The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-02-05


g blood flowing in their veins
: He Was First American Prisoner-of War
Barnby Boyle. an old soldier and ma
rine, who went through the Sitting Bull
, campaign, and served in the Spanish wal
without a scratch, met with misfortune
r when he turned sailor He was captured
by the Germans and was the first official
American prisoner OF war. He was
known as American prisoner OF war No,
|. In letter he says;
"Since my last writing received a
parcel that was much appreciated. IL
gives a fellow new life and new hope To
receive word of any kind from friend
on the outside world. This is not the
first time that the V. NJ, c. A. has been
In friend to me, During the Spanish
American war Mr.. Dean of the Ports
mouth, Va, Y. NJ. G. A. made life home
like to us marines at that time; also dur.
ing the Sitting Bull campaign, when |
was member of the cavalry the Y, Nj.
c. A. at South Dakota came TO our res.
cue, and now here in Germany | find
they are on the job. ! hope you will
have power TO continue the good work.
"In my last letter / told you of some
/
to the kind of work we follow here, that
raineoats are much needed Not the fine
kind but coarse working ones. In the
other fellows letters You stated for them
to send their sizes. Now il You can
send raincoats my size is 40. | had a
suitcase sent me through the Adams ex
press to Camden, Y. j. Will you write
to them and ask them to hold il until
can make arrangements with some of
my friends to get it for me?
Il will now close hoping to hear from
YOU"
A Cosmopolitan Crowd.
Telling of the cosmopolitan makeup !
of the camp at Gustrow, John Miller, |
who was member of the crew of the |
steamship Esmeraldas, writes:
Il received your most welcome letter I
and was glad to hear from you. | re- !
ceived the parcel you sent me, and /
thank you for it. ] wish you would
send me the following necessities il pos
sible: socks, underwear, size &C. handker
chiefs. soap, towel and outside shirt.
You asked me about a complete list
of Americans in this camp. All the
Americans in this camp received letters
from you dated May 20, SO you. can go
by that. The names of all you wrote
to on that date are all that's here.
1--WE have nearly 300 men here. mostly
British. several Portuguese, Spanish,
HolIanders and Russians. Every Amer
lean received his letter from you dated
Nav 20. nearly all of them received their
Those that did not will get
theirs almost any day now. So you have
the complete list if you look over the
names YOU had at first. If you at any
time received letters from men with
names that are not on your first and
original list, then they are not Amer
leans, but some other nationality trying !
to ring in
Il will now close, thanking you for /
The interest displayed and hoping you
are in good health !
Would Like Little Soap, Please.
Another man who asks that his moth
sr's fears be set at rest is Walter w r
Perkins of Wichita, Kan, held at Brand a
,nburg. a. d. Havel, Germany. He writes: a
Il received the food parcel Won sent !
ne in good condition and | am very :
thankful for it and hope you viii send 4
ne parcels regularly, as am not getting r
,e very thankful to you if you will
,lease write my mother, whose address
$ Mrs Bette Reynolds. 236 Wabash F
venue, Wichita, Kan, L. S. A.
II did not get one of your regular
ards. However, | am writing a letter
ust the same would like very much II
little soap, please"
In explaining the work of his depart = =
1ent, Mr. Wilson said =
Il am enclosing letter from Mr.. John 70
: Sawyer, who was one of the Amer Z
an prisoners -of.war on the picture =
hitch ] gave you, This letter will ex- \
lain in detail regarding the two pic :,
ures sent YOU. You will note that the =,
hree men on the one picture are as I,
blows: John t. Sawyer Of Dubuque, e
A.; Walter Mayes of New York and
aoul BrouIouis of Connecticut. These :
len were all captured on the steamship
This steamer was cap
lred in midocean on March 10, 1917,
nd the Americans on board reached Ger
ANY on March %, 1917. They were
rst interned at Gustrow in Meeklen
urg and have been transferred from
me to time to various camps. When !
# Copenhagen most of the men were
Their at Brandenburg on Hayel or at
ubeck.
"As soon as learned that these Amer
an prisoners were in Germany | sent a +
tier to each OF them, telling them that \
e had learned of their capture, that we
ere sending them parcels of food, that
c would be glad to continue TO render
EN- such service as they might need if
ey would inform us regarding their
eds also stated that we would be
ad to communicate with their relatives.
1.-The parcels which we sent usually
insisted of about the following items: =
10 pounds of bread, two pounds of =
eat, pound of cheese, a tin of con-
nsed milk, package Of cocoa or cof- /
e. and package of oatmeal. We sent I
EN- these parcels from week to week
It'll the American Red Cross, with head
arters at Berne, Switzerland, took over
e work.
Most of the men wrote asking for
me articles Of clothing. l purchased =
many of these as could be secured i
Copenhagen. and forwarded same TO
EN-. large number of them also re-
ested that write to their parents and
We letters sent back to them from
eir relatives through our office at Co
nhagen. l wrote TO all of their par
\ 4 Il 4 o.