Evening star., 1918-02-01
TORTURE Prisoners
TO GET. i. S. DATA?
Records Found on Boche Cap
tives Deal With Treatment Z
of Captured Soldiers.
KEPT IN CAGE FOUR DAYS
By fbe AssociaNd Prexs


WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY N
FRANCE. January 31.-American oflis
GERS at the front have come into pos$
session of documents, said to have be66
taken from Germans opposite our posi-
tions, which deal with the treatment
to be accorded prisoners.
The documents say all prisoners, fnS
cl' ding commissioned and non-commiss
stoned officers. after being captured.
are to be kept in cages for four days,
without food, and compelled to stand
all the time. At the four-day period
only small quantities of food are to b
given. TT
Although definite information on tho
point is lacking. some American oficerp
today expressed the belief that the
order resulted from the difficulties the
Germans probably experienced in exc
tracing Information from the drse
American prisoners captured in No.
vember. Such treatment Of prisoners
it is felt, could be designed only to
tion.
Conditions were quiet on the Amert.
can sector all day today because of thu
fog. which tonight showed no sign oR
sides at registered targets. there wa
very little artillery firing. There wan
virtually no infantry activity. -
Additional details Of yesterday,s
raids show that only the herofsm At
the platoon in the trenches nearest tho
listening post raided prevented the en-
emy from entering the trenches and
perhaps capturing prisoners.
Rifle Fire Halts Germans.
AS soon as the barrage fire lifted the
platoon came out of its dugouts ard
stepped to the firing platforms. Their
| rifle fire held of a superior numb11
of Germans who tried to approaeh.
When the enemy saw that the Amer1s
cans were determined to hold the Pc
sition they withdrew into the foo.
Later a number of bloody enemy rffes
and other equipment were found be-
yond the American position.
A dense fog which rolled In cloudD
over the American sector all through
the night enabled both American at1G
enemy patrols to work freely. H.
American patrols, unmolested. ingpecSS
ed the enemy wire defenses and. n1a}4
some other discoveries of importAne4
| Owing to the fog. aerial and ARTILLERY
observation Is impossible. Amesiss&
are standing by their guns. as cleAr11I
Huns Delay American. -
One of the soldiers wounded In yes
| terday's raid by the Germans told ths
Associated Press four days ago IN d
little shell-wrecked village near the
American lines what he hoped to Do
to the Germans. Today he is the most
| disappointed American in France. He
caught a chunk of steel from an enemy
high explosive shell. TT bit me In the
| Leg" he said today, thereby putting
him out of action for some time.
Four days ago this youth. who han'
sandy hair and comes from a farm near
Bismarck, N. D.. emerged from the
trenches after doing part OF his bit oH
a certain period. He was covered with
mud from head to foot. Even his hair
was streaked in places with the reA'
clay. ~ q
How do I like this war;? he said
then. in response to a question. We'll,
it's pretty tough sometimes. but when
you are out there under the stars with
a flock of Germans in front of you, yo1s
forget all the bad points Of II. ana
your idea in life is to do the Job wes
came here for. I've only been in France
a few weeks. I came with a division
of former national guardsmen. ] was
put in that organization after being
drafted.
they took me and three or four others
and placed me in this outfit. And ara
not sorry for the change. because the
present unit probably is the best ~
the Army. Since I have been in tho
line 1 have done my best to get Gef.3
man for one good start. have had.
tough luck SO far. but am going bacte
tomorrow and hope to have better luck
the next time.
Expected to Get Hit.
Frightened? Well. don't mind adj
hitting that the first time stepped into
a trench / didn't like 1t much. ex-
pected a bullet every minute. After an
hour or so, however. curiosity got the
better of me, and have not been the
no German alive now. feel that can
lick any of that crowd with my fists,
and a German with a gun is no worse
than one without one if have got .
gun myself. -
Within the last few hours the corre-
spondent saw the same man lying on
cot in field hospital. ~
did you ever hear Of such bad luck
said the soldier smiling. Now, I've got
a piece bit out of my leg by a shell
splinter. There is only one satisfac-
tion. That is, the Germans had to stay
far away and shoot shells at US instead
of coming up to where we could get At
them. Goodness knows how long VIII
be laid up now, but, believe me, II ever
get back to that line again-well. ali
want is another chance. Next to that
want something to eat in the worst
way.
You see have been operated on and
had to take ether.a food is not good for
me just now. But I would give two
whole months pay for one large beef
steak SmOthered in onions Perhana