Show LIFE in PRISON PHI GAMP man released from the isle of wight gives his experiences per perien lences ces WAS NOT TREATED BADLY interned german germans are well supplied with food and dive diversion rol ona so self if governing prison camp abuses are remedied by FREDA london wishing to obtain some authentic information about the life of 0 alien enemies I 1 in the internment funta I 1 went to see my friend lud vig who bad had been interned six weeks week la the Knock sloe camp on tho the isle ale of wight and who now waa was released on the ground of having no nationality at all ludwig was born in russia of german oatman parents patents lie had been educated there bad had married a russian taken part in the revolutionary movement of 0 the university of moscow students and finally bad had been expelled by the russian rushton police polica doing to germany hero he was not only not welcomed but was denied the rights of 0 german nationality at last after some years spent in bulgaria and france be he came to london when the war brote out all germans were forced to register my friend from an excess of honesty con aided to the police the puzzle of bis his nationality from an excess ol 01 pru dence the authorities interned him until his big papera papers of identity had been examined did you find life in the camp very hard I 1 asked existence in the camp he be bald said in quite bearable of 0 course one must fix in ones one mind once for all that one iii I 1 no longer tree free and has to submit to regulations within certain limits however we wore were quite at liberty to organize our internal life and we in our compound made full use of this permission we chose among us our own police tor for each section and this arrangement worked eo so perfectly that the english soldier guards left the keeping of order entirely to ho he men elected by us and rind entered only on oil their re questa good deal of antless and friction being avoided in consequence I 1 generally speaking the food I 1 Is a good tood and sufficient settling the meat question each person Is supposed to receive aalf a pound ot of ecat including tut at and bones or four ounces of corned beef dut but the german cooks who are appointed and paid by the english contractors are band hand in glove with their masters and even some of the officials know what Is going on in any case the amount of cooked meat each man receives Is nearer two than eight ounces this question of the meat portions has his given rise to much friction and was at the bottom of the riots in the douglas camp when many were killed and wounded I 1 was impressed at once by the evi dent disparity of the official and this real portions of meat and consulted fd rd with my fellow prisoners whenever neTer a public question his to be debated a general meeting Is called A resola lion tion was pan and a delegate delp gato sent to the governor As similar eions bad had been forwarded to him on several occasions be he told Us but that now we would receive each our half hall pound round of 0 raw abla caused amoni the wealthy prisoners who did not like at all the idea of having to cook their own dinners the poorer ones proposed to find ond among the prisoners ome some cooks and waiters who could prepare the food for u us all together but a resolution was carried by the majority asking the governor to revert to the old way As a result of our protest however we received afterward somewhat larger portions nf the next cause ot of trouble arose in this way an excellent rule had been made by the authorities that hot water could bo be obtained in the 11 clat cookhouse from early morning till late at night out but the german cook cooks ea an forced an unwritten law that a penny must be paid by each person each time hot water was required I 1 paid my penny alce everybody else and obtained tho hot kot water at once I 1 no however a sailor who did ort art get any until all had been set aed wl en asked for an explanation be he frankly told me that be had no money and therefore was boycotted by the coolie cooks the next day I 1 asked for water but did not pay on the daya days I 1 was ignored by the cooks at my mr request our section chief called a general nit meeting eting to which I 1 mae maee my complaint about the impossibility of procuring hot water without payment and ex explained plaineS that as about three thousand men three timea times dally fetched hot water thia this meant about 93 3 to 14 4 15 to 20 a day for the six cooks accordingly a unanimous resolution was sent to the governor who promptly abolished the abuso abuse camp affair affairs As a rule the military officials were willing to make any aug sug by ui us for instance Ine tanco there wa was much delay in the delivery of letters und postal parcels sent to the prison ere ern I 1 propos proposed id that a few reliable prisoners pria onera toe be placed in the censors of rice open the par garcis cIs in hie his presence pretence and after hit inspection cloae them up anotn this plan waa was agreed to and it worked splendidly also one hundred Par parcels cats the addresses addre isea of which had bad been lost under the uld old system were on our suggestion ex posed in the camp and speedily epee dlly reclaimed by their owners according to official instructions our huts buts bad to be scrubbed twice monthly we decided to every week each ot of ua us in whether it wax was a wealthy banker from the city or a penniless waiter from soho bobo each one did hie his work without only ore elderly merchant offered fly live shillings to anyone willing to do his share not because I 1 do not want to scrub he explained but be became ause tor for three day days after ding so I 1 capiot more without pain in my back A young fellow contented consented to do the job for him for sixpence some of the prisoners received neither money nor parcels and therefore bad to subsist entirely on the rations ot of course did not include luxuries when quarrels break out everything that tends to amp U aap the mea buy bisy Is because a r i tain tala amount of nervousness anc ano irritability Is inevitable when ds of men are suddenly taken from bleir work and forced to ITO live together at close quarters tors quarrels anak out easily and may quickly dan genots proportion proportions one afternoon a carman baker commented bitterly on the antl and cur car man riots in london which had ru ined him served you right 1 said a young fellar tell thoughtlessly the next moment tie has nearly lynched by the baker bakers friend friends I 1 managed to get him surrounded by more peaceable persons and proposed to call our own police no no the crowd shouted father ludwig you go and ettle settle the quarrel it was cot rot a difficult talk task as an the young man made a complete apology one one tine evening wo we etro standing outside our but contemplating the larry sky ky while white our doctor friend gave ui us gome agronomical astronomical alons 8 ddenny a hot shot eL in a moment there was a wild confusion cou fusion in the camp and tho combined edfort of all the more responsible men wore were required to subdue it we learned afterward that the entry sentry had hot shot at a man who tried to escape the elsi et ments of a trag tragedy dy or t f a panic are always pre present tent and tho the only antidote Is I 1 work of courie course there la Is music besides Bei ldes we hod had it la is aad said that when half ball a dozed amana get together ome some sort of musical society Is sure to u in formed to 0 o you car imag ins that Is flourishing la in the number of first rat rate cam amp p seeing the musicians interned I 1 wondered bow how london orchestra orchestras could exist at all excelled excellent choir choirs and banda bands bare bave been formed and these give performances but never without serious tion they know their audience aud lenco would not tolerate amateL amateurish rish efforts when the instruments cannot be obtained from outside they are made in the camp and some are weird enough to arouse the envy of a futurist ut urlet corn com the bandsman bandsmen are dressed to in full german military uniform made la in the camp even the fabrication of a offers no difficulty when pots and pan pans are at hard cullver 11 pa per from chocolate and tobacco pack inic ing Is to wasted and clay plays an im part not only in the making of 0 uniform uniforms but in the acting ot of play plays these alao also are veil well rehearsed rebea reed before being offered to the public every performance te to announced by A band m marching mir ching through the grounds groi indi and playing loudly to attract attention one of 0 the greatest frea teet suo uc besses in the show line vaa wax the circus one day there wai was an elo elephant made of gray blankets and tour our or five men which would have deceived anyone ite its antics were wars so truly elephantine ph antine that prisoners prie onore english guarda guards and officers alike all were ere in fits of laughter especially when the penny a ride part began and the th trunk disclosed a broomstick ai an found dation the poem that wa was rebuked then we bad had recitation ereal ngi A poet among us recited his own work A significant len incident occurred during that evening the first number numbers were of a quile character pa meter but the chief hem item waa was a patti otto otle poem it recital of bow how thousands of russian soldiers old tere had been lured into the bla bog bogs and drowned like rate it was recel with stormy applause I 1 felt indig nant and that some of my table dansons Dan lons aleo also looked uneasy I 1 got up and asked permission toady a fey low words it waa granted I 1 first congratulated the pet on his ht skill but protested against the spirit ot of the poem which invited us to gloat over the death agony of soldiers lold lora probably as bravo ae as any other others I 1 reminded the public that hundreds of german soldiers were drowned in to flooded flanders terrible incidents denta ot of war but not subjects for epic epics A growing applause bowed showed me we I 1 had not appealed in tain vain to the thinking portion of my tay fellow follow prisoner prisoners the act him tolf talf came to me a few day days laier loiter and aid said you know father ludwig I 1 have been thinking over what you aid said and I 1 will not hare have the poem published 1 11 I became sincerely attached to ny guy fellow prisoners who ho bowed showed m a all in spite of the fact tint vitt my opinions offer diametrically opposed to theirs when then the order for my re reace aee ama the shook hand hands a alth iab me and thanked me m for the good su gest ions and improvements which we had made in pur our camp |