The sun., 1919-07-13
: By CAPT. ALAN BorT. Raj.

~ NE day the Turkish commandan'
Of prison camp In Asia
~ Minor asked for the names Of
British of1cers who belonged to dis
.tinsuished families. ..., &c.,,
What on earth for2" was the gem
eral speculation. ",' -.-- .
Now for. months the captives had
rniraged a forthcoming exchange of
prisoners between Great Britain and
Turkey. What could the request
mean, argued the optimists, but that
the Turkish political bosses wanted
the return of some Of their friends
who were interned In Egypt and were
giving in exchange prisoners of dis
tinguished family?
This comfortable theory was widely
accepted, and. knowing how the Turks
bow down before rank, all began
searching their memories for titled or
.----ous relatives and ancestors. Those
who could produce no real names
claimed to be cousins, nephews. sons
in-law or great-grandsons of such
startling people a. the Duke Of Plaza
Toro, Baron Beanfeast and the Lord
Lieutenant Of Limehouse.
The .commandant chose a small
band OF claimants and sent them to
Constantinople. Joyful in the belief
that they. we're en- route for England,
homo and beauty. they shook hands
with the lesser aristocrats7 and ac-
cepted congratulations. -~ -.
They Land in Dunseon.
A few days later they found them
selves in an unclean dungeon Of the
Turkish Ministry Of War prison.
There they remained for several
weeks, weakening and sickening under
the disgusting COL ditions and the lack
of exercise. Owing to false reports
that Turkish officers in Egypt were
being badly treated Enver Pasha had
decided to punish a number OF Brit
ishers by way OF reprisal. and the
military authorities chose for the pur-
pose men, of, distinguished family.
Finally one OF the strafed officers
caught typhus in the prison and died
as a direct result of medical neglect.
frightened and sent the rest Of the
proper internment camps.
Among the tyrannies and tortures
that made the last days Of Turkeys
dominion over Christian peoples equal
IN terror to any period during her CEN
turtles Of savage misrule, none was
more terrible than the prison life in
the Ministry OF War. For sheer hor-
ror parts Of this BLACK Hole OF Con-
stantinople." as II became known.
could match the Bastile at its worst,
or the Stone House at Omdurn1an in
the days OF the Mahdi. Last year 1t
was without doubt the most dreadful
prison in the world.
I FIRST glimpsed the disgusting con-
ditions- OF Turkish prisons when Gas
already described) I shared. with an
Arab charged as a spy. a cell In the
criminal Jail at Nazareth. Afterward
in Damascus and elsewhere I met
: Armenians, Greeks. Arabs and Jews.
) as we'll as many Turkish officers, who
were confined for months in tiny
rooms, without having been given the
semhlance OF a trial. Sometimes they
received from the authorities enough
bad food to keep them alive, and some
times they did not-in which case they
either died or depended on private
means or the help of friends.
II their crimes were comparatively
minor ones-such as theft. desertion
or the murder Of somebody without
infiuence-those who had money could
probably bride their way to a release.
But IL they were fin" for political Of
fences, not even baksheesh could free
them. for the Young Turk politicians.
whose domination depended on vio-
lence, took no chances with those
openly hostile to them. Political pris-
oners, indeed. might consider them
selves lucky not to have been executed
offhand.
when First Heard of Dungeons.
1T was when I reached the concen-
tration camp at Anon Kara Hissar, In
Asia Minor. that I first heard of the
Ministry of War dungeons. Many
British officers at Atom had lived in
the better quarters OF the prison
(these 'better quarters being infinite
iy worse than any jail in western Eu-
rope). and several had suffered III
treatment in the worse quarters.
For example. Lieutenant Comman-
der StolSer. r.. N. OF Submarine ELS
tcaught in the Dardanelles while try
ing to Renter the Sea Of Marmora,
where It had already carried out a
number Of very daring raids), had un.
dergone two periods OF punishment in
the Black Hole OF Constantinople.
The first was when. with Lieut.. Fitz-
gerald. r. N, he was shut IN a damp
underground cell. as reprlsal for the
falsely reported III treatment OF Turk
fish prisoners. After about fortnight
the two British officers were released
from the filthy dungeon as a result Of
strong protests by Mr.. Morgenthau,
American Ambassador to Turkey.
In this connection l take the oppor-
tunity Of mentioning the magnificent
work OF Mr.. Morgenthau. Mr.. Elkus
(who succeeded him as Ambassador
and the staff Of the United States EN-
bassy In constantinople. These gen.
J tiemen. by protests to the Turkish
Government ana by the distribution Of
money. clothes and other necessities,
saved the lives OF many British pris-
oners In Turkey. -.
lieutenant Commander Stoker's sec
ond experience OF the Ministry Of War