Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-10-18

CHAPTER xxll-continued.

The day we were transferred to the
regular prison barracks four hundred
Russians and Belgians were buried
Most OF them had died from cholera,
typhoid and NEGOTIATIONS. We heard
from the prisoners there before us that
the Germans had come through the
camps with word that there was I'm
epidemic Of black typhus and cholera
and that the only thing for the men to
do was TO take the serum treatment 10
avoid catching these diseases. Most of
the four hundred men had died from
the NEGOTIATIONS. They had taken the
Germans word, had been inoculated
and had died within nine hours. Which
shows how foolish Il Is to believe a
German. None of MS had any doubt
but what the serum was poisonous.
The second day that we were In the
regular camp the Germans strung
barbed wire all around our barracks
They told us we had case Of black
typhus among us. This was nothing
more nor less than blur, for not one
of us had typhus. but they put up the
wire, nevertheless, and we were not
allowed To go out.
One day when I was loaiing around
our barracks door and not having any
thing particularly important to do, !
packed nice hard SNOWFALL and land
ed 1t neatly behind the ear of little
sentry not far away. When he looked
around he did not blow his whistle but
began hunting for the tbrower, Ting
was strange In German ss6trv ana 7
thought he must be 49, go atnr
,v,,a., a., ,.,.,,st.safi pretty GOOD stun.
-, - looked around, however, all
10 saw was man staggering around
MS II he were drunk. The man was
the one who had done the throwing, all
right, but the sentry could not be sure
of 1t. for surely no man would stay
out In the open and invite accidents
like that. But still. who had done 1t?
So l just kept staggering around,
and the sentry came up to me ana
looked me over pretty hard. Then !
thought for the first time that things
might go hard on me, but l figured
that II quit the play acting 1t would
be all over. So l staggered right up
to the sentry and looked ut him drunk
ehly, expecting every moment to get
one from the bayOnet.
But he was so surprised that all he
could do was stare. So stared back,
pretending that saw two of him, and
otherwise acting foolish. Then guess
he realized for the first time that the
chances Of anybody being drunk In
Ions % 20. ha
prisoners. He was rubbing his eur
NIL the time. but finally the thought
seeped through the ivory and he began
to laugh. ! laughed. too. and the first
thing you know he had me doing II
again-that Is, the imitation. One
SNOWFALL was enough. figured.
ased to talk to him quite often
after that. We had no particular
.ove for each other. but he was gamer
than the other sentries. and he did not
cat. me schweinhund every time he saw
me, so we got on very well together
His name must have been Schwartz.
guess, but II sounded like "Swatts" e
me. so Swatts he was, and i was
"Chink" to him, as everybody elst
called me that.
One day he asked me II l coult
speak French. and said yes. Italian
yes. Russian; yes. No matter wha
language he might have mentioned
would have said yes, because ! coult
smell something In the wind. and
was curious. Then he told me that Il
went to the hospital and worked
there. l might get better meals ant
would not have 20 go so far for them
and that my knowing all the languages
! said did would help me n grea
ways toward getting the job.
Evidently he had been told to get I
man for the place. because he M
pointed me 10 II then and there. Ill
put me to work right away. We wen
over to one of the barracks, where
case of sickness had heen reported
and found that the invalid was a bi
Barbados negro named Jim, a fire
,..an from the Voltalre. At one tim
Jim must have weighed $50 pounds
but by this time he was about tw
pounds lighter than straw hat, bu
stlll black and full of pep. Light n
he was, l was no "white hope and
was all l could do to carry him to tn
hospital. Swatts kept right along he
hind me, and every time l would sto
TO rest, he would poke me with
brOom--the only broom | saw in Gel
maryland laugh and point 20 his eal
Then l thought II was frame-u
ana that he was getting even with m'
hut was in for 1t then, and the hes
could do was to go through with /
But | was all In when we reached III
hospital The first thing l saw whe
we got ~ the door was another negrt
also from Barbados, and as tall an
thin as jim had once been short an
fat. This black boy and | made
great team, but / never knew VIII
his name was. | always called hi
Kate, because night and day he W,
whisllng the old song, Kate, Kat
iIeet Me at the Garden Gate" or wore
to that eject have walked up man
':ight and heard that whistle ju
aoOut at the same place as when Ia
fallen asleep, II would not have bee
so had il he had known all of II.