The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-03-21
HUNS IN HANDS
Of j. s. BOYS
PLEASING AND THRILLING SIGHT
TO SEE GERMAN PRISONERS
AT WORK
!. M C.. A. CHEERS THE NEW ARRIVALS
Efforts Made to Keep the Morale OF
Our Fighters Up to the
Highest Pitch
BY II. Z. EVANS.
Copyright 1879

have stood at the Golden Gate
and watched the orb of day bury its
crimson bulk in the pillows of the
Pacific, its melted rays marking the
blue waters with variagated colors
have seen the sun rise over the
lofty peaks of the Bernese Alps in
Switzerland, its rays shimmering
down the snowy mountainsides to the
verdure-clad valleys below; | have
stood by Niagara's side, charmed
into bewilderment by the beauty of
never before have | seen so glorious
a sight as the Stars and Stripes
floating in a foreign port.
have seen with great satisfaction
my state divorce itself from the
liquor traffic; ! have gol.e the hard,
uncertain road of poverty and doubt
into conditions where a grasp on the
better things of life seemed assured
with a deep sense of gratitude have
| seen relatives and friends crafty
their ambitions, but never have ]
experienced such real, genuine salts
faction as when | saw a company OF
Prussian prisoners of war tramping
through the mud guarded by two Unit
ed States soldier boys.
And this is a common sight II.
France. These German prisoners,
and there are thousands and tens Of
thousands of them, go about their
daily tasks apparently uncOncerned
and happy. No doubt they are
trenches, for here they are safe and
we'll fed. They are cleaning up Y.
NJ. C A. huts in the mornings, build
ing United States warehouses, con
structing roads, etc. They are given
their board and tobacco, a decent place
to live and a larger per diem thar they
received while fighting for the kaiser.
The only complaint they make is over
the loss of their beer. Simultaneous
with the loss of beer went the roses
on of their cheeks, the bloom off their
noses and the fat off their bellies, so
they present now something of the APP
pearance of faded. willowy blondes.
They are meek as lambs and mute as
oysters, affording a marked contrast to
the staggering. Tm-cOck-of-the-walk
attitude of their fellows whom | saw in
Germany.
They often go about h camps and
towns, in the performance of their
work, unattended. Every one seems TO
be a trusty. Even if they wanted to es-
cape there is no way to do it. They do
not slack or slight their work. In no
sense are they resentful or insolent. |
have never seer the least discord be-
tween guards and prisoners. They are
we'll behaved and are we'll treated.
They have become a part of the work
a-day life of France, are taken as a
matter of course and excite no COM
ment or particular attention.
These prisoners are not fed by the
German government as French prison
ers are fed by the French government
and people. l think l wrote you two
years ago from Switzerland about a
visit to the Berne %postofice where |
saw the morning mail that came out
of France to French prisoners in Ger
many. The mail that day consisted OF
four thousand loaves of bread, each
loaf wrapped in a piece of brown paper
and addressed to some French soldier
in a prison pen.
Our government has arranged with
the Berne p~ostofice to handle food
stuff for our boys if captured by the
Germans. A few of them have been
captured, and every week a package
of food is sent to them through Berne.
The BOYS receipt for the food and the
receipt is returned, and this is the prac-
tice with the food sent by the French.
Germany gladly agrees to this, as it re-
lieves that government from feeding
their prisoners. There is no doubt but
that the food is used only for the pur-
pose for which it is sent.
Our bases of supplies in France are
veritabla beehives. About Z o'clock in
the morning the streets of camp and
town and city begin to hum with noise.
The air for miles is vibrant with the
b-r-r and rattle and clang Of motor