Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-01-02

long in reaching the outskirts of
Munster. We wcrc shuntcd Into a sid
ing for tho night. and when day dawn
ca, we were marched through the
streets OF Munster to No. 9 prison camp,
| and thence to our billet
AFTER little while VIC were given
| some more coffea and o little bread.
| which We derourcd like wolves
don't know what looked like, but my
henrt almost broke when saw some OF
the other prisoners examining the bread
| INTO their mouths like beasts Of the
forest. No doubt did the same, for,
| IKE the others. l was almct. fanish :
Ing.
GIVEN sour AND BEDS MADE
| OF SACKS FILLED WITH STRAW
| Following this, our clothes were
iumigatei. and we were served will,
! blankets.
what the blankets were mado OF !
cannot cay. but 10 inc they seemed to
be table covers There was hardly any
warmth in them. and It was a mockery
TO describe them as blankets Our beds
were composed OF sacks filled with
! straw
! Soup time came around again. hut
what the soup was made Of 1 cannot
possibly say. In fact. The most expert
cook in the world would have had to
| was afterwards given to understand
that 1t was "spud soup" three parts
water. After we had our share. we
felt very little better for It, Ever
| afterwards we christened this concoc-
tlon well washed" Then came the
bread, one loaf between ten men. This
had TO last us all day. but when II
was apportioned It meant merely one
slice. hardly quarter of an inch thick
per man.
HUNGER MAKES MEN DEsPERATE,
TRADE CLOTHES FOR BREAD
1t IL tho hunger that drives men
| frenzied in German camps
The punishment In the cells is moth
Ing compared with the continual crav-
ing Tor something to eat The coutin-
uni grating in the punishmcnts Is
nothing. and the butt end Of a rife
ratified against ones ribs Is nothing
compared with the hopeless craving
Tor food. which never comes.
On getting to know that there were
large number OF seasoned French and
Russian prisoners ia the camp, we
made raid on their quarters. and. on
finding that they had a fairly good sup
ply OF food. we began to offer our
clothes and whatever we had in our
possession in exchange for bread. The
majority or US secured bread and 8
marks by offering our army blouses for
sale. we were ready to give all our
clothes away in order to appease our
hunger One Of our fellows. who by
some lucky means. had managed to re-
tain his gold watch, which was worth
a good IL guineas. sold X for loaf of
bread and is marks. All our under.
clothes were pawned or sold for food.
Having satisfied themselves that we
were properly clothed. the officials of
4.
would have to prepare ourselves for q
little physical training 10 mako us II,
for the work which was to come our
way later Every man was forced to
go into the grounds OF the priaon and
run round the blocks as long rs our
guards thought 1T. don't think there
was one man in the same room as my
self who was 1T to walk a quarter or
mile, let alone run. We were com
testing. could feel myself going
down." bu: was only one OF many
After struggling round the building
once. number Of us fell out. whilst
others tainted. The former were at
once attacked by the guards, who made
us continue our doubling" as punish
men. for falling out Those who
tainted were left alone to recover as
best they could. after which they were
dragged to, their feet and made. to Join
their comrades 1t was pitifuI 10 sec
our lads falling and fainting. but the
iron hand" was on top. and all we
could do was TO obey.
GUARDS KICK MEN AS THEY
FALL FOR LACK OF STRENGTH
Any man who was i'll and in conse-
quence moved slowly. was the victim
Of the calious guards. who thought
nothing of kicking prisoner about
tho legs and body.
One day whilst In the grounds OF
the camp. I got an Insight or how
the German soldiers are trained. and
from what I saw. learned the reason
why the Hun has behaved like a fiend
in this war. II has been said that
Russia, under the Gear. was an op-
pressed race. That may be, but ven
ture to shy that there Is not a more
oppressed race In the world than the
Germans. They are treated like dogs
by their superior officers, and II is
due to this fact that when they are
able to give vent to their wrath on the
fighters of the allied nations. they try
to infiict upon their prisoners the same
treatment as they themselves have re-
cciHed at the hands of their superior
officers.
II one OF the men happened to be a
little bit slow in the movement Of his
feet. he was imm ediately set upon by