The Leader, enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1915-1921, 1918-05-24
HOW WAR DEPARTMENT
KEEPS CLOSE ACCOUNT
OF THE u. S. PRISONERS
HELD BY THE GERMANS
Relatives Given News. Promptly In
formed of the Status and Move
ments of Men. Letters and Parcels
May be Sent in Limited Number.

lied by the War Department.:
Relatives of American soldiers who
are prisoners of war are being
promptly informed of their status and
movements so far as it is possible
to obtain the facts. This task is be-
ing performed by the prisoners of
war section of the miscellaneous di-
vision of the Adjutant Generals Office
III the WaE Department with the CO.
operation of the Red Cross.
Up to date this section has forward
ed information to relatives of about
800 imprisoned Americans, nearly 200
of these being civilians, including
members of ship crews, vino were In
termed in Germany at the outbreak
of the war. While considerably more
than 100 American soldiers have been
reported by Gen. Pershing as missing,
only about this number have been To-
Gated in prison camps. No reports
have been received relative to the
whereabouts of 1873 Americans claim
ed by the Germans to have been cap
tured in recent engagement. Some
! of these probably have been included
III the lists of the missing
First News in About a Week,
AS a rule reports of the location
OF prisoners have reached the pris-
oners of war section of the War De-
partment through the Red Cross
within week or ten days after their
capture. Usually the first reports
give the temporary camp to which
the prisoners are taken. Often the
prisoners are moved to a second and
sometimes third camp In each
case the word usually comes through
without much delay.
! Under the system adopted tele-
grams are sent to relatives first when
the men are reported by Gen. Per-
shing as missing. These kilograms
are sent by the statistical division of
the Adjutant Generals Office, which
also handles casualties The next
kilograms are sent to relatives when
information arrives relative to their
whereabouts in prison camps. These
kilograms go from the Prisoners of
War Section.
Simultaneously circular letters are
sent to relatives by the Prisoners of
War Section informing them how
they may communicate with the CAP
tured soldiers. AS later information
arrives regarding the transfer of
prisoners from one camp to another
kilograms are sent promptly to the
relatives.
1t is surprise to many to learn
how easily it is possible for relatives
to communicate with prisoners. Pris-
oners of war are entitled to receive
and send letters, money orders, and
not exceeding II pounds in weight.
valuables, as we'll as parcels by post
When intended for international mail
these are free. from all postal duties.
Addressing of Mail
The mail should be addressed to the
prisoner, giving his rank, full name.
and the name of the prison camp, if
known, followed by Prisoner of War
Mail, via New York" The name and
laddress of the sender must be given
on the upper left-hand corner, and in
case of parcel7post packages the re-
lationship of the sender to the pris
oner also must be clearly stated. The
reason for this is that only one pack
age may be sent per month, and if a
greater number is sent, the one ap-
lparently from the prisoners next OF
Kin IS forwarded, and the others held
IN New York pending communication
with the sender, with whose consent
Such excess packages may be for
Warded to some other prisoner who
IN that particular month has received
no package from any source.
Subject to Strict Censorship
Letters are subject to a careful
censorship and are not permitted to
contain anything of military nature
or to relate to any commercial tran
saction. No leather goods may be
forwarded and no periodicals except
those published prior to the begin
ming of the war. Articles which NAV
be sent include sweaters, towels, UNI
derwear, socks, handlscrch.cfs, gloves,
ia>so4cs and ,arlad, shirts, shoe laccs,