The Jasper news., 1918-12-05
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
CHAPTER xxlI-contlnued.
Copyright, 1918, BY Reilly and Brtton Co., Through
Special Arrangement With the George
Matthew Adams Service.


regular prison barracks four hundred
Russians and Belgians were buried.
Most of them had died from cholera,
typhoid and inoculations. We heard
from the prisoners there before us that
the Germans had come through the
camps with word that there was an
epidemic of black typhus and cholera
and that the only thing for the men to
do was to take the serum treatment to
avoid catching these diseases. Most Of
the four hundred men had died from
the inoculations. They had taken the
Germans word, had been inoculated
and had died within nine hours. Which
shows how foolish 1t is to believe a
German. None of US had any doubt
but what the serum was poisonous.
The second day that we were In the
regular camp the Germans strung
barbed wire all around our barracks.
They told us we had case Of black
typhus among us. This was nothing
more nor less than bluff, for not one
of us had typhus, but they put up the
wire, nevertheless and we were not
allowed to go out.
One day when | was loafing around
our barracks door and not having any
thing particularly important to do, l
packed nice hard SNOWFALL and land
ed 1t neatly behind the ear of little
sentry not far away. When he looked
around he did not blow his whistle but
began hunting for the thrower. This
was strange in German sentry and l
thought he must be pretty good stuff.
When he looked around, however, all
he saw was man staggering around
as If he were drunk. The man was
the one who had done the throwing, all
right, but the sentry could not be sure
of 1t, for surely no man would stay
out in the open and invite accidents
like that. But still, who had done it p?
SO l just kept staggering around,
and the sentry came up to me and
looked me over pretty hard. Then
thought for the first time that things
might 60 hard on me, but figured
be all over. So l staggered right up
to the sentry and looked at him drunk.
enly, expecting every moment to get
one from the bayonet.
But he was SO surprised that all he
could do was stare. So l stared back
pretending that l saw two of him, and
otherwise acting foolish. Then l guess
he realized for the first time that the
chances Of anybody being drunk lr
that camp were small-at least for the
prisoners. He was rubbing his eal
all the time, but finally the thought
seeped through the ivory and he begaI
to laugh. l laughed. too, and the frs
thing you know he had me doing 4
again-that Is, the imitation. One
SNOWFALL was enough, figured.
! used to talk to him quite Otter
after that. We had no particula
love for each other, but he was game
than the other sentries, and he did no
call me schwelnllund every time he saw
me, so we got on very well together
His name must have been Schwartz,
guess, but 1t sounded like "Swatts" t,
me, so Swatts he was, and / wa
"ChinlI" to him. as everybody els,
called me that.
One day he asked me If l coul,
speak French, and said yes. Italian
yes. Russian; yes. No matter wha
language he might have mentioned
would have said yes, because I coul,
smell something in the wind, and
was curious. Then he told me that
l went to the hospital and worke,
there, l might get better meals an,
would not have to 60 so far for them
and that my knowing all the language
/ said l did would help me q grea
ways toward getting the job.
Evidently he had been told to get
man for the place. because he az
pointed me to 1t then and there. III
put me to work right away. We wen
over to one of the barracks, where
case Of sickness had been reported
and found that the invalid was bi
Bnrbudoes negro named Jim, fire
man from the Voltaire. At one tim
Jim must have weighed $50 pounds
but by this time he was about tw
pounds lighter than q straw hat, bu
still black and full of pep. Light @
be was. was no "white hope" and
was all could do to carry him to til
hospital. Swatts kept right along b.
hind me, and every time would sto
to rest, he would poke me with
broom-the only broom l saw In Ge
maryland laugh and point to his ca
Then I thought 1t was frame-p