The Morgan County press. (Wartburg, Tenn.) 1916-1926, 1918-11-15
oroe Matthew Adams Service

stand that he was not hungry--nHu
too much to eat, In fact.
used to think of this fellow occa-
sionally when I was in German pris-
on camp, and piece of moldy bread
the size of safety-match box was
the generous portion Of food they
forced on me. with true German hos
pitality. once every forty-eight hours.
/ would not exactly have refused a
beefsteak sandwich | am afraid. But
then was not a heaven-bOrn German.
l was only a common American garby.
He was full of kultur and grub;
was not full of anything.
There was large prison camp at
st. Nazaire, and at one time or an
other l saw all of 1t. Before the war
1t had been used as a barracks by the
French army and consisted Of we'll
made, comfortable two-story stone
buildings, floored with concrete, with
auxiliary barracks Of logs. The Ger
man prisoners occupied the stone
buildings, while the French guards
were quartered in the log houses. In
side, the houses were divided into long
rooms with whitewashed walls. There
was gymnasium for the prisoners. a
canteen where they might buy most
Of the things you could buy anywhere
else In the country, and studio for
the painters among the prisoners. Of
ficers were separated from privates-
which was good thing for the pri-
vates-and were kept In houses sur
rounded by stockades. officers and
privates received. the same treatment.
however, and all were given exactly
the same rations and equipment as the
regular French army before 1t went to
the front. Their food consisted OF
bread, soup, and vino, as wine is called
almost everywhere in the world. In
the morning they received half loaf
of Vienna bread and coffee. At noon
they each had large dixie of thick
SOUP, and at three In the afternoon
more bread and bottle of vino. The
soup was more like stew-very
thick with meat and vegetables. AT
one of the officers barracks there was
a cook who had been chef in the larg>
est hotel in Paris before the war.
All the prisoners were we'll clothed.
Once week, socks, underwear, soap,
towels and blankets were issued to
them, and every week the barracks
and equipment were fumigated. They
were given the best Of medical atten-
ton.
Besides all this. they we're allowed
to work at their trades, If they had
any. All the carpenters, cobblers,
tailors and painters were kept busy,
and some of them picked up more
change there than they ever did In,
Germany, they told me. The musi-
clans formed bands and played almost
every night at restaurants and thea"
ters in the town. Those who had no
trade were allowed to work on the
roads, parks. docks and at residences
about the town.
Talk about dear old jail You could
not have driven the average prisoner
away from there with a 14inch gun.
| used to think about them In Bran
denburg, when our boys were rushing
the sentries in the hope of being pay
onetted out of their misery.
While our cargo was being unloaoeo
1 spent most of my time with my
grandmother. l had heard still more
about the cruelty of the Huns, ana
made up my mind to get into the ser
vice. Murray and Brown had already
enlisted In the Foreign Legion, Brown
being assigned to the infantry ana
Murray to the French man-of-war Cas-
sard. But when spoke Of my inten-
ton. my grandmother cried so much
that promised her l would not enlist
that time anyway-and made the
return voyage in the Virginian. we
were no sooner loaded in Boston than
back to st. Nazaire we went.