Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-11-23
Prisoners Released by Ger.
mans in Pitiful
Condition.
TURNED FROM HUN
CAMPS FOODLESS

London, No, es.-Pitiablc conditions
among British prisoners OF war re-
leased by the Germans are described by
Reuters correspondent at French head
quarters.
Thousand men are eater
ing France u~.., no correspondent
writes:
II have IA, =. sosd hG.lan beings u
such "A stateyof raggedness. hunger and
misery. When the camp at For0ach.
thirty eight miles east OF Metz, as well
as those elsewhere. were broken up.
the prisoners, most Of whom were cap-
tured during the March offensive, we're
told TO clear out and seek help from
the allies.
They started to walk the nifty or
sixty miles to the allied lines, but wcr6
given no food and had no money, They
were In shameful rags and the soles
fell from their shoes. 4s 81
"They left the prison camps In droves
OF hundreds in charge of German ON
GERS and soldiers who had deserted.
The weather was cold and mnny ilied
by the foadside When .tRS suskty9
re-entered the Frongh lines. es0gZ
soldiers who were hardened war heroes
were Mortified to see men In suoh =
plight 1t Is not doubted that this sui
fering was Intentionally imposed upno
the British. Prisoners Of other nation
alities are agreed that the British wore
treated worse than other prisoners ~
all German camps"
4 Brutal Treatment Disclosed.
A further report Of Sir Robert
Youngers committee dealing with the
treatment of British prisoners In the,
coal and salt mines of Germany, gives
narrowing details of brutal treatment
by the Germans. This report says:
From testimony scarcely month
old 1t ls evident that there Is no Sign
of improvement whatever in the treat
ment of prisoners in Germany. The.
disgrace is open and fragrant and the
only possible inference is that Berlin.
deliberately approves of It. There Ia
no doubt that work in the mines Is in
f'ictcd as punishment. Here IL an ex-
tract from letter dated May 90 last
from British private soldier:
1--WE have had little TO eat since we
gone to the hospital with broken arms
and the remainder nre suffering from
cuts on their heads and bruises MS the
result OF hoggirgs they received nj the
last place. | fell in faint unable to
work any longer. last Saturday. nnd
the man in charge IL civilian, kicked
me back into my senses and kept mo
down in the mine sixteen hours after
all my gang had gone up. If you could
only see the hoya here, They took like
dead men. They are worked to death.
: Men Treated Like Brutes.
"The record of daily permisquious
violence might be much further illus
tratcd. Two score of men have given
evidence concerning the mining camps
where kicks, blows and insults became
part Of the normal routine. Hcre Is
the example of the testimony OF q man
who had been In the salt mines:
"ln January 1918. refused To SOM
,plcte my task as II was a physical inn
possibility, | was taken from the mine
dressed only In shirt and drawers. ns
It is too hot to wear anything else
and put in q hut for the night. In
the morning 1t was half full Of snow
The next day was taken to the rnins
and beaten until l had finished my.
task received nothing to eat from
the time was taken to the mine at
daylight until o'clock this afternoon, "
/ It Ia impossible to give de finite figures
Of the number OF men killed in the
German mineS. ~