The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-02-22

against AuStrldnS, HungafldnS, The Bohemians and Poles, it must be admitted are gentlemen; the Aus trians are despicable, the Hungarians are assassins. The Pole or the Bo- hemian offers you a drink of water, and says a comforting word; the Aus trian spits in your face, cuffs and cudgels you; the Hungarian, with calm demeanor, pulls out his revolver and practices shooting at the backs of the prisoners.
 Some of the prisoners who were unhurt during the fighting have been wounded by the revolvers of the Hungarian officers.
 From the battlefield, after a ter rible via crucis, one passes on to the concentration camps, and once there the prisoner immediately begins to feel the tremendous weight of his misfortune. As if what he had suf- fered on the road-insults, bad lan- guage, threats, stonings, and blows from sticks and scabbards, were not : enough, the prisoner is no sooner in l the camp than he has to encounter the wrath and contempt of the enc my, passions which are manifested in the most varied and incredible tways.
 "A few incidents have been stamped upon my memory. In December t1S15, a convoy of 1SO prisoners ar trived at Manthausen.. They were conducted at once to the bath; it was jsnowing.
 "Polite Austrians"
 At the bath were no towels or . who was on duty said that in order that the prisoners might dry them selves quickly it was best to open the windows-which he did. The same evening some of the prisoners had to enter the hospital. At one time ! in the early. days a. caricaturist on 1.-the staff of "Simplicissimus' was on duty'' at the Manhausen camp.
 remember that, despite the ] strongest protests, a prisoner was compelled to pose for the illustrious artist. At Manhausen also two Hun kgarian officers, seeing that a group of prisoners had just arrived, had two loaVes of bread brought. They kthrew pieces of the bread on the ground, and the poor boys, who haG khad nothing to eat for four days brushed to pick up the scraps. These two officers then diverted themselve. sby distributing kicks among the struggling group on the ground.
 Deliberate Starvation
 From the first day of captivity tn, future moral and material life of thu prisoners is carefully laid down Those who, owing to their rank o tsocial position, are not adapted fo ro,-ly ;v o+y kers are sent to special barracks yguarded by sentries, and are kep hready to leave at the first request The food that is given to the pris toners has already@been described, an all that need be added on that poin is that at Manthausen for over yea we ate every day bad herrings O cod, which was very detrtmen,aI ' the health of all.
 After a fortnight in the camps tn deterioration in the health of tn prisoners begins, and sometimes ha disastrous consequences. The situa ktion is alleviated to some extent b the food sent by the prisoners fam lilies, but this does not apply to al and some are sent to work at place where nothing can reach them, an it may be said that the food whic Austria serves out to her prisoners on a carefully-thought-o scale, ca culated to kill slowly and in the mo- hypocritical and refined manner a those who have the misfortune to ia ino her hands
 The Torture Post An iron discipline is in force pthe camps, a, discipline which with coercive and punitive measures som itimeS assumes inhuman proportion
 The punishment of the "palo'' (t ing to a post) was, it is true, abo ishedesome months ago, but the men kory of that torture remains, and o1 is entitled to mention it even no For the merest trifle one was pu ished with two hours at a post Hungarian lieutenant named Park took delight, stretched upon ses in watching the prisoners underg ing the tortures of the post. He W celebrated for the punishments inflicted.
 A Hungarian corporal was also specialist. So necessary was t presence of this monster in the cam that when the Hungarian battaIi at Manthausen was replaced
 Croats, the corporal, called by comrades the "artist of the post" mained behind.
 A Process of Shaming the Turk
 He first bound the feet of the pr oner so tightly that they swellt then he bound the hands with To cord which was passed through stout ring, and so the body was ra ed until only the tips of the tC } touched the ground and finally cord was tied around the post. In [ minutes the prisoner tainted, but Il did not end the torture, because [ corporal would revive the sufferer
 dashing the cold water in his ia or making him smell vinegar. these spectacles were witnessed
 Lieutenant Vargas, who is now
 prisoner in our hands.
 Hague Convention Defied N We will now turn to the camps the prisoners who are fit for wo
 I call them camps. but the work lprisoners have no fixed abode. IT