Spoilt Huns: Idle Lite in British Camp.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 141, 4 February 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

Spoilt Huns: Idle Lite in British Camp.

DRESSING FOR DINNER. MALICIOUS FOOD WASTE. HIGH STAKES AT CARDS. By A RUSSIAN WHO WAS THERE. (I am a Russian hy birth. As the local authorities ot a small town in a prohibited area, whei-e I had gone to spend my holidays, considered my passport an insufficient proof of my nationality they decided to send me to an internment camp until the validity of the document had been acknowledged. 1 think that my observations made in that camp will be of some interest to the public. J do not propose to give an account of my personal experience, but merely to wish to relate tin* conduct anil attitude of die prisoner* as i have seen them during my stay at the camp.)

The mast remarkable fact that stands out is that the interned enemy alien prisoners in this country (England) have no work whatever to do beyond the fatigue duty, which task is accomplished in about an hour. It is astonishing that no use is made oi their working capacities, which must be considerable, and this is the more inexplicable if one takes the scarcity ot agricultural labourers into consideration.

The sole duty of the prisoners consists in cleaning their beds, washing the place, and sending a delegation of four men for each company to the kitchen to fetch the food. I learnt from a well-informed source in the camp —everybody there is well informed, as there exists a constant exchange of letters between Germany and the camp—that the Russian prisoners, on the other hand, have cultivated a considerable portion of the Luneburger Heide (an extensive heath near Hamburg), where there are now great potato plantations. As the prisoners have to get up at (3..'50 a.m., and go to bed at 10 p.m., there remains a large portion of the day unoccupied, when the time spent on parades, roll-calls, and meals has been deducted. It would be fair and reasonable if batches of prisoners, under military escort, were allowed to work on fields and earn by that means some money, which is of great value in the camp, owing to its scarcity. Instead of that, MO prisoners are allowed daily to leave the camp for an hour (9-10 a.m.) and to go for a walk in the neighbourhood —under military escort, of course.

ENOR-MOl'S STAKES. During these long periods of eniorcf,l "leisure tlie prisoners amuse themselves chiefly liv playing cards. .Mostly the stakes are matches or stones, lint in frequent cases the stakes have assumed such dimensions that the play must be < ailed most daring gambling. In spite of, oi' probably because of, an order which strictly prohibits gambling of any sort, the stakes are enormous, considering that prisoners are allowed to receive not more than per week from outside. I'or instance, in '"solo the stakes are usually as follow ■■Prop.." Ills.; "solo," £1 ; "misere," £'2: "abundance," i'-.t to £4. As usually only three play, by taking out one su t, the game is a very fast one. and in consequence the losses involved are considerable. In order to pay the debts an extensive money-lending system has been formed, where troni o to 10 per cent, per month is charged. A large portion of the prisoners follow their old occupations, lhere are any number of barbers, tailors, shoemakers, and bootblacks, who sometimes do very good business. Many prisoners occupy themselves with making inlanl woodwork, which they sell, but which is sometimes used for a purpose on which 1 am not at liberty to enlarge. Some very good specimens are manufactured in camp, and often bring from £2 to £'lo. There exists in this particular camp quite a good library, which is :n very great demand, and which has largely been compiled bv a British society. There is a very flourishing school, where almost all subjects from shorthand to Chinese are taught. As no fees are charged, the expenses have to b<> covered by frequent lotteries, bv which means a considerable amount of money is gained. The musical tastes of the Germans are by no means neglected, and the camp'band, which numbers about (30 members, gives about twice a week remarkably good concerts. There are even quite creditable theatre perfoi malices. the management producing now and then scenes from "Kaust," by Goethe, and other plays by tlio same author and his iriend Schiller. CAMP NEWS AGENCIES. In order to keep themselves fit many of the prisoners have organised a Swedish drill club, which meets every morning at 7 o'clock. In the afternoon they play cricket, football, and " list ball," after having had exercises at the horibontal bar. Frequent boxing and wrestling matches are arranged among the athletes, the prizes r.iiiging usually Irom £•"> to £lO. Mnay members of th_> privilege companies have become Anglicised to such an extent that they dress for d nner. Enterprising prisoners have started small shops, news agencies, anil similar undertaking-. There are, however, two comern; which do practically no

" business"' at all. and those arc the Prote-tant ami Koaian Catholic churches. Tin' on the con. tiary, and the moshec (mcsijue) arc very much freipiented. I nfo:! imatciv for ihc others. many prisoners arc musical .ml as they have the ne<e<->aty instruments for the production of melody and harmony they mike tronuont. in fact persistent, u-e of them, which lias a maddening e :oct. The zither and the cornet-a-piston di) not j;o very well together, especially if il.ey d ffer : n the melodies played, although the ro.sult is very Wagnerian. A Pi i-oners' Aid Society, founded and run hv a (iernian lawyer, strive?, mci-tly iiicffiytually, to procure releases for tho>c who arc " unjustly interned. A canteen, which belong to a larue Kn<:lisli linn, eater.-. for the desire-. of lhe r.cher class ol prisoner and docs lemarkahly well. Vou see a poet w:th hrow and lon .4 hair, clad in a velvet jacket and

adorned with a loitterily tie leaving loose leaves covered with illegible Jiandwi'it'ng lying about and imagining that he is a second Goethe, if not a rein'arnat.on of Shakespeare himself; you see a seafaring man with bare chest fitting on the edge of the table, spinning endlcs yarns an I punctuating his senie.nos ny spin . oil the lloor. You see the smart man of the world idly lolling about and putting his monocle to his eye. You see a nigger smoking two cigarettes at a time.

But not all rre like that. Many prisoners, chiefly Germans, are on the alert to find anything to jeer at and grumble about. On the walls they wiite " Gott strafe England" and "It's a long way to go to Berlin"; not too large, or the sentences might he discovered by the soldiers and there would probably be trouble. When the soldiers have their Sunday prayers the prisoners crowd into the adjacent hall and wait till the National Anthem is played. Then they sing " Heil dir im Siegerkranz" (the German National Anthem), not loudly, but ferventlv.

Pictures of the Kaiser, the Emperor Francis Joseph, the Sultan, hang in the concert hall, screened when there are soldiers about, but uncovered when they have gone. Patriotic songs are sung at the concerts and national anthems are played by the band. Posters to commemorate the ''glorious" end of the Bluchcr are stuck over the doors and newt-paper cuttingn from papers not printed in England arc fixed beneath.

FEASTING FOR THE EMPEROR. When tie* Emperor Francis Joseph celebrated his birthday recently the whole camp was astir for three days, sing.ng, hasting, playing patriotic plays, shouting, making jokes on England and her Allies, singing that German hymn which has been sung so often on the battlefield by victorious Prussian troops, "Nun danket alle Gott" ("Now thank we all our God"). Oil the stage caricatures of British, French, and Russian soldiers were shown drilling, and a battle was arranged between prisoners dressed up as German and English troops. I need not say which party was victorious. The conquered ''foe" was led under the yoke amid veils and roars of cheers.

Soldiers off duty who happen to pass by are hissed at or honoured with mock humility. And where are the soldiers in charge during those incidents P All this amounts to the following stu}>endov.ri fact:

THE PRISONERS ARE SUFFERED FRF FLY TO EXPRESS THEIIt NATIONAL FEELINGS.

Closely connectad with the cxpress:ons of national feeling is the deliberate waste of material, chiefly food, in order to cause as much expense as possible to the Government. Every prisoner receives in the morning half a loaf of bread, which is upposed to last for the wholo day. At breakfast he eats about a quarter of it and keeps the rest for tea. By the time the afternoon has come the bread baa become dry f.r.d '.he [irsr/air refuses to touch it. Instead ot letting him go without, the captain of the company procures him a new whole loaf, of which he does not consume more than perhaps the outside piece.. Both reina nders are thrown back into the bread basket. Every evening a whole basketful of wasted bread is brought awav.

PORRIDGE DOWN THE DRAINS.

The cooks in the camp are German. It happens almost daily that a few bucketfuls of coffee or tea are spilt " by accident." Eggs are known for their delicate structure —those which are taken from the boxes in the camp appear to have had no shell whatever. This is the fate of eggs furnished by the Government. Private ones are treated as if they were worth their weight in platinum. Tea and porridge are poured down the drains, so that they get stuffed up and out of order, in consequence the Government has ty employ workmen to get them cleaned again. This waste, however, has been consderably reduced recently, by orders from the commander of the camp. Some time ago it was simply appalling.

The flannels furni.-hcd for hed-eloth-iiifj: were made into suits, the coverings of liir mattresses wore cut up to lie turned into shirts, towels were reduced to handkerchiefs, saws were made out of the knives, the niuys and plates were damaged so a.s to render them useless. As ''nohody" had done it. the authorises were so kind as to replace thorn.

111 my conclusion 1 must say that I llnnly believe that the prisoners are treated most fairly, if not far too leniently. They have absolutely no to complaints of any serious kind whatever. One niijiht demand that the prisoner-, -diould lie allowed to write more than two -hort letters a week. 151 it if one 0011-' tiers that the censor ha... to read .-.ancthinjj: like t-ix tliou■anil incoming and outjioinj; letters a

week, one can easily understand why th - apparently cruel limitation is im-}.:i-cd upon the eorrc-poiidence of the prisoners. It must, however, lie added that urgent "bus:no>s" or "laini'y" letters arc permitted to -vnt besides thin allowance. It need not i>c mciittoned that ample u-e 1- made of this privlei_'e.—"Daily K\pivs>'' (London). i^——anaßMßWß—■»—em mem