ECONOMIC PRESSURE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2642, 13 December 1915, Page 6

ECONOMIC PRESSURE

CONDITIONS IN GERMANY ]

AN ADELAIDE MUSICIAN'S ' EXPERIENCE. ] aSj Telegraph—Press Association—CopjriKht j London, December 10. < Mr. Trehnrne, an Adelaide musician, • ,who has just returned to London from ] Germany, after a long internment, was i . interviewed, and couhrmcd the .stories [ of unsatisfactory conditions in Germany, j Prisoners of war were,' .he '.'says,. fairly i comfortable earlier, but -the economic j . I . pressure has cut off one article after i .. another • until the . canteen now offers ] little more than the daily- frugal rations. • Evan wealthy British'prisoners are re- i - stricted to a monotonous and 'insuffi- : cient diet. Such; is the. scarcity. that ; high bribes fail to procure more nourishing foodstuffs. The Australasians at < Ituhleben would be specially grateful if , their friends would tend, care of tho | ; High Commissioner, books and parcels of .food 1 , particularly fat foods, 6iich as.tin--Hed butter, 'cheese, and meats. Despite tho appalling: monotony, the jiniserable dreariness and cold, the in-, : . 'activity, the ignorance of the progress of the war, and. the overbearing treatment which was calculated to crush their spirits, tho men at Ruhleben.were unbrokenly cheerful among themseleves. A - sprinkling of Australians were the life f of the party. The mails were irregular. Confinement during a second winter was 'likely to be critical for tho elderly men who are interned, and equally oppressive to the boys. . BRITISH PRISONERS IN GERMAN INTERNMENT >■/- ' : 'CAMPS .. London, December 10. Mr. Gerard, U..S.A. Ambassador to . Germany, has written to Sir Edward Grey regarding the Wittenburg Camp. ' • 'A formal satisfactory apology was given to a British officer whom a guard struck, and instructions were issued to the guards not to strike the prisoners. . British prisouors are now ' paid for ■ work outsido tho camp. Representations have been made protesting against the use of dogs in the internment camp.