Imperial Valley press., 1918-08-02

we in the submarine could hear the
thudding quite distinctly. To and fro
the da4rroyers Went searching for us.
Evidently they picked up blue. for
there were tow explosions ahead, but
not so near us as that from the cruis-
er, but quite close enough to cause
the submarine to tremble and then
roll about as though in a heavy sea"
Prison camp conditions in Germany
were described by the British captain
as being deplorable.
Although we We're merchant ship
captains imprisoned at BrandenGurg,
we were made to suffer various in
dignities," he said.
"We were compelled to harness our
selves to carts, which we had to draw
through the streets to the station or
postoffice in order 10 fetch our par
GELS and any commodities to camp. Ii
was at this. camp also that l saw
300 Russian soldiers working. all of
whom were IN the last stages Of tu-
berculosis. The poor fellows could not
get enough TO eat, and they would
eagerly scrape discarded tin cans in
the hope Of finding particles of food.
| have even seen German soldiers do
the same thing. We were glad to
search the cinder paths at any oppor-
tunity in anticipation of finding bits
of coke or coal with which to cook our
food"
The captain said his ship was tor
pedOed without warning and that aft
er he and all his men were afloat in
lifeboats the submarine appeared on
the surface and he was taken pris-
oner, the mates and seamen being per
mitted to start in the direction of
land. Describing the submarine, the
British captain said.
''She was fairly large craft, of
recent numbering, having three tor
pedo tubes, two in the bow and one
aft, and carried ten torpedoes She
was also armed with gun for shell
fire just forward of the coming tower
my first meal aboard the U-boat
consisted of stew made with stringy
meat, probably horseflesh, supplement-
ed by small portions Of sausage with
black bread. AS the voyage progressed
this bread became mildewed and un-
eatable, and then some bread of light
er color, which had been kept in her
metically sealed receptacles, was
served, but was even more unpalatable
than the black bread. The coffee was
made of burned barley and acorns
The commander and officers of the
U-boat Jared as the lower ratings, but
were able to supplement their allow
ances with tinnd ham and other canned
food"
AS the submarine was forced TO keep
below the waters surface a great deal
of the time, life aboard the subma-
rine was anything but pleasant.
'The boat sweated and all spare
clothing became saturated with mois-
ture, while the atmosphere often be-
came foul and breathing difficult" ne
asserted. while we were submerged
the crew would start the graphophone
That machine supplied the music which
was played tiumphantly when the u
boat got another victim. Really the
sinking Of any innocent merchantmen
caused that crew as much JOY as il
the members had sunk a warship.
"One night there was more thar
the usual amount of rejoicing and the
graphophone's livesliest airs were
played. The Germans had torpedoec
am oil tanker, which, according to tht
: commender, sank in thirty seconds.
could not help wondering at the men
tality Of men who could rejoice a
r such a thing. knowing that, withOu
r giving them the slightest chance o
= defending themselves or escaping
they had sent innocent sailors 10 thei
0 deaths.
"The next day we seemed TO b
s cut Of the track of steamers, and
S went into the coming tower auG sas
:, the officers amusing themselves b