Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-03-03
GERMAN PRISONERS
ARE WELL TREATED
CONTINUED from First PaGe)

4 the miiitarS ana ciHiilan pakcricS'
butchers go to the abattoirs. and so on
through n great number OF useful
IL trades.
However. when all IS said and done.
the greater par; OF the prisoners have
no special skilled trade useful in time
5 OF war. Perhaps half OF them are
pea.lnts or common laborcrS. 1t fol-
lows that the main employment of the
4 German prisoner is III the field of plain.
hard work with IA shovel. pitchfork,
= n crowbar, or his own unassisted two
, hands. This has been the rule from
the very first. The prisoners OF the
Marine, taken just before the vintage.
were set 10 trcadlnE out the grapes
in the famous wine region OF Bordeaux.
1t happened that the vintage OF 1914
was exceptionally high in quality. and
the Bordeaux of that season. which
will probably bring high prices ten
years from now. is already called the
wine OF the German prisoners" AS
the extension OF the war brought the
primitive question OF food 10 the fore.
they began TO be employed III great
4 numbers at agricultural labor. The
7 harvest and the blowing last autumn
! tFranCe goes in for winter wheat, and
! the blowing season follows the har-
vesp were in great part performed by
. the prisoners.
LARGE GANGS ARE Used
IN REPAIRING HIGHWAYS
Outside OF the harvest season. the
loading and unloading OF ships IN tho
ha-bors and OF trains in the Erca, rail-
: way ccn;ers probably occupy more
., prisoner labor than any other single
$. activity. Large gangs are employed
in repairing the roads. a vital neccs-
G sity at The present time. Gy a special
, agreement with the enemy, no prisoner
is employed at 4 place nearer than
y thirty kilomcters tciGht and onc-nalt
. mlos) from the front line. This great
ly hampers their usefulness for keep
ing UP military roads: but the once
perfect roads Of central France. Eow
greatly run down through neglect. are
the gamers thereby.
> SO far as possible. prisoners are given
/, tho same hours ot labor as civilian
workmcn. Mos; Of the political force
--uf la hor IL France has flowed during
the past decade into the Socialist and
Syndicalist movements. nnG the trHacs-
= unions have been CorrcspondirGly
weak. For tina, reason. probably. tho
hours of labor We're rather longer, be
fore III" war, than in America or Eng
land. since the war the labor unions
have rntrioticAlly relaxed their rules
in response 20 the common emergency;
- and the hours of labor run from rinc
= To tcn-rnc and onc-half is probably
about the average. And that j. exact
; .ly tho average for some 5000 or oOG
x prisoners whom have seen worS!nG 81;
unloading vessels and trains. in tn.
I railway shops or in factories. Usual
" they start 10 work at : o'clock ANA
return NJ 6. with an hour and a half
for luncheon. In the dead of winter.
when darkness sets in carly, they
!, usually knocked OF work AT o'clock
making their hours for that period
about eight and onc-half Sundays
they have off; III eases OF special er,cr-
Eency, such as n congestion If freight
at the docks. they are sometimes wo~l:.
> ed on that dav. but the authorities in
= every case give them a frcc day during
the week. as compensation The same
E RULES apply to tho wood cutting camps,
whore the prisoners arc worked not in
large gangs. but IN small bodies OF
e!:;Et TO ton men.
PRISONERS WORK. SAINT:
NOUS A. 'TIIf: I'I:AS tN'rS
In the matter of hours. agricultural
labor * law unto itself There is no
union time schedule for farm labor
because TIC WORK comes AL al once
and must be got out Of the way as soon
a possible. In blowing season. the
time clock takes care OF itself since
November and December have only
nino or ton hours of daylight; In the
.-harrcs, season. when this rule is re-
Nersed. the prisoners work The same
hours as the peasants. So much for
labor. 1t is my general observation
aud imErcsSion that tho prisoners
whiie- iaal ~ TO the notch by the
thrifty l'r"rch, arc not ovcrwork ed
that in this matter. as in others which
will mention later their captors have
approached the matter in the spirit OF
cool. impcrsonai justice.
Now. We come 10 tho more important
primitive ncodS--Shcltcr. clothing and
food. Let mo take them in order
The five large camps which visited
house each between zoo and I.5oo prjS-
oners. In construction, All arc iuonot-
onously alik" y double harbed- " ire
cntanelcmcnt electrically charged;
surrounds stoc.adc hollow square
OF one story buildings wooden. bu,
substantial They were all erected. in
the early days or the war. by the firs,
patches 81 German prisoners. These
houses are watcr-iilSht and well lighted
by daN win windows and by nigh,
with electricity. They afford. in fact
about the same accommodations as Tho
bunk houses put UP for our American
soldiers durin- their training period
Indeed. tn" German prisoner has rather
H." better of this arrunEcmcnt FOR
While our hogs were stationed i'm onc
OF the coolest pnrts Of France. mos, of
INC Germans ike farther south where
tho ciimatc is rnild"r In only ono