The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-07-30

I
on-comsnissionet of7cer on duty al
Farm No. 2 and Of Col ofinstead.
Smiths subordinates, he said. all put
the responsibility for the brutalities VI
to Smith and Smith put them up to Col
| Grinstead whom he said, ordered the
| most ruthless treatment OF all prisoners
This Col. Grinstead denied. Col. Donald
son did not know who Grinstead's iinme-
diate superior was but said that Gen
Harris was the commander OF the Paris
area. including Rue Ste. Anne and the
Bastiie.
These conditions were remedied.'
Col Donaldson said carefully. but there
were no trials"
Some one must have been response
BILE for these conditions when they ex-
listed for 80 long" Congressman Bland
asked him. Did you ever know OF any
officer who was tried for themr'
NO" replied the witness. ut was the
general impression that with the small
military police force at hand they were
doing very well. Many men and many
officers slipped into Paris without leave,
and when caught they did not hesitate
| to lie and take advantage Of everything
to escape punishment. Men impcrson-
ated officers and officers concealed their
| identity. II was during the time OF the
big rush UP at the front and these men
were generally looked upon as shirkers
OF the worst sort"
Commander Mt Paris Accused.
Some one must have been responsible
! for these conditions, though" Chairman
johnson persisted. 'Who was itr'
1.-THE commanding General Of the
| Paris area" the witness replied.
The condition seems to have been
la -. full fnff
out to the little fellow and not to the big
one," said Mr.. Bland. do you know Of
any officer above the rank Of Captain
who was tried for these things7"
The witness replied that he did not.
There 10 no question In your mind
but that horrible brutalities took place
| in these prisons?" asked Chairman John
son.
mo question whatever" replied the
witness.
Men were beaten, struck, received In
sufficient food and shelter and were gem
orally subjected to brutalityT' asked the
chairman.
They WERE" replied the witness.
He was then asked why men had not
been brought to trial. but he said ne
could not give the reasons which actu-
ated the officers on whom the duty OF
this decision was imposed. He admitted
that he knew that Gen. Harboard, In
command of the Service of supply, In
Guiding the Paris area, had written to
Gen. Harris about conditions there and
that Gen. Harris had replied. He told
the committee that these letters should
be on fife. He refused to say that Gen.
Harboard had reprimanded Gen. Harris.
Now, Colonel. said Mr.. johnson, Il
have been in the army myself and 1
want TO spare you all possible embar-
rassment which might result from your
criticism Of superior officers here. But
I want to get at the truth Of this thing.
will ask you one or two more ques-
lions.
'Is It not true that about the office
of the Inspector-General and elsewhere
there was much criticism Of Gen. Harris
command of the Paris area?"
YES, there was" the witness replied.
He insisted. however, that all condi-
lions complained of had been cleared up.
"when?' asked Chairman johnson.
"By the middle Of January" the wit
ness replied.
rs 1t possible that superior officers
thought they had good goat in the
person OF 'Hardboiled' SMITH" asked
Mr.. Bland.
II have nothing to say about that"
the witness replied. They can tell you
| their reasons better than l."
College Lad Tells Experiences.
Striking evidence OF the prevalence of
the brutality heretofore attributed par
ticularly to Farm No. 2 and to Paris
was adduced by Ryszelewski. Ryszelew-
| ski testified that he was a sophomore
in the University of Pennsylvania when
the war began: that he promptly en-
| listed and after a short delay was sent
to the ground school OF aviation at
Princeton. After making his course
there he. with the rest Of his class, was
sent to Mineola to await transportation
| overseas.
AT Mineola." he said, I'VE had little
to do and as usual in such cases we got
into bad habits. The whole class started
gambling We gambled all the way to
| France. When we got to Franco we
were sent from one little town to an
other. but we were still kept id,c by
the lack of airplanes. and the gambling
not only kept up but increased. The
whole class was In trouble over money
matters arising out of this gambling
and on January 6, 1918, I was tried
anc found guilty on serious charges"
He was excused by the COMMITTEES
from telling what these charges we're
though his records show that he pleaded
guilty to larceny.
IT was sentenced to three years i'm
prisonment." he went on. And as soo-
as heard OF the sentence I escaped
and ran away to the south of France
There tried to enlist In the French
Foreign Legion and In the British All
| Force, but the American uniform wa
against me and they wouldn't take me
| I came back to my school and gave
myself up, convinced that that was the
only thing could do.
| 1T was sent to the prison at Gievres
| I enlisted to fight and couldn't contem'
plate three years In prison with the wal
going on right there. So went to the
| commander of the prison. Lieut. Briefly
and kased to be assigned to combatan
| duty. He refused me. / made written
application and this too was refused.
told him I'd go to the front In any ca.
pacity. I wanted to go az a wire cutter
or as machine gunner. for which was
qualified by my long course in the avia'
ton school. But all of this was turned
down.
Finally one day when I saw Lieut.
Briefly walking in the prison yard went
to him personally again and again asked
him to get to the front
Proposed to Break "Man's Spirit
"'The purpose OF this prison. he said
in reply, Is to break a mans spirit
And until you show evidence of thai
there Is no use OF your seeking clemency.
THAT was too much for me. so es
capped again as soon as got the chance
at work outside. went to Paris anS
! there. with the help OF a relative, go
rid of my American uniform. speal
/ French. Polish and Russian. 30 that