The daily Alaskan., 1918-05-27
TELLS OF TORTURES METED OUT
 TO WAR PRISONERS IN GERMANY
Belgian Describes How Guards Chosen Especially for Their B
 taIfy Beat Helpless CaptNes Into InsenSbity- Are l Worked to Death Under Horrible Conditions Food Intentionally Is Made ReVOting

ous vapors which bring on an ire slstlble drowsiness.
 Guards Chosen for Cruelty.
 "At the end of few months the la borers break out with persistent boils and incurable running sores, the slightest scratch often developing into a deepening wound, which grows larger and larger. The fate of the captiVes employed in these mines is horrible and would excite pity even In their guards If the authorities had not been so cunning as to appoint for this I office soldiers and noncommissioned officers of well-tested energy
 'TRe chief of the detachment Is German noncommissioned officer whom the prisoners have nicknamed the Crocodile He is a regular giant, hldeously deformed, but of enormous strength. His hands, elbows, shoul- dars, knees and ankles are all out Of shape. His face Is bestial and bears like his body, the characteristics of a criminal. Not day passes but that he strikes the prisoners. To do this, he takes the victim to his own room, shuts and locks the door, places his watch on the table-for the time of the torture, five, ten or fifteen minutes is fixed beforehand. Then he falls to with his fists, his booted feet and even sometimes a bayonet. When his victim has fainted the Crocodile opens the door and kicks him out. Anyone who complains of being III is thrown from his bed and beaten for long time with the butts of rifles by guards under the 'Crocodile's' or ders. On December 10, 1916, the Ger mans treated four English prisoners In this way, beating them until they had lost consciousness. Then they carried them into the mine, where they were left until they had dug or loaded their quota of carloads of salt.
 Injured Men Unattended.
 "This mine is such hell that some of the prisoners. in order to be let out of 1t have not hesltated to mutllate themselves. The Germans, fearing these acts might be repeated, decided to leave all wounded men without treatment for three weeks, whether their injuries were voluntary or not"
 The statement says that accidents are very frequent In these mines, and that the most elementary precautions are neglected and every week the local newspapers tell of some catastrophe in the mines ln which 10, 20 or 30 pris- oners have been killed.
 D. also tells in detail of the work the prisoners have to do in the marshes and swamps, and say that in some of the swamp "kommandos" the conditions are as horrible as the mines, and especially mentions the Teufel- moor swamp, which is supplied from the prison camp at Hameln, in the province of Hanover. He says:
 Food Is ReVoltlng.
 "At Teufelmoor the prisoners are fed especially with food made for them of bran, chopped straw and other sub- stances of which the nature is not known. The soup is Intentionally made of stinking material and Intentionally facilitating. Blows with the butts of rifles are dealt for no reason whatso- ever. They must toll without respite. Under this treatment they rapidly waste away. Some hold out for two months. Some try to find ways to kill ] themselves.
 "When a prisoner reports himself as i'll and his claim is disallowed the ser geant major condemns him to fill a. 200 gallon vat with sardine box, bringing the water from pump about