New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-04-23
Teuton General Spat on U.S.Flag
Captive Wore in German Prison
RrooL,,r Youtb Caught on Yarrowdae Tells Narrowing
Story of Brutality and Starvation in Prusslan
Camps-Saved by MIR. Gerard

asked. shut up, you SWINE yelleu All
officer in English. You stay where the
guards put you That night we each
received half a loaf Of bread, and,
thinking We would get more the next
day. we greedily devoured II. But the
next day we got no food. the guards
telling us we should have saved our
bread.
1--WE were almost frozen. ! had no
overcoat and had lost my shoes in get
ting off the George. Yet they refused
TO give us blankets. After being three
days in this camp they put us in freight
cars and took us TO Neustrelltz Here
we had our first bath in a month. We
were given shelter in sheds. Strips OF
brown braid were put on the sides OF
our trousers, on one arm and around
our hats. That was to signify that we
were prisoners.
Our rations. of barley coffee and
boiled turnips, became so scanty that
we thought we would all die. Our beds
consisted of one bale of straw for each
twenty men. L. was infested with YER
min from having been slept on by so
many prisoners. As we had 10 use some
of the straw to light a little fire, which
helped us from freezing, our straw beds
gradually disappeared.
Starvation Kills Captiycs
"Why they kept moving us from
one prison to another | don't know,
unless IL was that they were trying to
find one sufficiently disagreeable 10
show their contempt for US. Al the
end of January they took US in freight
cars on a two-day trip 70 Dulman.
There, while the food was the same
sanitary conditions were worse. Wo
had AZ companions 5000 Russian
French and English prisoners. Inc
prisoners were dying of starvation al
the rate of five a day.
zone day it was said German gen.
eral was coming TO inspect us. so we
had TO clean up the camp. When ne
| appeared we we're all lined up. The
! general spoke English and said: shame
ON Won Americans and the American
I government for sending ammunition to
! England Otherwise the war would
! have ended long ago
Tramples on United States Flag
Just then he saw little American
, flag pinned on boys coat. He walked
. over. pulled of the flag. spat on 1t and
I trampled it under his heel. Later on
picked the flag up and stuck 1t IN my
] shoe.
THE next day the general came
again. wouldn't take my hat of. as |
was told. An officer knocked me down
/ and my hat fell off. He said: You are
! liable to be shot for that. IT is a grave
/ offence TO disrespect an. officer. Ihey
began calling off the names OF the
prisoners. When he came to my name
he said: why, you're German. You u
! have TO go into the army replied ]
was an American and ! would die an
American. Then the general shook me,
telling me not to lie. He said | woul d
either have to join the army or be
shot. lie threatened all of us with
death if we were found to be German
/ and refused to 60 into the army.
ION the fifth day in this camp Am
/ bassador Gerard visited us. He took
our names and questioned us as 10
whether we were Americans. We
begged him for more food. He said he
would see what could be done. The
food was a little better for the next
| few days, but it fell off again.
ave were next taken to Havel camp,
! in Brandenburg, where we remained al
/ most all of February. The second day
! there was hit on the head by accident
! and taken to the hospital. While in the
/ hospital typhus broke out in the camp
and it was quarantined. That kept me
separated from the other Americans
for three weeks. Finally the Spanish
/ Ambassador came and said we were to
be sent home as soon as quarantine
! lifted.
"March 8 we reached Zurich. There
Mrs. Mccormick. of Chicago, bought
us some clothes and gave us $50 each:
| We sailed from Barcelona. Some OF
the Americans were left to follow on
/ the next boat"