The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-07-30
"Did they have any protection from

I
 the mud ?''-
 | "Only a little straw.'
 Did Hard Boiled Smith ever can | the men names?"
 ''IIe called lem everything he could
 think off,
 What were you convicted of?"
 Assault; hitting a prisoner; using
 provoking speech"
 1 Did Smith ever take any property | from the men?"
 | 'I know of one man. He took
 money off of him, tore up his sisters
 picture and then slapped the mans face. The man is here in Fort Jay" | BLAME-Eleven
 | What was done with the property ! taken from the men?" | Every time man came into the | prison his money was laid out on the | table and the Heutenants would take i it."
 What was done with the souvenirs the men might have?' "They were thrown into a big box | and the box was showed into the of
 ficers' quarters. When 1t was empty | 1t was brought back.' Did you ever see General Harts?'' t'No sir. I don't know him?" Ball said that if he hadn't struck | the prisoners in his custody he'd have been tried for disobedience of orders. 'I was told by Lieutenant Smith, | he said, that if didn't hit 'em when they needef it, I'd be put in the brig
 and he'd let the prisoners chase me. | I knew they'd kill me if they ever got i the chance"
 'Did any other officers order the | men beaten?"
 '.Lieutenants Hufe1stein. Mason and
 the doctor were just about bad Smith,"
 After you were convicted were you | ever beaten?"
 'Yes, sir. In Jivres, sir. But by the prisoners. They were from Farm
 No. ?. Now I'd like to make 1t clear
 about my trial. They fetched a coun- l sel for me and he was a friend of | Smiths and the others. He told us , what we were to say. For that reason | no truth came out then. | T got what I deserved for what I | done. I'm not kicking about that. | Just they don't send me to Fort | Leavenworth. If they sent me there l I'll get killed Some of the Farm No i 2 men out there have got Smiths
 first sergeant in the hospital there | now.''
 You testified at your trial and
 Smiths that he didn't hit any one."
 ''Yes sir; but he did hit them. I | was told what to testify
 Did Smith send you word here In 1 Fort Jay to be careful what you told
 this committed" ?"
 'Yes sir. Two prisoners brought
 me word that if I told the truth I'd
 be tried for perjury.''
 Private Ryseze1ewski was the last ] man eNamined yesterday. He told
 of enlisting in the Aviation service as | fyyin 5et of i,oi, orir
 ton and his transfer to Mineola and
 finally of sailing for France. Rysze1- l ewski explained that he got to gambling, lost lots of money, more | than he could afford, and finally was | court martialed and pleaded guilty to i larceny. Then he was sentenced to
 prison for three years, but escaped
 and tried join the French Foreign ] Legion and British Royal Flying | Corps He was refused because of | his American uniform. Then he
 gave himself up and was sent to l Jivres. He said he was told there
 by lieutenant that the purpose of | the camp was to break a mans | spirit. Then he said he took advan-
 tage of an opportunity to escape, and l with the connivance of a relative in Paris joined the Polish legion. Ryszelewski was wounded and gass- | ed and won the Croix de Guerre in the Polish 1st Regiment. Then, after
 a spell in a hospital, be transferred to ! the 154th Spad Escadrille, and after | training at Pau was commissioned a recond lieutenant. He won three vic | tories in the air, was cited five times and his Crotx de Guerre was embel- . lished with three palms and five stars. 1 He was apprehended by the American 1 authorities as a result of letters writ ten to his parents in Philadelphia. He was sent back to Jivres. man | acled, chained and wearing the uni | form of a French officer. There, he said, he discovered that a reign of | terror was on.
 ! "On account of the food conditions l the hungry men used to beg food from | Chinese coolies," said the soldier. | 'Lonny French, a colored boy, was in a cell two doors from mine. They had caught him trying to steal something to eat from the kitchen. He had been | black lacked until he was unconscious. Then he was dragged bleeding to soli- | tary confinement.
 | They thought some one else had been with him when he entered the kitchen and before he was fed his 1 bread and water they used to torture him to make him reveal the name of his supposed accomplice- They would chain him to the wall and then attack him with black jacks and dizzy sticks. They would beat him the so]es of his feet. They even burned his hair. These things I saw with my own eyes. Captain Dewey and Lieutenant Cooper, of the 11th Marines, were re- sponsible for conditions there. ! There is Ben Cohen here in the yard of Fort Jay. He isn't quite right mentally. He is a Russian subject He enlisted in 1917 and fought at the front. He was beaten. William Du- rand and other men were bucked and gagged. Their hands would be tied and a stick showed between their bent knees and elbows, holding them in a sitting position. Then gags were 1 showed in their mouths and they would be left for hours. Colonel J. c. Maui, of the field ar tillery, came to the prison and as- stunned charge. He addressed the pris- ! ar,1 oF h orIr