Arizona republican., 1918-05-21
PRISONERS TN PEACE
lEY M. G. B.l

(By w. G. B.)
 One morning in Vancouver, British Columbia, in August, 1914, the writer,
 on happening to look from his window,
 saw a crowd of men trotting gladly down the street. They were men of all ages. from Is to so, and all were driven onward by the same impulse. | This sight, at that time very common every morning, marked the first symp- l toms of the movement of Canada into the European war. These men were
 "on the double" as it is being called, | this being the preparation for the days | drill ahead of them. The war was in- | credibly popular among d certain class, such being the men who had
 chosen Canada as their adopted home. | They looked forward to a speedy de- termination, with Germany defeated at | all issues and peace restored to Europe within at least six months. It at all | times was considered impossible that
 the Germans could manage to drag out | their existence for another year.
 The younger of these drafts were speedily drilled and sent on to the theater of war in Belgium, for but very few veterans were at first held | to be fit for the trenches. Young and | age, however, were equally unanimous
 in their choice of the military life at | that crisis, and the enjoyment of their | days marked a record for existence on l this planet.
 When it was found that prisoners | became necessary and numerous, the
 elder men were told off to take charge of them; nevertheless, there were
 many youthful slackers who preferred the tedium of a prison camp to the | confinement of the trenches. In Yer | non, B. C., the most unique intern
 ment camp was formed for the ac- | commodation of two classes of German and Austrian prisoners. The first class was the troublesome millionaire contingent; the second class was the | socialist and advanced class of Prus- sians. The first had been toastng the general destruction of the Britishers
 and their empire; the second had been l expressing themselves in very definite | terms as to the treatment the English would receive in the new diSpensation when the kaiser took over his ances- | tral throne of England. Both sects
 were about equally cocksure, saucy and hilarious, as they are even to this l day in that paradise. Youth there is
 ever contumacious, although guarded, and age cautious and visionary. At | times a stray word of treason breaks l forth, and then the prisoner vanishes behind the gloomy walls of the civil 1 jail. Meanwhile. all is gay as a we'd | ding festival and, by the way, very
 many of the fortunates are married The quarters of those having families
 are very enviable indeed. The grounds ] in which the internment camp is placed are a full and spacious city
 block. of larger size than the city l blocks of Phoenix. It is fenced with
 a triple and barbed wire apron of
 fencing. and is by the prisoners con-
 sidered hard to pass, because they al
 ways prefer to tunnel under it. Five | or six old tunnels may now be seen. | reaching from within to the sentry s
 beat outside. These have become dis
 used, and never were of any account
 so far as escape was concerned. But
 great change in the prisoners, for many were but youths when captured; {; l these are now eager and defiant men. | They see the indefinite nature of the
 war, and they mean to secure their freedom before becoming much older; they hold frequent meetings in their
 unknown tongue, and pass mysterious | and cryptic resolutions, which even the listening interpreters cannot ldlHOH. NaSueneSS ana uellduce dp- pear to hold attractions for the gothic l architecture of thought.
 The stricter spirits are still hopeful
 and calm, but others are becoming
 noisy and calm. and these by degrees
 are punished by loss of decent meals,
 the most severe class of punishment. To render life more desirable in this
 oasis of Paradise, the Y NJ C. A. oi
 the international variety has erected
 a commodious building where the spor-
 tive and serious clements of this select
 coterie may indulge themselves in all
 the enjoyments of life. Here is a dance
 hall. reading room. class rooms, li- | brary, mowling alley picture theater
 club rooms and various others of a