Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1918-08-14

and never met q Frenchman who was
not kind to me, and what I heard
about the way the Huns treated the
Belgians made me sick. I used to get
out OF bed to 60 to an all-night picture
show, I thought about it so much.
But there was not much excitement
about New York, and figured the
U. S. would not get into it for while,
anyway, SO just wanted to 60 over
and see what 1t was like. That Is
why lots of US went, I think.
There were five of us who went to
Boston to ship for the other side {:
Sam Murray, Ed Brown, Tim Flynn,
Mitchell and myself. Murray was an e1-
garby-two bitches (enlistments), gum
pointer rating, and about thirty:flve
years old. Brown was Pennsylvania
man about twenty-six years old, who
had served two enlistments in the q.
S. army and had quit with the rank
Of sergeant. Flynn and Mitchell were
both ex-navy men. Mitchell was a
noted boxer. OF the FIVE Of us, am
the only one who went in. got
through and came out. Flynn and
Mitchell did not 60 in; Murray and
Brown never came back.
The five Of US shipped on the steam
ship Virginian of the American-Ha-
waiian line, under American flag and
registry, but chartered by the French
government. / signed on as water
tender-an engine room job-but the
others were on deck-that Is, seamen.
We left Boston for st. Nazaire with
cargo Of ammunition, bully beef,
ETC., and made the first trip without
anything Of interest happening.
As we were tying to the dock at St.
Nazaire, I saw a German prisoner sit
ting on pile of lumber. I thought
probably he would be hungry, so I
went down into the oilers mess and
got two slices Of bread with thick
piece Of beefsteak between them and
handed it to Fritz. He would not take
it. At first I thought he was afraid
to, but by using several languages and
signs he managed to make me under.
stand that he was not hungry-had
too much to eat, in fact.
used to thipk of this fellow occa-
sionally when was in a German pris-
on camp, and piece Of moldy bread
the size Of a safety-match box was
the gSr erous portion Of food they
forced on me, with true German hos
pitaA1, once every forty-eight hours.
l would not exactly have refused q
b fsteak sandwich, I am afraid. But
tltn was not heaven-born German.
: was only common American garby.
He was full of kultur and grub; I
was not full Of anything.
There was large prison camp at
st. Nazaire, and at one time or an.
other saw all of it. Before the war
it had been used as barracks by the
French army and consisted Of we'll
made, comfortable two-story stone
buildings, foored with concrete, with
auxiliary barracks Of logs. The Ger
man prisoners occupied the stone
buildings, while the French guards
were quartered in the log houses. In
side, the houses were divided into long
rooms with whitewashed walls. There
was gymnasium for the prisoners, a
canteen where they might buy most
Of the things you could buy anywhere
else in the country, and studio for
the painters among the prisoners. Of
fcers were separated from privates-
which was good thing for the~pri-
vates-and were kept in houses sur
rounded by stockades. Officers and
privates received the same treatment,
however, and all were given exactly
the same rations and equipment as the
regular French army before it went to
the front. Their food consisted of
bread, soup, and vino, as wine is called
almost everywhere in the world. In
the morning they received half a loaf
Of Vienna bread and coffee. At noon
they each had large dixie Of thick
soup, and at three in the afternoon
more bread and bottle of vino. The
soup was more like q stew-very
thick with meat and vegetables. At
one Of the officers barracks there was
a cook who had been chef In the larg-
est hotel in Paris before the war.
All the prisoners were we'll clothed.
Once week, socks, underwear, soap.
towels and blankets were issued to
them, and every week the barracks
and equipment were fumigated. They
were given the best of medical atten-
ton.
Besides all this, they were allowed
to work at their trades, If they had
any. All the carpenters. cobblers,
tailors and painters were kept busy.
and some of them picked up more
change there than they ever did in
Germany, they told me. The musi-
clans formed bands and played almost
every night at restaurants and thea
tiers in the town. Those who had no
trade were allowed to work on the
roads, parks, docks and at residences
about the town.
Talk about dear old Jail! You could
not have driven the average prisoner
away from there with q 14-inch gun.
/ used to think about them In Bran
denburg, when our boys were rushing
the sentries in the hope of being bay.
onetted out of their misery.
While our cargo was being unloaded
1 spent most of my time with my
grandmother. had heard still more
about the cruelty Of the Huns, and
made up my mind to get into the SER
vice. Murray and Brown had already
enlisted in the Foreign Legion, Brown
being assigned to the infantry and
Murray to the French man-of-war Cas-
sard. But when I spoke of my inten-
ton, my grandmother cried SO much
that promised her would not enlist
that time, anyway-and made the