The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1917-08-30

ser, WHICH IneH uldue us Say
after them. Jim was standing next
to me, and he whispered: ITO hell
with the kaiser: God love the United
States" 4 German guard behind
him heard it. and reported it to an
officer. They took Jim out of line
as we came out Of church and 'thmb-
ed him. They cut him down and
told him to repeat the chant. He was
daZed and mad then, and he yelled:
God love Uncle Sam, To hell with
the kaiser With that they hung
him up again and whipped him with
a cat o'nine tails. They would start
at his neck and go down, then up and
back and forth. He kept on yelling
defiance until he lost consciousness.
They stood us around in shackles
where We could watch. / think
Jim died about eight or nine
o'clock, but they didn't cut him
down until non the next day.
The last we heard Jim say was:
God love the United States and stick
to it,
The sight of Jim's body hanging
up there. with the arms and thumbs
all out of socket, and his back raw
and mangled, fired US until we were
almost on the point of rebellion. 1t
was the nearest to an outbreak that
we ever came. The Germans seemed
to feel that too, for they kept US
locked up tight for three or four days,
and stopped working the fields. After
that at night We were all fastened by
a chain to iron rings which fitted into
a sort of long curbstone, and we slept
on the ground all around. Sheets of
heavy rain would come down on us at
night for short intervals, but we
didn't mind that because it was usu-
ally very dry and dusty, and without
clothes the sand ground INTO us.
A Delicate German Attention.
1.-THE following Sunday morning |
was standing up on top of a kind OF
hitch rail treating an abcess on a
mules head. l felt something hit my
foot, then a sharp pain, and looked
down expecting to find snake, be-
cause I was barefooted. l found that
my foot was bleeding. l had been
shot in the foot. German officers had
been shooting at a Belgian as he ran,
and had wounded him. He scramb-
led up to run again; they shot at him,
missed, and hit me. The wound
broke no bones but it was clear
through the foot. I wrapped 1t up
with piece of sack and asked for
medical attention. The. guard told
me that I was such q good mule doc
tor l could look after myself. | was
afraid of tetanus, but the wound heal
ed over all right, but it was harder
to work after that.
''Sometimes on Sunday they would
let us go in bathing in the sea but
they would not let us go far out, and
watched us very closely because some
of the prisoners if they got chance
would try to commit suicide by
drowning themselves. The English,
Belgian, Russian and French prison
ers were shackled when they went
in.
'The English and French came in
for most of the brutality. The Rus
SLAMS were very savage, and would
smash the guards with the ends of
their shackles or a hoe if they came
near them. They seemed dreamy and
Indifferent to what happened to them.
The Germans kept at safe distance
and left off those little spiteful atten-
tions which they paid to the other
prisoners and never took off their
shackles. When l was on the island
there were about so Americans, most
of them Westerners and a good many
negroes. l know that 80 Americans
died while l was there from starva
tion or torture.
Out of Range of Attacks.
"The island was fortified and we'll
stocked with supplies Of all sorts. The
coal heaps looked like mountains and
appeared as though they would last
for years. From all I could gather
England's control of the sea did not
extend that far South. and the Ger
mans did not appear to anticipate an
attack of any sort.
Toward fall l felt myself getting
weaker. l weighed only 100 pounds
now. My arms and feet began to feel
very heavy and my head light, and it
was very hard to keep working. Final
ly | calculated that l could last just
+o, 5oye 1oooor had 1Onp before