The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-09-20
CAPTIVE FIFTEEN
DAYS ON U-BOA1
Skipper OF Merchant Vessel De-
scribes Life on Diver and
in Hun Camps.
FOOD IS POOR and SCARCE
Shifted From Prison Camp to Camp
and Everywhere Conditions Are
Same-ls Made to Suffer
Many IndlgnitIes.

Many l%ndlgnitIes.
London.-Among those who recent
iy have been released from German
prison camps and who have reached
this country via Switzerland Is a cap
tain of a merchant vessel who was
taken prisoner by the commander of a
submarine after his vessel had been
~torpedoed, and who spent Is days in
the U-boat. This was the second ship
In which the British captain had been
torpedoed. The captains story fol-
lows:
MY ship was torpedoed without
warning. The force of the explosion
was SC great that the bridge was
wrecked, and when l recovered from
the shock / found the ship was sink
ing. None of the crew was injured,
and we were all able to get away In
the boats.
"As we were in British waters and
1t was broad daylight, / did not fear
that we would not Soon reach land,
but hardly had we pulled clear of the
sinking ship than the U-boat emerged.
The commander summoned us to his
vessel and ordered me to go on board.
II had arrived just In time for the
midday meal. stew with stringy meat,
which was probably horse flesh, small
portions of sausage and black bread.
"While / was on board six steam
orc xuara forpadaaA and ono uaslfr.
vessel sunk by g%unfire. 80 shells be-
ing necessary to do this. The U-boat
also attacked by gunfire several other
steamers during the voyage; but had
TO submerge owing to Intervention of
British war vessels.
Depth Bombs Feared.
ION the third day / gathered that
the U-boat was about to carry put an
attack on a convoy which had been
sighted. The boat approached under
water for some distance, and torpe-
doed a large steamer. Our where
abouts were evidently detected, for
we dived rapidly to d great depth.
Hardly had the boat got on an even
keel when we heard a tremendous ex-
plosion which caused the submarine
to vibrate from stem to stern. 1t was
a depth charge. The effect ON the
crew was evident. All stood trem-
bling, with faces blanched with fear.
not attempting to speak a word. No
further explosions, however, took
place, and after lying some eighteen
fathoms deep for a long period we
continued on our voyage.
.The submarine was equipped with
powerful wireless apparatus, and
every day, about o a. II. remained on
the surface In wireless communication
with the base. One of the officers
kept a record Of these messages. One
night the news arrived of the Ameri-
can declaration Of war. 1t was eager
ly discussed by the crew, some Of
whom expressed the hope that they
would be allowed to 60 on submarine
service In the Gulf Of Mexico In or
der to escape the severity OF the
North sea.
Eventually the submarine arrived
at Helgoland and l was taken ashore
and handed over to a military guard.
My only food was a crust Of bread, a
piece of cheese and some very weak
soup. After remaining there a day
and a half I was taken to Wilhelmshav-
en- where again there seemed to be q
shortage of food, and afterward to
Brandenburg, a w~orkingmen's camp,
In which / remained until October 3.
1t was at this camp that I got the
news Of the murder of prisoners who
were forced to remain In a hut which
had caught fire. When l arrived at
Brandenburg / was put In a large hut
quite alone. Here / came In contact
with 800 victims of the Moewe, and
subsequently was transferred to a
special part OF the camp set apart for
captains of the mercantile marine, of
whom there were about forty. The
food was of the coarsest possible char
acter. From B~randenburg / went to
Holzminden, an officers camp for all
British, where the food was much bet
ter, but we were obliged to pay con-
siderable sums toward our mainte-
nance.
Suffers Many I~ndionities
Later / was transferred to Strohen,
where, instead of current coin of the
realm, they issued stamps as camp
money. From Strohen l went to
Heidelberg.
II was transferred to Switzerland
and eventually was released and en-
abled to reach England June 10.
AT Brandenburg we were made to
suffer various indignities, and were
made to harness ourselves to carts
which we had to draw through the
streets to the station Of post Office. to
fetch y parcels and any commodities
to camp. It was at this camp also
that I saw 800 Russian soldiers work
ing In the last stages Of consumption.
The poor fellows could not get enough
to eat, and they would eagerly scrape