Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-01-02

Before tho war the business flrm with
which ! was connected. had done great
deal OF buying IN Germany. We had n
German agent who wrote me n very nice
letter asking about my arm and wanting
To know If there was anything he could
do for me. 7 was not allowed to an
swcr this letter. but the inspector did so
for me.
received. later on. another letter from
German who was a naturaizcd Amer.
lean citizen and represented largo
firm with whom We had done business
He also asked if there were not some
thing he could do. I was permitted to
write an answer on the back Of his
letter and requested that he should send
me, If possible, coupe of English
novels and a French dictionary. In a
very few days ! received these articles
together with a box Of very good cigars
and some cigarettes This man came to
Cologne TO see me and spent three days
there interviewing officials. lie was not
even allowed to look at me to satisfy
himself that was we'll so that he could
report to my family.
one day VIC wcrc surprised at tho
arrival of another officer named Barnes
of the Canadian Engineers who had
been taken prisoner oil June =. but since
that date had spent his time in another
hospital in Aachen He had been sent
to Lazarctt VI to have one of his eyes
removed which had been damaged by
the explosion of bomb, and was placed
downstairs in the same room as the
French captain in order TO he directly
under the care of the head specialist.
rt,
information regarding the events of
June :, and ! was particularly inter-
cs,ed in hearing that he had been in the
hospital with a man named Martin. who
was also an officer Of the Fourth g. NJ.
T. and who had been badly wounded in
both legs,
Barness eye was removed by the head
specialist who used the operation as the
subject for q lecture to some students,
who come regularly to the hospital for
instruction. All he had to deaden the
pain was very badly applied local
anesthetic, The students sat around in
a. semicircle while the doctor snippcd
each nerve and mnscle separately. call
ing out their names and going into eN-
plantations as to their functions, while
Barnes drew blood from his lower lin
with his teeth in trying to keep from
screaming out WITH pam.
From this time on we nicknamed
Barnes "Cyclops," a name which stuck
10 him until he left the hospital.
Across the hall from our ward was a
bathroom containing four baths. II was
in charge of two Russians who kept the
place very clean. and always had hot
water on hand, which was provided by
two small stoves In the room. Nearly
all the beds on our floor were occupied
by Russians, many OF whom had filthy
diseases. We objected strongly to bath
ing after these men. no matter how well
the tubs had been scrubbed out We
were afraid of having our wounds in
fected, and finally made arrangements
to have a bath curtained off at one end
of the room for the exclusive use of the
Englishmen. AS soon as this had been
effected an assistant doctor. and all the
va nitaires located on our floor. admired
the arrangement 40 much that they de-
cided TO seize this bath for their own
private use. Hallam had an alterca-
tion with sanitairc over this and Just
restrained himself from striking the
man. He got into great deal of
trouble, and as direct result was later
on sent to camp. We eventually sue
ceeded in having another bath allotted
us.
Soap was nonexistent in the hospital
A greasy sort of substance in tins. some
what similar to soft soap. was supplied
for washing purposes, The Russians in
charge OF the bathroom used to do our
laundry, but this soft soap stained
everything a weird combination Of green
and yellow.
We were always looking for something
to vary the monotony of our existence,
and one day thought of investigating the
pig pen. Tho man In charge had no OBJ
jections to our doing this, and we wenr
inside, Some one noticed an egg lying
on the straw and slipped II quietly into
his pocket. We thoroughly investigated
the pigs. collecting about five eggs In
doing 30. The next morning, with the
assistance Of our little spirit stove, we
bad wonderful breakfast and laid
o1opr ~ ~ no1t dAy. For neavjx =