New Britain herald., 1918-01-05
SAD LOOKING LOT,
 THESE PRISONERS The 1,40O Captured by French in Recent Drive Look FamiShed AUSTRIANS ARE SURPRISED

AUSTRIANS ARE SURPRISED Lone German Officer Captured in tho Big Drive Asks What Poor Clothes
 Have to Do in Fighting-Enjoys Warm Meal.
 Italian Army Headquarters, North ern Italy, Jan. 5, (By the Associated 1 Press)-The officer commanding the l 1,400 Austrian, prisoners captured in l the recent French success on Monte l Tomba gave the correspondent an op- portunity of going among them and talking freely with officers and men on war conditions and what the ene- 1 my still could do in, carrying on the ! struggle. '.E
 1 A more miserable lot of human be- | ings would be difficult to imagine. The l officers were in even worse condition than the men. Their clothing was ragged and the tinselled .orname enta- ton on the officers was gangrened with rust. st
 The officers were unkempt and had not been shaved for a week. Their red hands looked like pieces of raw
 beefsteak. None had overcoats, as all were wearing light trench uniforms when the French swept around them. Yet despite this misery, they put on a surprisingly bold front and anyone thinking they are crushed is closing
 his eyes to facts. - The correspondent met the prison
 CTS on road leading to the town
 where they are being rounded up preparatory to being set to work or
 sent to prison camp. Small detach
 ments were. stretched along the road
 for some distance, each group being guarded by French soldiers. One de-
 tachment carried spades and picks in stead of guns.
 N All Ages.
 All ages were seen among the pris- oners. There was a boy of IS and a
 man of 50 with a grey beard. coat
 ing of trench mud made them look worse than they really were, for they
 had stout boots and leggins. Some had shawls and blankets. Their head gear consisted of battered helmet; and caps with heavy hoods.
 1 They tramped along sullen1y to
 large courtyards where foosa was being. distributed. Each man got a small
 tin of meat and large chunk of
 bread. The correspondent tasted the bread and found it better in quality than that he had been getting in first l class restaurants. The prisoners ate l like ravenous animals and said it
 was the best food they had had in 1 weeks.
 The correspondent was told by the
 prisoners that the method of French attack was an entirely Lew experi-
 ence for them, as they seldom had
 undergone such murderous artillery
 fire. Most of the men were Moray
 ians, Dalmatians and Galicians. The
 sudden French charge, after the ar-
 tillery fire, bowled thesn over before
 they had any chance to offer resist
 ance. Concerning the war they all ex-
 pressed themselves as heartily sick of
 it, and said the Germans were keep
 ing the others in the fight.
 | As the officers came from their
 quarters, it was seen thy were chiefly
 Hungarians with some Morarians and
 Dalmatians and enc Galician. They were very cold. and their first request
 was for warm food. > No Warm Food.
 'We have not had warm food for > days Sald tnelr. spokesman, a StOcky young Dalmation officer
 f"And our own French soldiers did , not have warm food for nine days af- I ter they arrived here,' said the com , mandant. He explained that fuel was , almost impossible to get, and with no
 coal and little wood hot food was al- , most out of the question. The com < mandant told the officers that if they
 had soldier barber he would be per , mitted to come and shave them, clean
 their boots and uniforms.
 7 Asked about the war tfe officers SO gave Americas entry into it as an in - stance that all the world was against 3 ] the Central powers One officer said l | the food supply was running low but s it was better off in Hungary than in l Austria. They thought, however, that f Austria Hungary could hang cn T Asked about the ragged condition oi @ their uniforms one officer said: r F'Yes, we are ragged and look iikee 8 tramps but what does that count ir y fghting?'
 r The officers were very anxious tc - know when they would be removed }, lo prison camps in France and seemed t gratified to learn that they probably 0 would go through Paris within two = weeks. After takino turns in gettins l. warm around the camp fire the off
 cers returned to their quarters. = A German artillery officer, who wa e captured with the AuStrians was giF . en quarters by himself but the com e mandant said that another German 10 would soon arrive to keep him com