The Alaska daily empire., 1917-01-15
Red Cross Nurse Gives information of the Sufferings of
 Prisoners.
REALLY LIVING DEATH
Human Spirit Crushed Out of Unfortunate Men Who Are the
 Tolls of War.
tBy MINNIE HEURMANN)

NEW YORK, Dec. SOL shall nev-
 1T forget the first prison camp wis.
 ted, which was in OuigE, Siberia. On
 q cold, dgeary day, twonty-eight below zero, with the snow crcaking under out feet, l made my debut in the
 camp with seven other Red Cross
 nurses.
 The main building, in an old tum. 5ledown structure, slightly put up
 Tn the first place, was used by the International Harvester Company to
 display their implements at the an
 lual fair held in peace times. There
 was no window, no light. except from
 the doors and the craCkc in the walls
 And there was ventilation enough
 from these very cracks. The entire
 space with the exception of narrow corridor room was taken up in plat forms arranged in tiers, one and one half to two feet from the ground, and about four feet apart. Where space permitted, there were three of these tiers or stories. But along the outside under the slant of the roof two tiers arose, and prisoners occupying the upper deck room could mot get into sitting position. These platforms were of boards with a
 lanting board running across at one end serving as a pillow.
 l saw this place so damned full of human creatures, hollow.eyed, thin, faces, pale and emaciated and rag. ged things staring at us. It was so lark at 10 o'clock in the morning lt the llghtest spot in the building that 1t took quito awhile to get lseG to the dim light after coming
 rom the glaring sIn on the snow. There were no mattresses, no straw, not even papers. No pillows, no GOV CTS, no cOts-nothing' but men.
 The facilities afforded prisoners in the campS for cleaning themselves and for keeping clean in such close quarters were almost nil, Although The Russian government had ordered every man to take bath at least once a month, the order was not car. ried out, for there were too many to be taken to the bath house, which | is a public institution in Russia.
 There was not enough drinking | water, so how could they get water to wash their faces? Months and ! months passed by, and men never got an opportunity to wash their faces. A prisoner stepped behind ! Dr. Crookson and asked him to in. Quire about drinking water, and the doctor did, nearly causing a stam- pede. They were getting water in ! basin holding three quart
 2 day. This was the supply for all the men, providing the basin for them is full. They were to get it hot SO they could brew tea, it could not remain hot in that temperature very long,
 We left this ill-smelling, cold dun ;eon and visited the hospital, com oaratively well conducted building, put, oh, what equipment. We, who came from a country of abundance bought it a nightmare. Our minds 'efused to grasp the situation. Here were rows and rows of i'll men on he same kind of board platforms with their clothes on, boots, caps md all, because there were no mat. { resses, not even straw no pillows, a 10 covers. S
 One Chair in Dressing Room g
 On we went to the dressing room with a single chair, table. Oh, j es, and a window. It still makes / ne i'll to think of it. There was I othing except remnant of roll Il f cotton, and a few old.fashioned in- I truments in supplies and equipment V his place was only for emergency, n Il leases" were to be transferred ( ) a military hospital, but-a la Rus r ia-the authorities usually forgot S , transfer them. F After talking to the doctors who ere military prisoners, I concluded S lat they were efficient, and the F mp could work out It's own salva- G on if they had the means to do M