The Meeker herald., 1917-09-01
German. Stay Irish Prisoners

0eTu1Uo guy lIlSu ETSVuSSS
A Chicago dispatch Of August %,
says:
Murder and organized starvation
are natures Of the welcome that tho
Germans gave Irish prisoners cap
tured In battle, and show the great
affection the Teutons have for the
Celtic race. James w. Gerard, former
ambassador to Germany, today sent
. message 70 Irishmen who are I'M
der the delusion that the Irish are
great fsvorites with the Germans.
"If the Irish people could see, ~ l
saw, the way the Irish prisoners
were treated, II they could talk with
the prisoners, II they could see the
way they are dying In prison camps
from starvation and tuberculosis,
they would lose all sympathy for the
Germans" said Mr.. Gerard. "Ameri-
can prisoners will probably be treat
ed about the same way. The Ger
mans care no more about the Irish
than they do about the English. The
Irish prisoners were collected In one
camp 1t Limberg. about 1910 Of
them. The Germans sent Sir Roger
Easement to the camp TO enlist for
his Irish rebellion. He got about
thirty to go with him. When he went
back to the camp for more volunteers
the Irishmen chased him away, and
there was . near riot for . time.
IT was given secret Information by
Germans that the guards were shoot
ing and killing Irish prisoners. One
prisoner was killed even while was
trying to investigate the reported
murder Of one Irishman. The killing
Of one man was concealed from me,
and there 10 no telling how many
other Irishmen we're shot down by
their German guards. When I tried
to get Information was informed
that an investigation was under way
and I never was able to get any
satisfactory explanation Of the
shootings.
I'm one case the guard was exon
Grated and had the charming taste to
attend the funeral Of his victim. I
made repeated demands to see the
prisoners who were present when the
men were killed, but was never able
to make any headway."
A dispatch from Chautauqua, N.
Y, says:
T. P. O'Connor. N. p, the Irish
Nationalist leader, in an address on
the Armenian situation here told of
Germany's responsibility for the
slaughter OF Thousands in Armenia
II am content" he said, ITO have the
merits and the aims of the two sets
Of belligerents tested against this
case. For 1t 10 one Of the most L.
inevitable facts In this whole tragic
story that the German rulers have
played terrible part in these mas
srcres. There was consul In near
~ every single ono Of the great Ar
menian settlements where the mas
sacres took place.
"For . generation the voice of Ber-
lin had been omnipotent In Constanti-
nople. At the very moment the troops
of Germany and Turkey were fight
ing side BY side. 10 1t not clear. there.
fore, that Berlin had only to say .
word and the massacres would not
have begun, and even II they had
begun, would not . word have
brought them to an immediate end?
For these reasons 1 feel entitled to
say that the guilt of these hideous
massacres lies ut the door Of the Ger
man - we'll - Of the Turkish auth
critics.
"And, having that conviction, how
can I, how can any man who loves
liberty, hates oppression, loathes
cruelty and massacre. how can 1
help feeling that I am on the right
side when feel myself in hostility
to the present regime in Germanyg'
A Palm Beach, Florida, dispatch
reports:
II Germany wins the world war
Ireland's chances of becoming . re-
pubic are gone. declared Richard
Croker, former Tammany leader, in
an interview In the Palm Beach
Post. Croker recently returned from
ireland where he had been living on
his estate,
He declared that Ireland should
remein loyal to England and the al
lies until the end of the war, later
which Irish freedom will ba an es-
tablished fact
II. Masten Risley, graduate, skilled
Optometrist, of Grand Junction, will
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