The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-08-21
A Soldier Who Knows All About Them
Thrills His Audience on tho
Hamilton Chautauqua
platform.
GERMAN PEOPLE AT WAR
Hamilton Home Talent Present Play
This Evening, and the Chautau-
qua Is Big Success In
Every Way

The directors Of the Hamilton chau-
tauqua this year have overcome the
trying conditions Of the times and
have put on a program Of unusual
merit. The people Of Hamilton and
OF Hancock county have backed them
up magniicently if the crowds are an
indication.
The officers and directors are made
up of prominent business men as fol-
lows:
President, A. B. Agnew; secretary,
M. G. Dadant; treasurer, H. G. VIII
liams; directors, James p. Guthrie,
C. F. Kopp, Jr, Ben Matthews, A. L..
Macarthur, w. H. Harkrader, Warren
H. Orr, H. E. Rayburn, Henry Harr1-
son, John A. Gordon and C.. B. Mar
shall
Private Rossiter the Attraction.
Yesterday afternoon the lecture was
given by Private Ivan Rossiter, late
of the Canadian mounted rifles, who
had for subject, Behind the Ger
man Lines" He was in the battles
i
through the thickest of the fighting
at Loos, ST. Eloi, HODGE and Sane
tuary wood. In this last battle he
was wounded and taken prisoner by
the Huns. For several months ne
was a prisoner and was in nine
prison camps and hospitals. HIS talk
yesterday was largely description
of this experience He didn't put up
any herotcs, but told plain unvar-
nished story.
German Prison Camps.
Private Rosseter and his pal were
both wounded and were captured
lying in a shell hole. Both men were
wounded in the leg and Rossiter was
wounded in the palm Of the hand.
With some twenty other men, some
of whom were severely wounded and
weak from loss of blood, were forced
to walk five miles to q dressing sta
ton. The allies provide ambulances
for all wounded men including the
Germans. When the dressing station
was finally reached the prisoners
waited until all the German wounded
had been cared for and then received
attention. BY that time the bandages
were blood clotted and hard. Inc
surgeon tore them off with brutality
chara cterisuc, and did all his operat-
ing on the prisoners without anas-
thetic of any sort. Private Rosslter
had five bones taken from his wrist
and one finger taken off under those
conditions. He said: And that old
German butcher never got a squeal
1,,+ ~ o,,r rponv
German Prison Food.
The Germans boast of feeding the
prisoners five meals day private
Rossiter said the food was inadequate
and abominable, and the whole hVe
meals were not in any way equal 10
one meal as provided for the men IN
the allied armies. For breakfast they
had two rolls the size of an egg and
a mug Of coffee, so called. lie SAID
the coffee was made OF Drowned acorn
nuts. The second breakfast was or
three small dried fish about the size
of sardines and little square OF
cheese. rank and covered with mould.
At half past eleven they were given
a half bowl Of soup. Describing 1t he
said: How would you like soup made
of dish water, potato peennSs ana
sawdust?' He said they did not at
tempt to analyze what went into the
soup. They only knew 1t smelled and
tasted as If its composition might not
hear inspection. The next meal was
more soup and an inch of sausage.
The last meal was mug of coffee,
90 called, and three and half ounces
Of black war bread. He said were 1t
not for the Red Cross service by way
of Switzerland the prisoners would
starye. The food which comes to
them by this route is a month old,
but it is English and American food
and is clean and wholesome. But
even with this added food Rossiter
said they were hungry all the while.
Tho Women and Children Of Germany.
He said the prisoners in the camp
were aroused one morning at half
ma at five and were put on cattle
trains and carried from one German
city to another and displayed as new
ly captured prisoners. This was done
to show the German people that their
army was victorious. Some Of those
saule prisoners had been in detention
two years.
German People and the War.
He said IL anyone believes we are
not at war with the German people
he ia much mistaken. The women of
Germany are At mates for their Prus-
sian husbands AS the prisoners went
through the streets the women threw
stones and mud at them, spit on them
and called them vile names.
Germans Are towards.
He said you may wonder why one
American soldier can capture ten,
twenty. thirty German prisoners.
They do this every day because the
individual German Is coward and
lacks initiative if put on his own re-
sources.
AS long as a German has gun
and is with the organized army,
backed up by machine guns, he'll
fight Take these things away from