The Arvada enterprise., 1919-01-16

q hydrant outside Of the barracks. and
for . while We drank It. But after
several Of the boys had gone west
and we could not figure out why, q
man told us he thought the water was
poisoned, and Russian doctor. who
was prisoner. slipped US word about
1t also. So, after that, very few Of
~ drank water from the hydrant. I
was scared stiff at first, because I had
had some Of the water. but after that
did not touch hydrant water.
II was q good thing for Us that
there was always plenty Of snow In
Germany, and even luckier that the
Huns did not shoot us for eating 1t.
It was about the only thing they did
not deprive us Oft was not verboten.
I thought I knew what tough coolies
were. In the trenches, but they were
regular mollycoddles compared to the
pets we had In the prison camps. After
we boiled our clothes we would be
free from them for not more than two
hours, and then they would come
back, with reinforcement, thirsting
for vengeance.
The camp at Neustrelitz was sur.
rounded by big dogs. which were kept
just outside the barbed wire. We had
them going all the time. Every once
in q while, some fellow would make
an awful racket, and the next thing
we knew, there was Fritz coming like
a shot, with musket at his hip. Just
ns they carry them in a charge. and
blowing whistles 1t each other until
they were blue In the face. When.
ever they thought some one was es-
Gaping, they ran twice as fast al I
ever saw them run, except when tho
Foreign Legion was ON their heels
at Dixmude.
When they got up to the dogs, they
would first talk to them and then kick
them. and after that, they would rest
their rifles on the wire and yell
"Zuruck !" at Us. We all enjoyed this
innocent pastime Very much. and we
were glad they had the dogs.
There were some things the Huns
did that you just could not explain.
For instance. one Of the Russians
walked out Of the kuche. a. We were
passing. and we heard q bangl and
the Russian keeled over and went
west. Now. we had not done anything
and tie other Russians said he had
behaved himself. worked hard and had
never had any trouble. They Just
killed him. and that 10 all there was to
It. But not one Of ~ could figure
out why.
After We had been at Neustrelits
for three weeks, they drilled NJ out Of
tie camp to q railway station. and
stood NJ In the snow for four hours
waiting for the train. We were ex-
hausted and began falling. one BY
one. and each time ono Of us fell. the
ssntries would yell, "Nicht krank r.
and give rs the ride butt. We had
our choice Of standing MP and dying
or falling down and being killed, and
II was q nne choice to have to make.
The cars finally pulled In, and a.
usual. the windows were smashed, the
doors open. and the compartments Just
packed with snow. When We saw this,
We knew We were going to get worse
treatment, even, than We had been
getting. and many Of % wanted to die.
It had not been unusual for somo Of
the men to tell the Germans to shoot
them too. and It seems a. though It
was always . man who wanted to live
who did get 1t and went west.
However, all Of us nearly got killed
when We reached wittenberg. When
the train stopped there. We cav . big
wasonload Of sliced bread on the sta.
ton platfor0 and We all stared ct II.
We stood It q lossG as We could. aad
then We made rush for It. But when
We cot nearer. We saw that there were
four sentries guarding II and four
women Issuing It out to the German
sOldiers. They would not give US any.
Of course.
30 We stood around and watched the
Huns eat It. while they and the women
laughed at %, and pretended that
they were starving and would groan
and rub their stomachs and say.
"Nichts xu essen" to each other. and
then grab q big hunk Of bread and
eat II. What We did not Say to them
was very little indeed. We were Ger
tainly wild II any men ever were.
Then some Of a. said We were 60
ing to get some Of that bread II We
went west for II. SO We started
fight. and while they were attending to
some Of ~. the others grabbed and bid
all the bread they could. They rousted
~ back into the cars and We were
Just starting to divide up the bread
when they caught % With II and took
Il away. We were wilder than ever
then. but We could not do anything.
II got colder after We left Wltten-
berg. and the snow blew into the cars
through the windows and doors until
We were afraid to sleep for fear Of
Pressing. II was the worst night I
have ever Seen. and the coal bunkcrs
on the Yarrowdale seemed like . pal.
ace compared to the compartments.
because We could at least move around
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