The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1918-12-19

'hiS biht uiu uOt thTt Whit mp
pened, so I just sat there In the
middle Of the road until Fritz came up
Instead Of giving me the bayonet, he
made me take on my shoes-that u.s.
he took them OF Of me with a knife
through the strings-and had to walk
the rest OF the way In my bare feet.
II was about four miles altogether
from the station to the camp.
When we got near the camp. all the
boys came out Of the barracks and
lined up along the barbed wire. and
yelled us a welcome. We asked them
II they were downhearted. and they
said no. and we said we were not eth
er. We could hardly see them. but
they began yelling again when we got
nearer. and asked us, as there anyone
there from Queenstown" and then
Hull, and Portsmouth. and Dover. and
Toronto and a lot of other places.
did not pay much attention until
I heard. ANY Americans therer and
I yelled back. "Yes. where are your
Barracks 6-B. Grippe g."
NHtTt lTDiu ytlleu.
Boston. where're you fromf'
''The U. s. A. and Atlantic ports.
See you later"
SO. the next morning. went over TO
his barracks and asked for the Yank.
They pointed him out to me, where he
wss lying on the floor. I went over
and laid down with him. and we had
quite a talk. will not give his name
here for certain reasons.
lie had received several wounds at
the time he was taken prisoner. He
had been In the Canadian service for
two years. We used to talk about
New York and Boston and the differ
ent places we knew In both towns, and
we also talked lot about the rotten
treatment we were receiving. and tried
10 cook up some plan OF escape. But
every one we could think OF had been
used by some one else. and either had
failed. or the Huns had fixed II so the
plan could not be tried again. We
doped out some pretty wild schemes ut
that. Altogether. we became great
pals, and were together as much as
possible at Dulmen. The day l left
the camp. he gave me n ring made
from shell. and told me TO get II safely
back TO the States. but some one stole
II at Brandenburg.
One day while was In his barracks
an Englishman stepped out OF the door
10 nd
he did not say word to Fritz. in two
minutes he was dead. In cold blood.
We never knew why they killed him.
At Swlnemunde and Neustrelitz,
must admit that the Germans had us
pretty badly buffaloed. but at Dulmen
the prisoners were entirely different.
Dulmen was the receiving camp for
the whole western front, and the pris-
oners there got TO be pretty tough
eggs. as far as Fritz was concerned.
before they had been In camp many
days. They thought nothing Of pick
ing a fight with a sentry and giving
him a good battle. even though he was
armed with rifle and bayOnet. We
soon learned that unless his pals are
around a German will not stand by his
arguments with his fists. In other
words. II he can outtalk you. he will
beat you up. but II he cannot. II is
case OF Here comes Heinie going
back"
The Russian prisoners at Dulmen
were certainly miserable looking
bunch. They spent most Of their time
wandering around the Russian bar
racks. hunting for rotten potato peel
ings and other garbage, which they
would eat. When they saw Fritz
throw out his swill. they would dive
right through the barbed wire one
after another. and their hands and
face and clothes were always torn
from II. II was unhealthy 20 stand
between the Russians and their garb-
age prey-they were so speedy that
nothing stopped them.
One morning. just after barley-cof-
fee time. came out OF the barracks
and saw an Australian arguing with
the sentry. l was not only curious.
but anxious TO be a good citizen. as
they say, so went up and slung an
ear at them. The Australian had asked
Fritz what had been done with the
flag that the Huns were going to fly
from the Eiffel tower In Paris.
That was too deep for Fritz, so the
Australian answered II himself. Don't
you know. Fritz2 Well. we have no
blankets. you know"
Still the sentry did not get II. So
the Australian carefully explained TO
me-so that Fritz could hear-that the
Germans had no blankets and were
using the flag 10 wrap their cold feet
In.
This started, fight, OF course-the
German idea Of a fight. that is. The
sentry. being a very brave man for a
German. blew his whistle very loudly.
and sentries came from all directions.
So We beat II 10 the Australians bar
racks. and there l found the second
American In the. camp. He was a bar