The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1918-09-07

of the civilians. incarcerated at Holz-
minden were pirates and criminals,
deserving of the most violent treat
ment The result is inevitable. There
were almost daily cases of physical
mistreatment while / was at Holz-
minden. Some of tha poor fellows
were SO badly handled that they had
to be taken to the hospital.
A Dreary Day.
The days program was dreary
one. At 4:3O we were awakened;
that is, at 4:30 by German summer
time, which is in reality at $3.50. At
5 we went to work Often we could
not return to the barracks at noon
because we were obliged to remain
| out-or-doors in the wet and the rain
until 7:30 in the evening. At 9 p. M,
| when it was still light we were locked
up in the barracks. We had not suf-
| ficient time for sleep, rest, or even
for meals.
| InSspite of the constant activity de-
manded of the prisoners, the food
was poor and contained little nour-
ishment. We did have sort of COM
missary committee, composed of
/ three prisoners. But if it for a single
time ventured to complain of the
soup as unsatisfactory" the most
disagreeable things always hap
pened. Mail was frequently held up
by way of retaliation for alleged mis-
deeds. Mail was not allowed to be
kept beyond eight days and if post.
card older than that was found upor
the person of a prisoner he was al.
ways vigorously punished. There was
not enough clothing to make one
comfortable. As we had to work out
of doors regardless of weather or sea
son, our clothing was often wei
through, and the next morning We
had to put it on while it was still
damp. Colds were naturally una
voidable. The. medical attention
given was absurd. The crazy colone
himself made point of being pres
ent at almost all medical examina
tons, and completely dominated TIT
physicians, who cringed before him
He was fond of saying that only tn,
lazy ones pretended to be ill, that tn,
camp itself was the best sanitorium
and hard work the best cure-all.
The Colonel Was Sentimental.
1 In spite of his brutality, the col
onel had his sentimental streaks. TIL,
following anecdote is illustrative. 4
Frenchman, 70 years of age, was oc
J cupied in paving the street of thu
J camp. The colonel passed by, and
as the old fellow did not seem to hin
to be working diligently enough, h
stepped up and gave him a tremen
dous box on the ear. The poor oil,
man said nothing, but took out of hi
picket little certificate. from
J which it appeared that he was i'll ant
only capable of a small amount O.
work. The colonel was much moved
almost to the point of tears. He CAV,
the old man eight days of exemption
from all labor. But that was rathe
cold comfort.
'I Camp Holzminden was frequentl.
visited by General Haehnisch AM
other officials. However. they neve
looked at the prisoners quarters, ex
cept in the most perfunctory way
They merely strutted ahrough tn,
!. barracks, watched the laborers a
work, and then directed all their at
tention to the camp pigs. These pigs
the especial interest of Colonel Gal
lus, were royalty treated in theil
pens, and certainly led a much hap
pier life than the prisoners. unit
they were slaughtered for the off
GERS mess.
Even the women are not spared
Lately conditions have become still
worse, am told. The women ar
now forced to do all sorts of burden
some things. For instance, they ar,
put at braiding and unbraiding fish
nets, and the only purpose of tn,
taskmasters seem to be to make thei
fingers sore. Every Sunday, a weir,
walk is undertaken, to a wood abou
six kilometers away, from which the.