The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1919-03-05
MAN BRANDED BY
ORDER OFCERMAN
American Prisoner Is Disfigured
In Almost Unbelievable
Manner.
CHASTITY DESIGN ON HEAD
Former Circus Performer, Horribly
MutiIated, Is Forced to Do Work
of Oxen for Turkish Master
Made Harem Guard.

London.-Many have been the tales,
exaggerated or, without foundation,
which have passed from mouth to
mouth, and even found their way into
print, of prisoners of war who have
been sent home with faces disfigured
by brands of the German eagle, snakes
and other horrible objects. Many of
these stories could not be traced by
the authorities and were attributed to
of Lloyd's Weekly, however, has dis
covered q very bad cast of Hun saw
agery, which sufficiently testifies to
this method OF mutilation by branding
or tattooing, being no e~xaggeration.
"The mans name is Roughton and
he lives in q miserable Stun near Wa
~terloo, hating to go out in daylight.
On his forehead was a disagreement"
says the writer, shat seems almost
unbelievable in these days of social
ed civilization.
"The mans head is covered with
short stubby gray hair, and his nat
urally fine forehead gives plenty of
room for q sinister sign that stretches
from temple TO temple and from the
arch of each eyebrow to the edge of
the scalp. 1t Is a heavily tattooed
design of a huge crablike creature
which he afterward told me is called
the Spider of Death DR. the scorpion.
CHASTITY in Design.
"In some horrible frenzy of imagi-
nation this creature, which had been
pricked with red, white and green inks
upon his forehead, has been given
three bodies. One lies over the other
and each outline is clearly visible. 1t
shows first the shield of Bulgaria,
above that the military drum of Ger
many, and superimposed upon these,
the fez, the star and the crescent of
Turkey. On either side stretch eight
human-booted legs, while from the
middle, or head of this horror, hangs
a ring showing that the nan brand
ed thus is the property of the Turks
for eternity.
ayes, that Is what I have to show
for my share in the great war; said
the branded man. 81 have seen a lot
in my life. I was born fifty-seven
years ago in Chicago and I guess
there are a good many men there yet
who remember the name of Roughton,
famous for feats of strength and phys
ical endurance right through from
Maine to California.
my life has always been n of
adventure. 1 have been a "strong
man" and an acrobat In circuses.
"'When the war broke out in 1914, ]
joined up with a regiment of royal en-
gineers that was being recruited in
the States, and over / came to the
fighting front.
"I was at Mons, and I got the ribbon
right here and he produced a little
blurred ribbon. But I never wear it
After I'd finished with the Second
army In France / was moved to Sa,
lonika, and then to Mesopotamia, and
that's where I got caught.
"'It was while l was doing some worl
with barbed wire one night alone out
under the stars in that blessed land
Of Mesopotamia that I got done in
They got me, but 1t took a lot Of then
to do 1t.
at was put to work, and / tried t
escape, and I was caught and pu'
through more torture, and then one
day a Turk under the direction Of
German officer, put this upon me- ant
the man smote his forehead with a ter
rible gesture.
Made Guard in Harem.
"'By and by, over there in Turkey
my captors realized that my physica
strength was beyond the ordinary an,
I was turned over to a pacha wh'
bought my body for his service. / wa
put to work pulling a pillow, and whel
I didn't cover enough ground, or tn
burrows that / made were crooked,
was beaten with a leather cat-o'-nine
tails that had nails at the end of eacl
thong.
"sThen the great ~potentate for WHOM
I worked seemed to realize that h
was wasting good material in rough
unskilled labor, and after many wear,
punASAAIucutS AC piueSu hC NNiIh Ill
badge Of shame upon my brow and tn
price Of 5000 marks upon my hea'
should I try to escape) as the guard
Ian Of his harem.
Among the many women slaves !
this place there was a young Arabia
girl who had been stolen and sold I
the man who was our master. Sh
was unhappy to the verge of madness
and the horrors through which sh
went on many occasions nearly drov
me out Of my mind. BY methods tina
IN too long to tell you. this Arabia
and myself plotted and planned t
gether and succeeded In escaping
Finally we managed to get In touc
with British troops"