The sun., 1919-07-13

LOru chamberlain IN posse WHO at
tended the Prince was himself useful
to Capt. Yeats-Brown and other pris-
oners by smuggling notes, to their
friends and buying cigars. drinks.
patience cards. novelties and other of
the forbidden Injuries. $50 80
The Desertsrs I'm Cages.
On the ground floor were three old
sheds. in which Turkish deserters lived
like animals, behind the bars Of great
wooden cages. Spies of all nationali-
ties might be found in the under
ground rooms ana cells, There were
so-called officers quarters; there were
punishment dens from which, SO said
rumor, nobody ever issued: and there
was on the top floor very large room.
in which fifty or more Turkish officers
were expiating such crimes as speak
Ing unexpectedly OF the Germans or
being seen drinking in public place.
Then there were the wretched cells
OF the more than wretched Armenians.
In July, 1918. several hundred Arme-
Man civilians were awaiting trial in
the prison. Every day. with their heavy
chains. they clanked past Capt. Yeats
Browns cell on their way to THE
Hall Of Justice" This was a fine
room. with lordly sweep OF view
over old STEAMBOAT and the blue wa
ters of the Marmora- Why any one
ever chose q building 30 magnificently
situated to be q common prison II o
mystery. But having chosen II there
was something dramatic in the con-
trast afforded by that Hall OF Justice,
with its beautiful views and bestial
occupants.
Where every prospect pleases and
only man IL vile" Very vile were the
men who sat in that Hall Of Justice
and spent their days In fiogging and
torturing the heavily chained Arme-
mans who were brought before them.
Capt. Yeats-Brown's cell looked
across a courtyard into the windows
Of this chamber Of horrors. Generally
the blinds were down, and only faint
screams told Of the infamies that
passed therein. But once the blinds
were left up, and for about a quarter
Of an hour. until he could bear It no
longer and made a futile attempt to
force his way out of his cell. the Brit
ish officer watched the Gross exami-
nation" OF an old Armenian woman.
Two Turkish officers were specta-
tors OF the scene. SO was the old
woman's son, aged Is. This lad
crawled about the room on hands and
knees. dragging his chains and implor-
ing first the officers. then the police
man who was beating his mother. to
have mercy on her age and weakness.
The woman was beaten with a stick
as thick as a mans wrist until she fell
down and tainted. She WIS then
kicked in the face and prodded with
the stick until she arose.
From the position in which Capt
Yeats-Brown, observer of this scene,
was placed he could hear nothing but
the muffied sound of moaning, al
though the gestures and expressions
Of every one in the room were terribly
graphic. Even now, he says, the
me nory of that savage pantomime
sometimes holds sleep at arms length
A Visit to the Prison.
A fire would be the cleanest thing
that could happen to the Ministry OF
War prison at Constantinople. Not
all the perfumes OF Arabia, not all the
disinfectants of the world, could rid
the place of its vermin or scour It OF
its faint of disease and death. Come
with me on visit TO this inferno Of
the damned as it was less than a year
ago.
We go downstairs into the darkness
A sentry leads us along the corridor
to an iron portal, Just like that of
which Dante wrote: 'I.asciate ogni
speranza vol ch'entrate" CAba ndon
all hope. ye who enter here").
We are in long, low room. airless,
i'll lit, filthy with tomato skins and
bits OF bread Well fed rats scurrv
among the garbage. Ill fed prisoners,
mostly Greeks and Armenians. pace
the room forlornly. scratching them
selves and gnawing dry crusts. These
are the lucky prisoners, who have no
chains riveted onto their wrists and
ankles. Some have been awaiting
trial for six months or more. Few
Complain OF the delay. for their trial
will take place in the Hall OF Justice
and their punishment will probably
follow in those dark little cells close
by their present quarters.
These cells have neither light nor
ventilation, except through a trap in
the door. This opens into the main
room just described. which is Itself
below ground level. They are six feet
long by four wide. In solitude and
obscurity. fettered by wrist and ankle
to shackles that weigh a hundred
weight, human beings 1--we there for
months and even years, II death does
not release them.
These wretchcd men are ravenous
and verminous, but they have not al
together lost hope and self-respect.
Ono Greek. accused OF espionage lived
under such conditions for eleven
months. He was n rich man in the
outside world, and the authorities had
allowed his friends to provide SO a
month TO supplement his prison fare OF
bread and water. At that time So
was just sufficient TO buy one simple
square meal in Constantinople. But
this Greek did not complain.
THE war will be over soon" he said
to Capt. Yeats-Brown, who had given
him a cigarette. MY God, how good
tobacco tastes. And how long are you
in for, my friend? But he careful
the sentries must not see you speak
ing TO me.
Yes, the chains were bad at first"
hp continued, when the sentry's hack
was turned. But one gets used u
everything in time And have had
A