Jackson County journal. (Sylva, N.C.) 19??-19??, 1918-04-05
$500 GERMAN PRISONERS OF
WAR THE UNITED STATES
Officers and Men From the Vessels ened the Beginning Of the
War and Men Arrested Alien Enemies Since the United
States Entered the War Are Being Treated
in Most Humane Manner.

AHu the Germans nave been per-
mitted to find amusements for them
selves. They have developed a life
Of their own. They developed it and
perfected it until what a few months
ago was merely an internment camp
has now become a center of every
kind Of activity. On the river banks
German village was laid out. 1t is
suggestive of Old Heidelberg, the
crooked streets of Nurnberg, or some
little village in the Black mountains.
One almost forgets that one is in the
mountains Of North Carolina as he
walks along the narrow, crooked
streets of this German village, flanked
on either side by artistic playhouses
built by the men themselves, The
houses are not for living in, although
ingenious stoves have been built to
keep them warm from stones picked
up along the riverside And the
houses themselves are made from
scraps Of lumber, from broken
branches of trees, from little pieces of
wood. They are shingled with tin cans
and are papered within and tinted at
very little expense.
At the head of the roadway is a
miniature Gothic church. It's lines are
good; it has pews within it, a pulpit,
and all the accessories of a church.
But it is merely a play church. Flow
ers of all kinds are planted, and in a
short time the German village was a
flower garden. And when this work
was completed the men who had con-
structed these buildings organized
classes for study. One of these houses
is an artists studio; two or three are
cabinetmaking shops. Some old men
are weaving. They are plying all the
trades that they learned in their idle
hours on shipboard. Wonderful mo-
sale work made out of cigar boxes is
turned out, as are little ships complete
in every detail.
Y. M. c. A. Takes Hold.
The Young Mems Christian associa-
ton followed the Germans to Hot
Springs, as it has followed our SOL
diers to their environments, and it came
with plans for service, with money
enough to buy lumber, but no money
for labor, and the representative of the
Young Mems Christian association
called number of the German sea-
men together in their camp and asked
them If they would be willing to build
a Young Mems Christian association
building if supplied with material and
tools INN toll
a construction squad. They gave their
| labor gratuitOusly. They erected big
building, probably 200 by $50 feet. ar
| tlst1cally designed, as a clubrOOm and
schoolhouse, and Immediately all the
classes were filled. Four hundred men
were Immediately enrolled. The Ger.
mans produced their own teachers
Glasses were established in elementary
and advanced English. Other classes
were formed in French and in Span.
ish. Shorthand. geography, chemistry
marine engineering and navigation
are taught. All day and all evening
these classes are at work STUDYING
various Subjects
Similar classes were organized in
the officers detention camp.
The Young Mems Christian associa
ton has also stationed secretaries an6
1naugurated work at Fort Oglethorne
and Fort Mcpherson, Ca, and at Fort
Douglas, Utah. They have co-oper
ated heartily with the government
and have rendered most valuable serv
ice along the lines Of work usually car
ried on by the association-religiou
educational, athletic, music, and gar
dening.
Life is irksome in any camp. The
men get what the doctors call thu
"barbed-wire Sickness" It affects
mems minds to be kept in an Enclosure
with nothing to do. That is the mos
serious complaint.
There have been but few attempts
to escape, and the guarding of thu
prisoners IS relatively easy.