The sun., 1919-02-02
By F. cUNLIEEE.owEN.
,tT Ut one prisoner OF war re-
X mains in Germany. and that

tNH Ut one prisoner OF war re-
r. mains in Germany, and that
only because he is too sick
40 be moved" is the purport of an
soff1cial announcement from the War
department at Washington to allay
rhe fears entertained In this country
.lest the Huns should have retained,
hidden in remote prison camps. In
convict establishments, In warehouses,
In the dungeons OF out Of the way
,fortresses and forts and in the depths
.of mines, soldiers of Gen. Pershing's
.army captured in France and who
have been officially described as miss
sing."
There is a world of pathos in that
sword missing" Whereas the word
KILLED" in the official reports means
THAT the officer or soldier in question
has had his body inferred in duly
marked and oft consecrated ground
by his comrades. the word missing"
leaves the bereaved relatives in doubt
as 70 whether those dear to them have
been left to linger badly wounded on
some battlefield; or have been thrust
without recognition with hundreds.
nay thousands. Of other dead into
some huge and nameless grave; or
have fallen into the hands of an enemy
so cruel that throughout the great
war Information was denied concern
ing tho identity Of prisoners in their
clutches.
The Allies lent themselves TO every
ondeavor to relieve the anxieties of
relatives OF their captives by furnish
ing information through King Alfonso,
through the Vatican and through
Gustav Ador at Geneva (now Pres
dent Of Switzerland). The Germans
sought to add to the frightfulness of
their methods of war by withholding
any such information.
The London Times and other Eng
lish. French and italian papers are
filled with advertisements In which
parents and wives entreat for news o.
missing" sons and husbands OF whom
all trace has been lost since the sum-,
msr Of 1914. These advertisements
abound during and subsequent to
every international confiagration. and
1t would scarcely be believed that even
to this day the London Tt1tes still
prints Advertisements asking for news
Of British officers who have been
missing" since the Boer war. nineteen
years ago.
Most Terrible List Of All.
Appalling as is the list Of the killed |
and Of the wounded, the number Of
those returned as missing. Is still more |
terrible. According to figures compiled !
by the Under Secretary Of State for |
War in Paris. and presented to the
Legislature OF France the other day, |
49, 49, @0n ~
men missing. Great Britain's missing /
are still more numerous, amounting i
eto 359,145. The United States has a.
1861 missing. that is to say, soldiers
: and officers who have vanished from |
tzsisht in the fighting. s:.s. 20. -
= That some OF these 1861 missing |
'doughboys may still be living and may |
{ vet be eventually restored to their |
srnment may DO relied upon to do |
over, thing in Its power TO seek clues
as to their fate. The British authori- |
ties, in Difference to vigorous demands !
in Parliament, have inaugurated a |
. most exhaustive search throughout |
every corner and nook of Germany |
and Austria Hungary. Of Bulgaria and |
= OF Turkey. TO find out what has be- |
foes have shown such a sinister in |
genuity in devising horrible methods |
Of warfare that they may be relied
upon to have invented all sorts Of |
equally resourceful ways OF hiding |
prisoners.
: thousand chances may have beset |
:. the paths Of men reported missing. |
They may have lost their memory |
E. and be numbered, nameless, on the |
= muster roll OF prison camps Over a |
million OF Russian soldiers are known |
=. to have succumbed to disease and mall |
n treatment in German prison camps, !
hundreds Of thousands Of them with |
q out being identified. Again there may !
be hundreds Of American. British and |
u French prisoners who as vet know !
!, nothing OF the safety that the armls-