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Show TRADING WRECKS OF MEN FROM WAR PRISONS OF GERMANY AND RUSSIA Correspondent Witnesses Repatriation of Teutons and Departure of Russians Consumptives Selected by Germans From Various Camps to Avoid Infecting Other Released Captives. By CYRIL BROWN, Correspondent of New York Times. (Carried by Submarine Deutschland.) Sassnitz 1 have experienced much on many fronts, but never so poignantly poignant-ly the pure essence of tragedy as "when the dead awaken" the moment when hopelessly war-damaged prisoners prison-ers are metamorphosed by the illusory hope of a new existence from dumb brutes, deadened by long captivity and physical misfortune, into men again; when they touch home soil, if they are Germans or Austrinns, or leave the enemy's en-emy's shores forever if they are Russians. Rus-sians. Generally once, frequently three times a week, this dramatic episode is played on the strand of the Baltic at the pleasant summer resort of Sass-nitz, Sass-nitz, on the emerald island of Ruegen, five hours' sail from the Swedish port of Trelloborg, when the good ship of mercy, the Swedish Red Cross hospital ship Aeolus, old seadog Captain Brand commanding, brings its pitiful freight of exchanged prisoners from Russia and loads a similar return cargo. Owing Ow-ing to the general Russian offensive, which so taxed the Russian strategic railways that no rolling stock could be spared for the shipment of prisoners to Sweden, this humane exchange had been suspended for several months, but I was able to witness its resumption. resump-tion. To get the complete picture you must begin with a tour of this little, old-fashioned, old-fashioned, staid seaside town. The summer girl has gone home to Berlin and the provinces. The stony strand Is deserted of happy children and anxious grown-ups. (Deleted by censor.) cen-sor.) Tfie venders of amber souvenirs a specialty of Sassnitz of picture postals, memorial shells and edibles are hoarding up their booths. Save for a few belated holidaying stragglers, the modest seaside hotels are dead yet your trained nose detects an unmistakable un-mistakable air of expectancy about town. For this is exchange-prisoner day, an event In the life of this fortunate fortu-nate far-off community, where otherwise other-wise the waves of war cause hardly a faint ripple. Native beauties young girls and others of a more matronly topography dressed In white, are hurrying hur-rying strandward bearing bunches of early fall flowers and of oak leaves, with which to decorate the returning heroes. tral correspondents are all hurrying downhill to the strand as the small Sassuitz Hafen railroad station, well known to American tourists who have voyaged to or from Sweden by the Trelleborg route. The Aeolus is rounding round-ing the long breakwater; at her fore-masthead fore-masthead she flies the Red Cross flag, and, like all neutral ships that travel these precarious world-war waters she has her national colors yellow cross on blue field painted on her sides. She also wears full gala flag dress; but the little port is flagged, so are the great steamer ferries that transport whole freight trains between Sweden and Germany, and flagged, too, is the German trawler fleet within the breakwater. break-water. The usual agitation that accompanies accompa-nies steamer arrivals the world over seizes those on shore, including the two score of white-dressed young girls and matrons who garrison certain long, low, gray sheds where flower-brightened tables have been set for 300, including in-cluding also the local landsturm band, which goes into battle formation beside be-side the landing stage; including also certain German officers replete with a sense of duty and importance ; including includ-ing also the inevitable prince who is to be the orator of the sad, happy occasion, oc-casion, and who, I dare say, is thinking think-ing hard of those well-chosen words he is about to deliver. A pathetic touch, it seems, that there are no friends or relatives to welcome those sorry, .broken war tourists. And then follow a few moments which even hardened war correspondents won't forget, as the littls Swedish hospital steamer creeps shoreward and moors at the quay. It is as strange a ship's company as you are likely ever to see docked. The exchange prisoners are massed on the fore and after decks, and line the rail, some eagerly leaning over toward land and liberty, others too far gone, sunk in apathy from which seemingly nothing can arouse them. The overwhelming over-whelming majority are Austro-Hunga-rian soldiers; there is a sprinkling-of officers and of Germans. When they are within fifteen feet of shore the landsturm band begins playing the German national anthem, "Heil dir im Siegeskranz," which is likewise "God Sr.7? the K.ipg" and "My Country, 'TIs of Thee," those on shore lolnine in discordant chorus. It is in- heavy struggle against half rht- world. A new ami treacherous enemy has joined our foes, but I am glad to be able to tell you that Gennan-r.ulgari-ans under Field Marshal von Mackeu-scn Mackeu-scn are advancing victoriously in the Dobrudja. In telephonic conversation with his majesty the kaiser last night, his majesty ordered me to tell you that a decisive victory had been won over the Roumanian and Russian armies." This announcement of Roumanian Rou-manian defeat moved the cripples and consumptives to a pathetically weak "Hurrah." which strengthened as the aged prince called for three cheers for Kaiser Wilhelm and Kaiser Franz Joseph. Jo-seph. Then they were allowed to come ashore. With the neatness of a long-practiced long-practiced military evolution, German ambulance men swarmed up the gangplank, gang-plank, and two and two they led, mora often carried, the released prlsoner-off prlsoner-off the ship, set them on their feet arm led them to be presented to the prince and his entourage, after which they were placed in chairs about the tables in the long dining 6heds. Cigars, cignrettes, picture postal cards and German newspapers were distributed among them ; bunches of oak leaves were fastened on them by enthusiastic women ; they were dined and wined and beered to the limit, and enjoyed the process hugely, but they were also required re-quired to do some work. Soldiers of the local garrison passed from table to table, submitting printed lists and photographs of missing German soldiers sol-diers and officers to them, which they were asked to examine and, if they could identify any of the names or photographs, give any information possible pos-sible regarding the missing. Then, one at a time, the exchanged German prisoners were led out of the dining room to a nearby dressing room and there stripped of their worn uniforms, uni-forms, which were replaced by brand-new brand-new equipment. The pride on their faces as they limped back looking like real soldiers again was worth noting, and more than one looked as if he still had a lot of fight left in him. It was one of the most remarkable lightning changes I had seen in the course of the war. . The Landsturm band never stopped playing during these proceedings, discoursing dis-coursing chiefly military marches, with native dances thrown in for the benefit, of the Austro-Hungarians, the Germans well knowing and making ample use of the tonic effect of brass band music; and it was worth while watching the rapid reaction of the liberated prisoners prison-ers to it. Returned Prisoners Quarantined. Three hours later all were loaded into waiting hospital trains, the Germans Ger-mans to be transported to a quarantine hospital in Bremen, the Austro-Hungarians to quarantine stations on the German-Austrian border, where they will be detained for an observation period of 17 days. Then they will be allowed to return to their homes, These occasional little war cameos bring home to you the seamy side of the war as no great battle picture can ; you realize what the war means to the Innocent individual, and not a field of a thousand dead will fill you with such horror and repugnance to the whole business as this prisoner ship film. And just as moving as the return of the Austro-Germans was the departure depar-ture of the Russian exchange prisoners early this morning. The local stages that had carried summer guests between the stntion and the hotels, these coughing consumptives consump-tives were brought from town down to the waterfront, where they (deleted by the censor) were led or carried by German ambulance men on to the Aeolus Aeo-lus and (technically) Swedish soil. They were free men, but they didn't look it. They drooped in steamer chairs and on the benches that paralleled the steamer rails like a lot of very wet chickens. They looked broken in body and spirit, but this appearance was in part deceptive. Swedish nurses circulated circu-lated among them and gave each Russian Rus-sian a paper bag containing a first breakfast a white roll sausage sandwich. sand-wich. The released prisoners brightened bright-ened up and proceeded to take a new interest in life. Swedes Feed the Russians. Even before the Aeolus sailed, Immediately Imme-diately after the first, a second breakfast break-fast was served to the Russians by the hard-headed Swedes, who went on the sensible theory that the best cure for melancholy Is a full stomach. Swedish Rod Cross nurses now distributed plates heaped with boiled sausages and potatoes, with a knife, fork and spoon, to each Russian prisoner, to the great puzzlement of not a few of them. One Russian, whom I watched carefully, tucked the knife In his boot top and sat on the plated fork and spoon, then comfortably ate boiled potatoes and tore up the sausage with his fingers. One of the young Swedish girls gave him his first Instruction in the manipulation manipu-lation of polite table hardware, and as long as she watched him he made a noble effort to carve the sausage with his knife; the moment she left he relapsed re-lapsed into the primitive again. The members of this consumptive crew were obviously going home but to die. Yet as the hospital ship slowly headed into the Baltic they too saw some bright mirage of a new existence. Those who could stand rose to attention atten-tion and saluted the German officers on the pier, wno returned the salute; and as the Aeolus moved off Sweden-ward Sweden-ward the continuous consumptive coughing of those Russians, sounding like a distant machine gun, was broken by a faint, feeble cheer to the watchers watch-ers on shore. To date, In round numbers 17,000 Russians have been exchanged here at Rnssnitz for 8,000 Austro-Hungarlans and 2,000 Germans An All-Tuberculosis Shipment. The Times correspondent meanwhile visits the local music hall, where the Russian prisoners to be exchanged are bedded, having had a thorough enforced en-forced rest preparatory to standing the short but rough Baltic crossing to Sweden. Swe-den. I find more Russians in the Vik-toria Vik-toria hotel and other hotels about 280 of them all victims of tuberculosis. This arouses curiosity, but proves no coincidence. They have been carefully picked from the prison camps of Austria Aus-tria and Germany for an all-tuberculosis shipment sensible segregation rather than to have a sprinkling of white-plague sufferers infecting a mixed shipment of cripples. These poor wretches lie hacking and coughing, cough-ing, many obviously in advanced stages of the disease, in cots on the floor and stage of the music hall, their faces are impressive, hopeless. Captivity has turned gray the unkempt hair and beards of many ; but there are also broken youths, some mere boys. The bulk of them have been shipped from Austrian camps, as the Russians have (deleted by the censor) more Austro-Hungarian Austro-Hungarian than German prisoners and consequently exchange more Austro-Ilungariaus Austro-Ilungariaus than Germans. The Austrians are sending home their prisoners In good shape as to equipment. A new pair of black leather leath-er boots stands at the foot of each cot, and beside them lies a new convict suit of dark brown material, with a round cap to match. The equipment furnished fur-nished to returning Russian prisoners was formerly not so good, I learned ; there is obviously a laudable desire to improve, however. The Russlnns are already having a foretaste of liberty a toucb of neutrality, at least In the shape of a pretty little Red Cross nurse, Miss Marie Oestlin, who has been In America ; In fact, had nurse-hood nurse-hood conferred on her by the Illinois Training school of Chicago. Miss Oestlin, Oest-lin, who has much to say in praise of American humanltarianism, notably of the splendid work done by American Red Cross surgeons and nurses during the war, has been continuously on duty in Sassnitz since August, 1015, ministering minis-tering to Russian exchange prisoners, and wears part of her material reward In the form of Austrian and German Red Cross medals on her starched Swedish uniform. In a private room in the Viktoria hotel I meet and try to talk with a handful of Russian officers, the only nonconsumptlves In the shipment, but make little headway, as one Is a Cos-:ack Cos-:ack captain, who does not speak Russian, Rus-sian, and all are impervious to Broadway Broad-way German, bad French, and alleged Spanish. Town and Harbor Bedecked. Voices outside proclaim that the hospital ship Aeolus has been sighted. Armed German bandsmen, army and navy officers, soldiers, sailors, townsmen, towns-men, women, children, dogs and neu- terestlng to note how the magic of music stirs the souls of the sorry prisoner crew ; how military discipline slowly triumphs over physical and mental suffering. The few Austrian officers on the deck of the Aeolus are the first to salute and stand snappily at attention, though several are propped on crutches, together with the sprinkling of German prisoners whose iron discipline is the quickest to reassert re-assert itself. The lame, halt, and blind, the one-armed, and one-legged, and the paralyzed, including one hJdeously misshapen mis-shapen gargoyle hung between two crutches these Germans all react as one man to the patriotic air and struggle to straighten up, and some of them painfully succeed in stiffening rigidly to parade posture and salute their flag in regulation fashion, while the worst damaged, for whom this is a physical impossibility, salute with rigid heads, some only with their eyes. The less damaged Austro-Hungarian soldiers (deleted by the censor) joined their German comrades in misfortune, and were moved to spirited enthusiasm when the Landsturm band next played the Austrian national anthem, which slowly affected even the most seriously crippled and roused them from their dead stupor. Austrian caps, one after the other, were doffed ; bared, bowed heads were thrown back again with something of pride ; these frowzy, shabby shab-by wrecks of soldiers, (deleted by the censor), being of softer metal than the Germans, were many of them moved to tears by the tune of their national anthem. an-them. They were not allowed to come ashore at once. There was still some official ceremonial to be run off. While women on shore tossed flowers, cigars, and cigarettes to them, which the physically able eagerly grabbed after, the Swedish national anthem had still to be played and sung as a deserved tribute to the good neutral offices that had made possible this humane exchange ex-change of prisoners; the prince of Putbus, gray-haired and gray-bearded, and wearing the field gray uniform of a colonel of Prussian Uhlans, blazing with orders, there as the kaiser's personal per-sonal representative, and owning half the Island of Ruegen, on which the prisoners pris-oners were about to land, had still to mount an Improvised rostrum bowered with pine branches and deliver his address ad-dress of welcome. Welcomed by a Prince. "Comrades," he said in that husky bark peculiar to German officers long accustomed to command, "In the name of the kaiser and all Germany I welcome wel-come you, returning heroes, to home soil." The damaged heroes continued to stand at patient, respectful attention. atten-tion. "Your term of languishing in enemy Imprisonment Is hnppily over; your fatherland will do all It possibly can to repay your sacrifice by caring for you. "Yet stand our Joined fatherlands in |