The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-02-07

q cOlQ cell Until the next Gay.
Now are you prepared to work."
he was asked,
Never" came the reply.
AS further punishment this man
was made to stand for a day and
night at rigid attention. During the
whole time not a morsel ofefood was
given him. When he fell from sheer
exhaustion he was maltreated by the
soldiers who were guarding him until
he struggled to his. feet again. It
was more than human nature could
stand.
Prodded at with rife butts and with
bayonets the moment the rigid atti-
tude was departed from, literally
starving from want of food, the man
fell. Prod him as they would, the
guards could not rouse him. The Bel
gian slave had died defying the Huns
He had kept his word, and, in my
eyes, he died a hero's death.
This mans death was not by any
means the only one which occurred
amongst the slaves. In all parts Of
the works the men were refusing to
perform the tasks to which they had
been put, and the most brutal meth
DDS were adopted to force them to
work. Literally hundreds were pun
ished, men being thrashed, confined
in dark cells, made to stand rigidlyl
for hours supporting heavy weights,
deprived of food, and not allowed to
sleep. These terrible methods rapidly
told upon the already weakened con-
situations Of many, and the death-rate
was fearful. Others became raving
lunatics, and were murdered by the
guards.
At the Mercy of Brutes.
1t was the ruBe that forced 1aborers
should be employed at the very least
Is hours each day, or more if the fore
man thought fit to decree it neces-
sary. Imported laborers were always
held to he at the absolute disposal of
the foreman; they were his, body and
soul, to do with as he pleased.
On one occasion a Belgian did sue
coed in getting complaint past the
foreman to the manager of the de-
partment. The mans complaint was
inquired into, and it was found that
he was unable to CO his work owing
to an injury which he had received to
his arm. / must say this much for
the manager, he ordered the Belgian
to have proper medical treatment,
which necessitated his remaining from
work a few days. But when the man
returned to the shop his life was made
unbearable by the foreman.
Unable to tolerate the brutality, the
Belgian dared to retort. calling the
foreman a Hun. The German struck
him on the head with a steel tool
killing him instantly. There was nc
inquiry into the affair. A Belgian
had died. in the shop, and that was
| all.
Another practice which was very
common in the shops was for the Ger
man workman to bride the foreman
| to allow them time off, or to credit
| them with working longer hours thar
they had actually put in. 1t was here
| that the Belgian workmen came in
useful, especially those who were
skilled. The German drillers were
paid one mark per hour, so if mar
wanted time off he made an arrange
ment with the foreman, and Bel
gian slave was made to work severa
hours extra to make up for the Ger
mans hours away.
| Still, the German was credited with
| the work, and drew the pay. hand
ing over a portion of it to the foreman
If the work happened to be done
| badly, and failed to pass the viewer
| who also worked hand-in-glove with
| the foreman, then the Belgian was
made to suffer. He was punished
| for doing bad work. his good speci
mems being taken to put in exchange
| for the bad ones, and put to the
credit of the German.
| Some of the Belgians were par.
ticularly good workmen, and could
| turn out large quantities of material
| Often their work was sent in as the
work of the inferior German me
chanics, who drew extra pay, ant
divided the spoils with the foreman
One young Belgian who had beer
declared that he would no longe,
work for the swindlers.
"What?" shouted the foreman
"I'll teach you to use threats here
The German rushed blindly at thu
slave, and would have struck him
but the man caught his arm.
mot So" he said calmly, pushin!
him away.
Punished.
This only served to arouse still
further the Germans passion. Speech
less with rage, he again rushed a
planted his fist under the foreman
jaw, knocking him down.
Then seeing what he had done, tn
Belgian turned to fly in terror, re
alizing the fate which would be mete
out to him. He had only run fey
yards when he was felled with bloJ
from behind, and seized by the guard:
These men took delight in draggin
him towards the foreman, VIII
ordered the Belgian to stand at at
tention before him.
Then at a signal, the guards hand
cuffed the man with his hands be
hind his back, and when he was thu
securely fastened the foreman too
his revenge. Slowly and deliberatel
he removed his coat, rolled his sleeve
to the elbow, and commenced to pun
mel the Belgian. With the first blo'
he knocked him down. Instantly tn
guards pulled him to his feet an
propped him up. Again he fell, an
once again the performance was re
peated. So it went on till the Belgia
could no longer stand. Blood wa
streaming from his face, which tn
brutal German had pounded wit
his fists until he was tired. Then h
ordered the guards to take him ava
for punishment.
The Belgian never returned to tn
workshop, for when they got hir
into the punishment cell it was foun