Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 82, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 April 1918 — Page 3

3,500 GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR IN THE UNITED STATES

Officers and Men From the Vessels Interned at the Beginning of the War and Men Arrested as Alien Enemies Since the United States Entered the War Are Being Treated in Most Humane Manner.

By FREDERICK C. HOWE, United States Commissioner of Immigration at New York. It has been nearly sixty years since the United States has held any prisoners on American soli. And the prisoners of the Civil war were our own people split asunder by the strife over slavery. Already there are approxi- ' mately 3,500 German prisoners in the United States. They are not captives in battle. They have never seen the trenches, but a portion of theta were active participants in the war as officers and seamen on the German sea raider Prinz Eltei Friedrich, whlcli ventured into Hampton Roads for coal and supplies in July. 1914. But the great majority of our prisoners of war are officers and sailors, the stewards and employees of the German merchant vessels which were seized by bur government immediately on the declaration of war and men who are held as suspects who have heen arrested in various parts of the country. There were 29 merchant ships which had been in the harbor of New York i lnce September, 1914. They had on I oard about 1,100 Germans who were ,aken from the ships and interned at Ellis island. There were other German ships at Boston, Porto Rico, Panama, while over 50 Germans were across the Pacific to New York from the harbor of Kiaouchou, captured by the Japanese. Since the outbreak of the war, too, German and Austrian subjects, from bankers to stevedores, have been arrested as alien enemies and placed in temporary detention at various places throughout the United States awaiting final action by the government. We were new in war metilods—unprepared for prisoners of war. And whatever the treatment of Germany to American prisoners, the United States determined that German prisoners held here should be treated on the assumption of the president that this was a war not against the German people but against the rulers of Prussia. Moreover, the great majority of these prisoners were here on a peaceful errand; they had come in their ships, of which the greatest of all was the Vaterland, now the Leviathan, and were marooned in American waters. They remained by their ships for nearly three years. But they were trained men. Many or all of them were reservists. Identified with the fatherland. Ths great majority of these prisoners were held for six months at the Ellis Island immigration station In New York and on an Island In Boston harbcr under the jurisdiction of the Unltel States immigration authorities. ‘The officers and sailors of the Prinz Eitel Friedrich were first taken to Philadelphia and then to Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. Under the provisions of The Hague tribunal, agreed to by all the powers, prisoners of war t have certain rights. They may not be compelled to work at anything that will contribute to the military activities of the government. They are to have means of communication with their friends. If they do any Industrial work they are to be paid on the same schedule of wages as that paid to officers and soldiers of the same grade tn the army. Secretary of Labor Wilson, when confronted with the maintenance and care of 2,000 German subjects placed under his care, many of whom’ had wives in this country, decided that the United States should set a standard of prison administration in harmony with the disinterested and nonpunitlve war alms of America and so humane that our humanity would serve as a means of protection to American soldiers who might become prisoners of war in German camps. Camps Built by Germans. Hot Springs, In the mountains of North Carolina, was selected as an Internment camp for the interned seamen. It lies far from the sea and nestles in the midst of mountain ranges In western North Carolina. Other war prisoners are Interned nt Fort McPherson and Fort Oglethorpe. Ga.. where cantonments have heen erected similar to those occupied by troops. These camps were built by the Germans under direction of American officers and are surrounded by stockades. Relays of officers and seamen were transported from New York and Boston to Hot Springs during the summer nnd early fall months of 1917. and from out the crews of the ships all kinds of mechanicians and artisans were selected. And the German prisoners were set to work building their own camp. When the work was completed there was nothing for the men to do. There was no provision for activities except such sports as the men themselves might devise. A large number were employed in the kitchen; they kept the place In order; some fan the pumping engines; others looked after the water supply. plumbing and electricity. Practically aIL the work Inside the camp is performed by the Germans.

And the Germans have been permitted,to find amusements for themselves. They have developed a life of their own. They developed it and perfected it until what a few months ago was merely an Internment camp has now become a center of every kind of activity. On the river banks a German village was laid put. It Is suggestive of. Old Heidelberg, the crooked streets of Nurnberg, or some little village in the Black mountains. One almost forgets that one is in the mountains of North Carolina as he walks along the narrow; crooked streets of this German village, flanked on either side by artistic playhouses built by the men themselves. The houses are not for living tn. although ingenious stoves have been built to keep them warm from stones picked up along the riverside. And the houses themselves are made from scraps of * lumber, from broken branches of trees, from little pieces of wood. They are shingled with tin cans and are papered within and tinted at very little expense. At the head of the roadway is a miniature Gothic church. Its lines are good; it has pews within it, a pulpit, and all the accessories of a church. But it is merely a play church. Flowers of all kinds are planted, and in a short time the German village was a flower garden. And. when this work was completed the men who had constructed these buildings organized classes for study. One of these houses is an artist’s studio; two or three are cabinetmaking shops. Some old men are weaving. They are plying all the trades that they learned ih their Idle hours on shipboard. Wonderful mosaic work made out of cigar boxes is turned out, as are little ships complete in every detail. Y. M. C. A. Takes Hold. - The Young Men’s Christian association followed the Germans to Hot Springs, as # has followed our soldiers to their cantonments, and It came with plans for service, with money enough to buy lumber, but no money for labor, and the representative of the Young Men’s Christian association called a number of the German seamen together in their camp and asked them If be willing to build a Young Men’s Christian association building if supplied*with material and tools. Immediately the men organized a construction squad. They gave their labor gratuitously. They erected a big building, probably 200 by 150 feet, artistically designed, as a clubroom and schoolhouse, and Immediately all the classes were filled. Four hundred men were Immediately enrolled. The Ger.inans produced their own teachers. Classes were established in elementary and advanced English. Other classes were formed in French and in Spanish. Shorthand, geography, chemistry, marine engineering, and navigation are taught. All day and all evening these classes are at work studying various subjects. Similar classes were organized in the officers’ detention camp. The Young Men’s Christian association has also stationed secretaries and Inaugurated work at Fort Oglethorpe and Fort McPherson, Ga., and at Fort Douglas, Utah. They have co-oper-ated heartily with the government and have rendered most valuable service along the lines of work usually carried on by the association —religious, educational, athletic, music, and gardening. Life Is Irksome In any camp. The men get what the doctors call the “barbed-wire sickness.” It affects men’s minds to be kept in an Inclosure with nothing to do. That is the most serious complaint. There have been but few attempts escape, and the guarding of the prisoners is relatively easy.

VICTIMS OF THE BOCHE PIRATES

Here is an unusual photograph of the three sole surviving members o. the crew of 4J ship torpedoed without warning by a German L-Irnat. Tin nicture was one of the rescue party, which found the sailors cling tag to spars andbits of wreckage after they had floated In the icy waters to, a day and a half. V

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN. RENSSELAER. IND.

SMOKES MADE 3 TRIPS BEFORE TRUTH KNOWN

Pittsburgh, Pa. —Three times during the last two years a box of cigarettes was sent to Sergeant John Graham, with the Fifth Regiment Royal Irish Rifles in France, and three times the cigarettes came back; but it was not until the last time that the sender, Thomas Graham, knew ’ his brother was dead. A letter from the English government came with the cigarettes the last time. It was said that John Graham had been killed in action December 5, 1916, one day after he went into the trenches.

CHINESE OFFERS TO HELP

Widow Offers Her Services as Stenographer, Bookkeeper or Interpreter. Boise City, Idaho. —When the women of Boise City were being registered for war work, the registrars were interested to learn that women of all nationalities were willing to offer their services to the government. A little Chinese widow expressed her willingness to “go anywhere” as a stenographer, bookkeeper or private secretary. “Perhaps there Is a position where my knowledge might be of special value to my country,” she added modestly as she registered. “I would be glad to act as Interpreter and private secretary should there be some position in the government service where a knowledge of Chinese would be needed.” Mrs. Chin Suo, or Lena Ah Fong, as she is known to her many Boise friends, was graduated from the Boise public schools, graduating with the second highest honors in her class. She joined the Congregational church of Boise and became so popular that when she was married the - church members decorated the church for the event. She has acted as official interpreter for the Boise courts for a number of years.

ALL PUPS NOT WORTHLESS

Nero Proves Case to His Master When Latter Comes Home After Dark One Night. Smith Center, Kan. —Mrs. Ben Butler took a little spindling bull pup to raise. Ben never had any faith in the critter. “He’s a spindlin’, worthless, mangy cur, and wouldn’t even have the sand to bark if some one got in our henroost,”* said Ben, with a sarcastic tone in his voice. “Never mind,” replied Mrs. Ben, with a knowing smile, “try him out. Give him a chance —he’s only a pup.” Coming home after dark a few nights later, Ben had occasion to go to the hen house to see if all were there. Nero heard the noise. So did Mrs. Ben. “Sick him, Nero,” called Mrs. Ben. Nero ‘sicked.’ He grabbed Mr. Ben and in a few minutes-tore his clothing to shreds. Then he got a good grip on a leg. Ben got busy. It took the hired man and Mrs. Ben half an hour to pry open the jaws of Nero; fien has changed his mind.

TO GROW A “BOSCOBEL OAK”

Oregon Students Plant Acorns From Tree Charles 11. Used as Hiding Place. Eugene, Ore. —Acorns from the oak tree which King Charles the second used as a hiding place from the Cromwell forces were planted on the University of Oregon campus here and are expected to produce a second “Boscobel oak.” The story is told that while Charles H. was hiding in the original Boscobel oak owls flew out, frightened by the Cromwell men, and that, the king’s pursuers, noting this, concluded that they were the first arrivals and had frightened the birds themselves, and so gave up the chase.

HER HEAVEN.

I shall be young again—and pretty enough To make the saints smile at me as I pass With swift white feet across the heavenly grass. . I shall be gay and careless, and my heart Forever like some hidden bird, shall sing Of some approaching and most lovely thing. Surely, a thought absurd, unorthodox. To enter through an office door, or come Grotesquely as the subway crowds rush - home. There is a mirror in my lodging house . Stained here and there ’ with lines like slanting rain. That shows a woman neat and tired and plain. But in that mirror that no other sees I watch sometimes the girl in ParadisePretty—and young—with laughter in her eyes. —Theodosia Garrison in Everybody'S.

Vast Amount of Cordwood Is Burned in Cook Stoves and Friendly Fireplaces

Whenever a man builds a suburban home these days—and, happily enough, the number is relatively vast —a fairly large proportion of the plans contain a provision for an open hearth in which wood may be burned. These represent, observes a writer in the Cincinnati Enquirer, the pleasant memories of many of the builders Of their boyhood days when a crackling, aromatic wood fire lighted and warmed the living rooms of their homes. More often, though, It standi for the fascination of such a Are. Children of the city dearly delight in making and watching bonfires, and when they are afforded the joys of camping fairly revel in the blazing twigs and branches beneath the kettle. When they leave the city’s heart for its fringes the thought of an open hearth as a concomitant to the freer life they expect to lead always presents itself. Hence the surprisingly large demand for cordwood. It is of interest to state that in the United States last year, despite the increased production of coal, there were consumed 81,875,000 cords of wood, the value of which exceeded $225,000,000. It was the seventh crop in monetary value in 1917. Ahead of it were corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, hay and cotton. Much of this, indeed the greatest part of it, was burned on farms, the average consumption on each Ohio rural holding being 13 cords, valued at $3 a cord. Texas leads in wood consumption ; Michigan is next, then Ohio, and fourth is New York. In each of these four leaders the value of the wood is Over $10,000,000. Experts in these matters say that there is no better way of ventilating an apartment than through the means of a hearth or grate, so that there is a double blessing conferred as one sits in his easy chair and watches the ever-changing pictures that attend a reverie before a blazing log fire.

Statistical Notes.

x There are 9,893 saloons in * Illinois. X The United States has 350,000 * Indians. X There are 556 war charities ? registered in London. X The United States government * will expend $1,000,000,000 during x the coming year in military X buildings. X The Rockefeller Foundation ’ has contributed SIOO,OOO to the X fund for welfare work among X Jewish soldiers. x An ordinary airplane, excluX sive of the engine, has over 200 X separate pieces, besides over X 4,000 nails, 3,000 screws, 1,000 j steel stampings and 800 forgX Ings.

Girls Needed on the French Farms, Asserts War Worker

One of the objects of Miss Anne Morgan’s recent return to America from France, where she has been aiding in restoring comtaunlties devastated by German invaders, is to obtain for France a large number of girls to work on farms. “I would like it to be known to American girls on farms that we need them in France more than all other girls,” Miss Morgan said. “We don’t want theorists but would like to get women from the West — women who have worked oh the farm and don’t mind doing field work.” Miss Morgan, sister of J. P. Morgan and treasurer of the American Fund for French Wounded, said she and her associates in France, American women, had placed 5,500 acres under cultivation and had established a dairy with soldiers to milk the cows.

Internal Revenue Collected.

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1917, the total amount of internal revenue collected was $449,712,412. The smallest amount collected In any state was $82,662 in Nevada, and the largest was $61,881,336 in New York. Of the states that paid over $10,000,000 each were: California, $13,758,375; Delaware, $11,761,308; Illinois, $62,113.711; Indiana, $33,108,519; Kentucky, $45,^71,967; Louisiana, sll,847.445; Maryland, $10,125,838; Missouri, $15.200,577; New Jersey, $13,910,549; New York. $61,881,336; North Carolina, $29,114,283; O£io, $30,402,735; Pennsylvania, $41,304348; Wisconsin, $12345,001.

Girls Helping to Win the War

Students at Long Island School Are Lending Their Assistance in Many Ways

The Farmingdale Agricultural school, Long Island, is alive with the pre* dominating war spirit The students are working diligently and Industriously at their task, agriculture, to assist the country to carry out an effective prosecution of the war. The female element is doing a good share of the work while the opposite sex is extending all energy in the patriotic endeavor. The picture shows a girl at a machine saw ripping sections for a pig sty.

Declares United States Can Independently Produce Own Chemicals After War

That the United States can independently produce Its own chemical necessities. after the war is. predicted by Prof. D. D. Jackson of the Columbia university department of chemical engineering. He says that at present the country is manufacturing dyes equal in amount to normal consumption, and that the number of colors produced is constantly Increasing. “With proper legislation,” states Professor Jackson, “we can manufacture on a competitive basis practically every chemical product which we now import. Cheap labor is not a factor of importance. The tremendous advantage which Germany had at the beginning of the war has taken more than three years to counteract, and the result has been an awakening in other countries to the necessity of furthering the chemical and metallurgical industries In every possible way. The Germans have for many years realized the grave necessity of furthering the work of the chemist and the chemical engineer for warfare as well as for the necessities of industry in times of peace. They knew that by developing their enormous color establishments they were producing factories which could readily be changed over to explosive works in times of war. They realized that the industries for the fixation of nitrogen used in fertilizers in time of peace also could be used for production of enormous quantities of picric acid and trinitrotoluol in wartime.”

Africa Is Interested in War; Receives the News Every Day

-The war has from the first been brought right home to Africa. The four German colonies, over which the war extended, have an area more than four times as great as Germany; and there has been long and hard fighting in all of them except Togo. Outside and within these areas of actual warfare live thousands of whites who are intensely interested, in the European struggle. Many of these whites, even in the depths of Africa, are receiving the essence of the news every day. Even the SahaFa desert is now partly belted by a telegraphic line, a French enterprise, with wireless extension in Timbuktu. Thus this once mysterious city of the Sudan is now in touch with the great events of the day. The Belgian Congo is efficiently served by the French cable to Libreville, and the land line to Stanley Pool, where navigation of the upper Congo begins. The news is then wired up the Congo to the mouth of the Congo, and then by wireless to Stanley Falls, 780 miles above the Kasai.

The Opium Habit

There are three different forms of taking opium. Some people, for example, the Turks, eat it; others. like the Chinese, smoke it, while the inhabitants of more civilized countries usually drink it as laudanum. The drug is obtained from the unripe fruit of the common white poppy. Incisions are made in the beads of this plant from which a creamy juice exudes, hardening on its exposure to the air. This is scraped off and made up into small cakes, in which formStis sold. The confirmed opium eater or smoker reduces himself to an Indescribably wretched state of mind and body, and very seldom lives to be forty if the practice has been acquired at an early period in life. .

FOR THE POULTRY GROWER

Egg production Is largely a question of breeding, according to Harold H. Amos, superintendent of the Kansas State Agricultural college poultry farm. Eggs from winter layers should be selected for hatching purposes. Under natural conditions no eggs were laid in the winter months. Artificial methods have been resorted to until by proper selection and management a large number of eggs can be had during the coldest months of the year,

Feeding and care have a great deal to do with winter egg production. Of greater importance, however, is selection and breeding. It has been determined by careful observation that, generally speaking, the, hens that make the best records during the fall and winter months are the best all year layers. All hens will lay fairly well in March, April and May. The poor layers seldom, if ever, lay in those months when prices are the highest. They are not economical producers and should not be kept as breeding stock. Where possible breeding pens should be maintained during the hatching season. All poor layers, undeveloped pullets, and otherwise imperfect birds should be discarded prior to the breeding season if satisfactory results are to be expected. Early hatched chicks are the most profitable both for meat and for egg production. They are the most easily raised because while they are young they are not subjected to the cloudy, rainy weather which comes later In. the spring. They are usually more vigorous. Later chicks have a higher rate of mortality due to the extremely hot weather and the presence of a greater number of parasites. General purpose breeds should be hatched not later than the last of April if the, pullets are to be developed for egg production the following fall and winter. The young cockerels can be disposed of as broilers at much better prices than those of later hatches. With strictly egg breeds, it is not advisable to hatch before the middle of March, as they will often begin to lay early and go into molt about the first of January.

The President’s Cabinet.

President Wilson’s cabinet consist* of Robert Lansing of New York, secretary of state; William G. McAdoo of New York, secretary of the treasury; Newton D. Baker of Ohio, secretary of war; Thomas W. Gregory of Texas, attorney general; Albert S. Burleson of Texas, postmaster general; Josephus Daniels of North Carolina, secretary of the navy; Franklin K. Lane of California, secretary of the interior; David F. Houston of Missouri, secretary of agriculture; William C. Redfield of New York, secretary of commerce; William B. Wilson of Pennsylvania, secretary of labor.

Girl Is Deputy U. S. Marshal

Colorado, the'banner suffrage' state, which has honored its mothers, wives ‘ and daughters for years past with positions of trust and responsibility In addition to giving them the ballot, now claims the distinction of having the first woman deputy United States marshal. She is Miss Lola Anderson, twen-ty-five years old, who took the oath of office and entered upon the duties of her position a week before Christmas.