Cottonwood Chronicle Newspaper, August 16, 1918, Page 2

aS ny it final DESCRIBES BRUTAL GERMAN PRISONS French Soldier Tells How Huns Fed Prisoners Food Even Dogs Refused. TREATED WORSE THANBEASTS Rendered Half Insane by Hunger Men Fight Among Themselves for Scraps of Food—Sawdust and Straw in Bread. Bangor, Me.—In contrast with the anxiety or willingness of the German soldier to fall captive to the allies, so often manifested, is the declaration of Gaston Julian Defoirdt of Woonsocket, R. L, now visiting relatives here, that he would much rather die fighting on the front line than to go through such pains and miseries as he endured in two years spent in a German prison camp. Defoirdt, who is twenty-four and well educated, was visiting in France when the war came and very ‘soon he was in the ranks. On the sec- ond day of his service at the front he was wounded in the left ear by a frag- ment of shrapnel and three days later he was taken prisoner. With many other prisoners he was sent to the rear, and there they were loaded like so many cattle {nto freight ears and started on a seven days’ ride to the prison camp at Altengrabow. “At every way station, where the train stopped,” says Defoirdt, “the German people gathered round. and threw stones and spat in our faces. We were subjected to all sorts of in- sults, Many of us were wounded, yet we get no attention whatever, being given scarcely food enough to keep us alive and made to sleep on the floors of the dirty freight cars. “When finally we found ourselves in the German prison camp conditions were worse rather than better. There were about 25,000 men at Altengrabow, all nationalities mingled. We were guarded by German soldiers who had been incapacitated for service at the front and who on account of their wounds were revengeful toward us, Dogs Refused Prison Fare. “Tt would be difficult to picture in words the awful conditions prevailing in that camp. Our det consisted for the most part of hot water and de- cayed vegetables—they called it soup, Sometimes we were given herbs mixed with grass to eat, Under such treat- ment the strongest men soon fell sick and were scarcely able to move about. The smell of this soup often was so nauseating that men held their noses while eating it. Dogs would take one sniff at it and refuse to eat, At times the men became so des- perately hungry that they caught and ate rats and even a dog. Occasionally we were given herring broth, made by boiling whole, uncleaned herrings into a thin Hquid, the heads, bones and seales of the fishes being served with the rest, One of the prisoners was op- erated on for appendicitis after his transfer and four herring heads were found lodged in his intestines, “I have seen prisoners, rendered half insane by hunger, fighting among them- selves for bits of food. If one’s ra- tions were stolen or taken from him by force and he complained to the guard the answer would be: ‘Why, are you not all friends—allies? Surely there can be nothing to complain of” When the nettral commission would visit the camps the prisoners would be given ‘a short cut of frankfurter sausage and a lump of bread, ‘so that it might ap- pear that they were fairly well fed. Sawdust Bread. “This bread contained all sorts of stuff, such as potato peelings, straw and sawdust. All prisohers were made to sign papers indicating their willing: ness to work. If they refused to sign they were severely punished. The men supposed that they were to engage in farm work, but were sent to coal mines, salt mines and munitions fac- tories. I refused to work in ‘a muni- tions factory and was tied to a post for three hours. One group of pris- oners who persistently refused to work were told that they would be shot ‘and were placed under a special guard. At the end of 11 days, during which they momentasily expected to be executed, they were told that their lives would be spared. “While in prison I slept on the same cot for 18 months and in all that time the straw was not changed. When 1 left the straw was as fine as dust and alive with vermin. After 18 months at Altengrabow I was transferred to Mersburg. After an exchange of pris- oners had been effected I was taken to Qénstance, where I was provided with @ new suit of clothes nnd'was well fed and kindly treated for eight days be- fore being turned over to the allies, I suppose this was done in the hope that in my new comfort ard the joy at be- ing released I might forget the past. “In Switzerland I was taken in charge by the Red Cross and kept in the ‘hospital there for 14 months. Had the Germans given re proper treat- ment for my wound I would have re- covered in a few weeks; as it was, after years of neglect, dirt, semistar- vation and hard work, I was in such condition when released that for a time my life was despaired of. Hven now, after the best ef’orts of the Red Cross physicians’ and nurses, the left side of my face is pa :tially paralyzed benndg can see but lit le with my left es iit: Shae ENEMY AGENT BLAMED FOR POOR WHEAT CROP Salem, O.—Enemy agents are blamed for an insect pest which has reduced Butler’ township’s bumper wheat crop to much less than normal. The ravages of the insect have been tremen- dous. Last winter the farmers now remember an aged man of German extraction was _ ob- served wandering about the township visiting wheat fields to the exclusion of others, and © apparently digging in them with his hands, as if burying some- thing in the soil. OWN GUNS SLAY FOE Yankees Take Weapons and Turn Them on Hun. Run Out of Ammunition and Make Night Raid on Trenches for More, With the American Army in France, —Turning “Heinie’s” own machine guns back on him is the newest and favorite stunt in a certain American outfit. | The boys just stumbled onto this sport, and they like it. : Recently in raids the boys brought back some German machine guns, after driving the Germans away from their own strongholds, “Why not use these German guns on the Heinies?” one thinking doughs boy asked his pals. “You're crazy; we haven’t any ame munition that’ll fit them.” “Why can’t we go over and .get some?” replied the thinker, “Never thought of that,” repHed the others; “we're on.” That night they raided the German trenches and brought back plenty of ammunition and nother German mae chine gun. Next day the guns were playing on the “Heinies.” “They’re darned good machine guns,” said one.chap enthusiastically, “but the Heinies don’t know how to use them. We do, though. We're get- ting a little low on ammunition. Guess we'll have to run over to Germany to- night and make ’em hand out some more,” BATHTUB AT THE FRONT: The boys see to it that their -pets get a scrubbing up once in a while, too, Photo shows a Canadian giving his pet a much-needed wash during a rest from the line, DIE OF HUNGER IN ALASKA Many Natives in Western Part of Country Perish From Lack of Food, as Seattle, Wash.—Nearly one hundred natives of the Kuskokwim mining dis- trict of Western Alaska died this spring from want of food, according to officers of a Seattle schooner which arrived here recently after carrying supplies to the North. Last winter was so severe, the officers said, that the natives were unable to hunt or fish, The seamen said they rescued twelve miners from starvation at Good News, The twelve had lived on moss until the arrival of the schooner, which was delayed by the late breaking up of Behring ice. MANY MILLIONS FEWER BORN War Costs Europe 12,500,000 Potens tial Lives an Expert Reports. London.—The war has caused the belligerent countries of Europe the loss of not less than 12,500,000 poten- tial lives because of the decrease in the number of births resulting from the war, says Sir Bernard Mallet, reg istrar general of Great Britain. This country, he asserts, has lost in these Potential lives 650,000 children. He believes that other belligerent coun- tries have suffered in this respect more than has Great Britain. Sir Bernard estimated that every day of the war means a loss of 7,000 potential lives of children to the Uniied Kingdom, LIFE IS SAVED BY HANBKERCHIEF Aviator, Stranded in No Man’s Lanu, Faces Fire of Friend and Foe, WAVED SIGHAL TO FRENCH By Fast Running Sergeant Baugham Reaches Comrades in Safety—is Rewarded With Military Med- al by the French, Washington.—Flight' Sergeant James H. Baugham of Washington, who was transferred from the Lafayette esca- drille to the Paris Air Defense squad- ron, has been reported a prisoner in unofficial advices to his -mother, Mrs, Mary A. Baugham, president of the Dixie Agricultural company of Wash- ington. Sergeant Baugham joined the Lafayette escadrille in 1917 when he was eighteen years old and won the Military medal, the highest French honor to noncommissioned men. The incident that earned the ser- geant the medal was described in a let- ter he wrote recently. Paying tribute to the wonderful spirit of his French comrades, Sergeant Baugham said: “We had been sent out to patrot back of the German lines and to at- tack anything enemy we saw. Having incendiary balls in my gun, I was pre- pared to attack a German ‘sausage’ or observatory balloon, Just as I was beginning the descent to attack, I saw a Boche airplane going in the direction of our lines to do photographic work. I put on full speed and signaled to the other planes to follow. They evident- ly did not see my signal, for they didn’t go dpwn with me. When I got 100 meters from the Boche I started firing. The enemy replied by turning loose both guns at me. I must have got him, however, with the first blast, for when I pulled up to make another dive he was silent. “Then something happened’ that would make the goodest man on earth cuss, and as I am not one of the best, you can imagine that I left little un- said. My motor stopped absolutely dead. There was only one thing for me to do and that was to dive, lose the Boche and try to volplane to the French lines. As I went past the Ger- man machine it immediately came down and, putting some nice steel very close to him, I did all the acrobacy IT had ever learned. When I had finished I found. that I had come down from 10,000 to 1,000 feet and there was no Boche in sight, Alone In No Man’s Land. “I then looked around for a place to land. I saw a fairly good place off to the right and made it. I then stepped out of the machine—right on the face of a dead German, It took me a min- ute to realize what was happening and I awoke to the sound of bullets whiz- zing past my head. That didn’t disturb me much, because I was wondering why somebody hadn’t buried the Ger- man. Looking around, however, all i could see was dead Germans. lt sud- denly dawned on me that I was in No Man’s Land. Of all the places there are to land in France and Germany I had to land between the two. “Then I realized what a predicament I was in and began to think up some way to get out of it. The thought came to me that if I was nearer the German lines than to the French, I had better get rid of those incendiary balls in my pocket, for if the Germans catch you with them you are shot at once. I climbed back into my machine to the tune of bullets and took out a load of over 300 cartridges, threw them on the ground and then removed my compass and altimeter, “The first thing I struck was a grave, unfinished, with two of the enemy in it. I eased myself down into it, lifted up one of the Germans and put the cartridges beneath him. I started walking back to my machine. As I got near it the Boche lines started their mitrailleurs and rifles af me, and the French, unaware that I was one of them, also opened up. I had to walk 500 feet between the lines and it was no joke with all that fire concentrated | in my direction. One bullet passed so close to my face that I really felt the wind. I decided that I'd have to go to one of the lines, enemy or friend, but just then T heard & machine overhead, I looked up and saw white puffs breake ing out all around it. Signaled With Handkerchief. “On the way the fire got so hot I had to fall face down, and I didn't move for, I guess, five: minutes. There being’no good reason for my being shot like a dog, I yanked out my hand- kerchief and waved it at the French lines. “They finally got it, after ten min- utes of waving, and. I saw a French officer beckoning me from a bit of woods. If there ever has been a faster 50-yard sprint I never heard of it. i ran so fast that I ran right into the officer, and very nearly knocked his re- volver out of his hund. I showed him my identification card and then started cursing him for shooting at me. He had been taking potshots at me out there. He apologized, saying that he could only see my head, because his position was slightly lower than No Man’s Land. “They took me up to the divistonal | general, and I reported that I had seen more than 300 dead Germans and only two Frenchmen. It made him so happy that he gave me a dinner, and compli- mented me for being a good soldier.” ee od > CHAMPION JONAH MAN OF AMERICA IS: CLAIM Los Angeles.—R. D, Jacobs of Los Angeles says he is the cham- pion Jonah man of America. Here’s why: While instructing his wife in the use of a revolver Mrs, Ja- cobs accidentally shot her hus- band in the shou’ ... . While Jacobs was receiving treatment burglars entered the home and stripped the place. “The darned old thieves,” wail- ed Jacobs, “took everything of value except the revolver which caused all the trouble. Can you beat it?” NEEDS WALNUT WOOD Government Makes Appeal to Owners of Trees. Best Material for the Manufacture of Gun Stocks and Airplane Propellers, Washington.—American walnut has proven, under a four-year test in this war, to be the best wood for the manu- facture of airplane propellers and gun stocks. Our government will need all of this wood it can secure during the continu- ance of the conflict. It cannot buy either logs or trees, as part of the lum- ber produeed by the log is not suitable for either of the above purposes. How- ever, it urgently petitions all owners of trees or logs to sell them to one or more of the sawmills which hold gov- |° ernment contracts for gun stocks or propeller lumber. Fight with your trees. Don’t let them remain idle slackers. Owing to their inability to purchase sufficient logs the sawmills have not yet been able to supply the present re- quirements of the government and its allies, and as our participation in the actual hostilities is increasing rapidly our requirements in this wood are monthly growing heavier. Every tree counts. Half a dozen will provide lum- ber to build a propeller blade and put a gun stock into the hand of each man in the platoon, The lack of one ma- chine in the air or one platoon in the fight might turn the tide in a battle. Picture your own son or the son of your neighbor holding on and fighting against desperate odds until the com- pany er regiment your trees have armed can come to his relief. Make this relief possible. Turn your trees loose. Wake up and get into the fight, In this way you will be fighting for and with him as truly as if you stood be- side him in battle. And you have no right to do anything else. Act quickly, If you have walnut trees write today to Capt. R. L. Oakley, production di- vision, small arms section, ordnance department, Sixth and B. streets, Washington, D, C. He will put you in touch wilh several sawmills holding government contracts, any one of which will buy your trees and pay you a fair price for them, LADY STEVEDORES ON JOB Three of Them Are Fired for Cussing Others Are Giving Valu- able Service, Brooklyn, N. Y.—Sixteen women in overalls are wrestling daily with 182- pound bags of coffee and hundred- weights of sugar, working side by side with muscular men long used to this hard job. They are the new lady steve- dores hired by the New York Dock company. There would be 19 of these female dock wallopers were it not for the fact that three of the number en- gaged were fired on account of their cussing. Among the present 16 are an au- thor, a former vaudeville star, several widows, and two negro women. ‘Their hours are 7 a. m. to 5 p. m. five days a week. They are getting 82% cents an hour, the rate paid to men. H. B. Whipple, general manager, predicts a bright future for all women similarly engaged, though he really had no notion the scheme would work as well as it has, CAPTURES COUSIN IN RAID American Soldier Grabs Relative in Attack on the Hun Trenches. Hackensack, N. J.—Details of how ‘two cousins, one a corporal in the American army and the other a soldier of the kaiser, met in France after a raid were told here recently, The American is Corporal William Munz, Jr., of Hackensack, a member of the One Hundréd and Sixty-fifth in- fantry, the old “Fighting Sixty-ninth.” The German boy is Gustave Winkel- mann of Bremen, a prisoner in an American camp. Letters from Cor- poral Munz say he was in a raid against the German trenches recently and came back with a batch of pris- oners. The cuptives ‘were being identified when Winkelmann, mentioned that he had relatives in the United States. Munz asked their names and found ‘that the boy was his cousin. Ban on Basebal] Pools. Albany, N. Y¥.—The operation of baseball pools, prevalent throughout the country, has beén held’ to be book- making by the appellate division of the supreme court, third department of 6 tnnieteeene of ladies’ pumps and low shoes. Take a look at our window. Your choice of the lot for $3.25 ent sizes. J. V. Baker & Son “WHERE QUALITY AND PRICES MEET” Weseeecsecrcecceos see cee ee 0 oo cs: THERE’S a year ’round season for MAPLEINE Hot weather desserts, icings, war breads and puddings, or the heavier foods of win- ter, all are improved im- mensely by adding just a few drops of Mapleine, be- cause of its vegetable origin making it blend perfectly with every kind of food, Every season of the year is just right for Crescent Mapleine WHEATLESS BISCUITS. Parched cornmeal is the feature of these excellent wheatless biscuits, First, the cornmea!—one-half a cup— is put in a shallow pan Placed in the oven and stirred frequently until it Come early. Let a man once get the pure clean taste of Real Gravely Chewing Plug—and he bids ordinary tobacco good-bye. Real Gravely Chewing Plug 10c a pouch—and worth it Gravelylasts so machlongerit costs Romore tochewthan ordinary plag P. B. Gravely Tobacco Company uo F te Cees esececscecconcoes cts COTTONWOOD DRAY AND TRANSFER LINE 0. D. HAMLIN, Prop. Light and Heavy Hauling Done on Short Notice is‘a delicate brown. The other ingre- dients are a teaspoon of salt, a cup of peanut butter and one and a half cups of water. Mix the Peanut but- ter, water and salt and heat, While this mixture is hot stir in the meal which should also be hot. Beat thor- oughly. The dough should be of such consistency that it can be dropped from a spoon.’ Bake in small cakes in an ungreased pan. This makes 16 biscuits, each of which contains one- stzth of an ounce of protein, 4 in several differ- Peyton Brand Danville, Virginia when you look sadly over your fields of ruined grain, it will be too late to think of what a comfort a Hail Insurance Policy in the Hartford Fire Insarance Co, would have been. The time to think about such things is right now before the storm comes. Hart- ford Hail Insurance costs little and will add much to your peace of mind, May we talk toyouabout it?, M. M. Belknap, Agt. Cottonwood, Ida. DELICIOUS CORN MUFFINS. Here's an old fashioned recipe for corn muffins that has recently been revived and uséd with unusual success in several of the larger New York ho- tels: To make three and a half dozen muffins take one quart milk, six ounces butter substitute, twelve ounces of light Syrup or honey, four eggs, pinch of’ salt, two ounces baking powder,’ one and a half pounds cornmeal and one and a half pounds rye flour. The butter and syrup should be thoroughly "’ mixed; then add the eggs gradually, Pour in the milk and add the rye flour cat with cornmeal and baking pow-