Evening star., 1918-02-03
NE hears a great deal of the de-
light with which Germans. re-
Gently made prisoners by the
British, discover they are to be


IL III Gently made prisoners by the
VI British. discover they are to be
well fed and wonder at the humane way
in which they are treated. They had
hardly enough food to sustain them while
fighting on homeland soil. What. then,
about the American prisoner there? How
many Americans are prisoners of war in
Germany? And what is being done for
them and by whom?
These questions naturally arise in the
mind Of the person who reads the news
papers. One reader, bent upon investiga-
tion. went straight to, the Red Cross,
there to be directed to w. r. Castle, jr.,
ofncially in charge of communication be-
tween the German government and the
United States concerning these prisoners.
Mr.. Castle recently returned from Europe,
whittier he went to fnd out in detail ex-
actly what work along these lines other
countries were doing. and to make plans
for the more thorough development of
Red Cross aid which he is directing.
The Red Cross is working in conjunc-
tiop with the War and Navy departments
in this matter. and an appropriation
amounting to S31.2l2. for the purchase of
been announced. Such a sum is expected
to buy seventy-fve tons of carefully con-
Sidered rations for the interned Ameri-
cans. and Is said to be sufficient for their
needs for nine months The Red Cross
warehouse i'll Bern will shelter this food.
which is put up in tried and tested con-
tainers holding ten pounds. Three of
these are TO be sent out from Bern twice
a month to each of the 100 prisoners con-
fined in the various camps
Whether there is not enough food to go
around, whether the starvation rations
neted out TO our people are only another
evidence of marvellous Teutonic systema-
tixing and extreme conservation. is sub
ject of dispute. but that Americans in
termed in the camps of the Hohenzoiieras
would die without the extra food sent
one OF these men made his escape, ac-
cording to the State Department, arriv-
ing in Stockholm after being hidden in
the hold of vessel without water. for
almost week. He had been in the camp
which held the prisoners taken by the
German raider Moewe-a capture whose
circumstances, il may be recalled, caused
quite considerable discussion at the time,
nearly year ago
No details we're given out by the State
Department TO the escape, except
that the man was Willett Charles Smith
of Norwalk. Conn. interned at Lubbock
Germany, that his occupation was that
of horseman on the British steamer Es-
meralda; that he was taken into Ger
many before the United States broke
off diplomatic relations, and that. ac,
cording to his own statements. Smitf
and his fellow prisoners would have
been unable to live without the extra
food packages sent in by the Y. NJ c. A
and the Red Cross.
No American prisoner confined in tn,
Lubbock prison has yet died. accordin;
to the New Engiander. the package
that came regularly from the Britons
via Bern, alone saving them. He sal,
that a.fellow prisoner from Des Moines-
Barney Boyle-aIong with another from
New York by the name of Fitzgerald
another from Charleston, W. Va. who's
name was Oscar Bird, and two lad
from Baltimore-Harry and Waite
MasOn--aN comrades of his, while still
in Eubeck prison, were not ill when h.
LETT them and he believed they coul