The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1919-01-23

really got across the border and was
arrested in a little town by the Dutch
authorities and turned over to the Ger.
mans. That is against the law In
most countries, but he swore 1t was the !
truth. I am not SO sure, myself. He
got away for the seventh time while
was at Dulmen and was not returned. |
Ten days in the guardhouse is not
such light punishment after all, be-
cause water three times a day is all
the prisoner received during that time, |
but it is pretty mild compared to some
Of the things the Huns do.
One morning I thought for sure
was going cafard. was just fed up
on the whole business and sick of do
ing nothing but suffer. So strolled
along, sticking my head into barracks
doors, sometimes trying to have talk,
other times trying to pick fight. It
was all one to me: just wanted some
thing to do. I found what I wanted,
all right.
had quite a talk with a sentry in
front of a barracks. It must have
lasted three-Quarters of an hour. He
did not know what was calling him,
and did not know what he was call
ing me. could have handled him all
right. but another sentry came up ON
my blind side and grabbed me and the
talk was oven.
They dragged me to the commander
of the camp and he instructed them to
give me bath. So they took me to
the bathhouse. where I was stripped
and dashed. All the time they were
whipping me was thinking what
joke 1t was on me, because had been
looking for excitement and had got
more than I wanted, so I laughed and
the Huns thought was crazy sure.
WAS dumped into vat of hot water
and at the same time my clothes were
given boiling. which was good for
them.
Then I was forced into my wet
clothes and marched back to the bar
racks. This bath and the stroll
through the snow in wet clothes just
about did for me. Nowadays, when I
sit in draft for second and catch
cold, wonder that am still alive to
| catch it. Having gone through Dix
nude and the Dardanelles and the
sinking of the Georgia and four Ger
man prison camps and few other
things-I shall probably trip over a
| hole in a church carpet and break my
neck. That would be my luck.
There were all the diseases you can
think of in this camp. including black
cholera and typhus and somebody was
always dying. We had to make collins
from any wood we could find. So it
was not long before we were using the
dividing boards from our hunks, pieces
of flooring and, in fact, the walls Of
the barracks. The officers were quar-
tered in corrugated iron barracks, so
they had to borrow wood from US for
their collins. We would make the box
and put the body in 1t, give it as much
service as we could. In the way of
prayers and hymns, and put it away in
a hole near the barracks. There was
: so much of it that single death
passed unnoticed.
One morning the German sentries
came to our barracks-they never
came singly-and told us that an Off,
Ger was going to review the prisoners
did. was the last man out of the bar
racks and on account of my wounds
was slower than the rest.
You understand had had no medical
treatment except crepe-paper BAN
dages and water; my wounds had beer
opened by swimming from the George
to the Moewe and they had been put
in terrible shape In the coal bunkers
On account of the poor food and lacl
of treatment they had not even started
to heal. Incidentally, the only clotl
bandages that any of us had were wha
we would tear from our clothes and
have seen men pick up an old dirt.
rag that someone else had had arount
his wound for long time and bandag,
his own wounds with it.
So it was all could do to drag my
self along. The officer noticed that
was out of line and Immediately aske,
my name and nationality. When h,
heard american" he could not 50,
enough things about us and called M
all the swine names he could think OF
| I was pretty thin at this time an,
, getting thinner, so l. figured l nigh
just as well have 1t out before
starved. Besides, thought. he ough
! to know that we are not used to bein
bawled out by German swine In thi
country.
So told him so. And I said that h
should not bawl Americans out, be
cause America was neutral He the
said that as America supplied food an
munitions to the allies she was no be,
ter than the rest.
Then I said: do you remember tn
Deutschland? When she entered Bal
timore and New London she got all tn
cargo she wanted, didn't she?"
| "Yes."
"Well, if you send over your mel
chant marine they will get the same.
For that answer he gave me ten day
in the guardhouse. He did not like t
be reminded that their merchant ms
rine had to dive under to keep ava
from the Limeys.
admit I was pretty flip to this o.
ficer, but who would not be when
slick German swine officer bawled hil
: out?
1t was while was in the guardhous
that Mr.. Gerard, the American amba!
sador, visited the camp. He came