men. ThresEh Ca.loms. Are
Nov Guests ol British Con.
sulsis 81 Copenhagen.

hafdships. Dr John y Davis. the
former Columbian Nho was taken 4
prisoner when he English steamship
ucorFic was torpedoed several
months aro. together with four other
Americans. landed at Copenhagen
Friday, and are now the guests Of
the British consulate there.
Germany. In q note delivered 10
the state department AZ Washington
by DIR Paul Ritter. Swiss minister.
promises TO release all the Yarrow.
dale prisoners March 2, saying that
quarantine regulations will have been
complied with by that date.
The following press dispatch gives
an account Of the landing Of the
prisoners and OF the many hardships
which they have undergone since
their capture by the Germans;
Four Americans from the steamer
Yarrowdale who have been prisoners
in Germany for three months, ar
rived at Copenhagen Friday. They
are DIR. John Davis, Columbus, Miss.
Orville McKim, Watertown, N y;
DR.. H, D. Snyder, Norfolk, Va.
Richard Zabriskie, Englewood, N. ],
The four men were practically des-
titute.
The men reached here with only
the clothes they stood in and will,
, under the custom of the sea, be sup
ported by the British consul until
it is possible 10 ecnd them home,
i They owe their release before the
remainder of the 72 Americans who
were on the Yarrowdale to the fact
that as physicians or veterinarians
they ranked as officers and were
confined in the officers camp al
Karlsruhe. The horsetenders and
sailors who composed the bulk of the
American captives are still at quar-
antine" at the prison camp for en-
listed men at Dulken.
The four men left the camp al
Karlsruhe on February 27, and trav'
eled under escort direct to Warne
Imunde, where, after being subjected
| to the usual frontier search, they
were put aboard a Danish ferry anc
left to shift for themselves. The
Danish police took charge of then
upon their arrival in Denmark, pro
lvided them with quarters for th'
night in a hotel at Gjedeser, and gave
them the first hearty meal they hat
enjoyed since landing in Germany il
December. The next morning thu
Danish authorities provided railroad
transportation to Copenhagen.
Ancient sea customs make seamer
| stranded in a foreign port the guest
| of the consul Of the power unde
whose flag the lost ship sailed. Unit
ed States Consul General Winslov
was compelled, therefore, to refe
the passless, paperless and moneyles
wanderers to his British colleague
The British consul provided hotel ac
commodations pending an investiga
ton as to the mems identity. h
pointed out that, as far as any lden
tification was concerned, the fou
men might be German spies.
Few more dramatic tales hav
been brought forth by the war tha
, the story related by these four Amer
lean professional men to the Asst
ciated Press correspondent.
Snapped up by the German raide
in midocean, they cruised around nc
= days while the raider was gatherin
!, further prizes. Then they made IN
t voyage in the Yarrowdale to Swin'
: munde under such conditions thi
!. they expected the ships seams
: open and the vessel to sink at an
v moment. They lived for more tina
two months in prison camps in &c
$ many on meager prison fare. The
s passed through four airplane attacl
{ on Karlsruhe, during which bom'
d intended for the railroad static
rained on all sides. They were !
norant until the last whether the
were prisoners of war or neutrals
detention, whether their governmel
l. was doing anything to obtain the
i release, or whether the United Stat
q had not already entered the war.
e To all to their anxieties their fl
d low Americans from the Yarrowdal
when they left them at the Neustr
litz camp, were in state of compile
e, destitution. They were insufficier
ly clothed and all were weakenil