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HELD PRISONER FORIHOW’S THIS? 27 EGGSNEARLY TWO YEARSDAY FROM 28 HENSJOHN SAWYER, DUBUQUER. GERMAN PRISON CAMP TO RETURN HOME SOON.INAnd this was in February, in Kansas. Mrs. Davidson’s Plan is Simple.IIloNWAS ONLL-FATED ESMERALDAShip Torpedoed and Crew Taken toBrandenburg—Horrible Cond.tions m C?mp.- Lnd * •lt;) lt;*r*m tunc of 1 ion Sung to my flock ©f 26 h«*ni* that w#»■* not Inylnir But th«»y arc Ihvirtc non I receive high ae 27 n day and never J**ss than ! at22.-- Vre Jennie Davidson, Va rt On- ! rlfer. Kan**?V!r« Davidson wrote f h.« letter ^ i*’**• 531* Fifrure her profit on two d «r.en ,a d«\ from b* ne that were not |laying’* last farmery and Frhmtrv. \Vhdon't 'o*i t r . it? We'll make you the same offer we made her Here it Is! blt;! mrI VIK*Liv.n-: in a German prison ram;** that reeked with filth and vermin; . working unde- guard from 5 o^clook in the morning until f o’clock at nigh and receiving no other far« ihan bread and water, is the existence et.durel fur the paa? two yeareby John Sawyer, son of Mr. ami Mrs hn Sawyer of Seminary a;ret, and i~ lt;x per ted back in the city noonJowhoSawyer waonboard the Britishsteamer EBmeralda wh^u it wa? torpedoed March 10. 1917. Since thattint* he ha« been confined to theprison at Brandenburg.The young Dubuquer arrived inNew York last Friday on the Leviathan and his parents are expertin-him home today Sawyer enlisted in the navy in 1914 and his last visit home was made Thanksgiving day, 1916 la February he, with his crew, was assigned to the Esmeralda, a boat used in the transporting of supplies. JTbe ship war, returning to Newport News when attacked by a submarineend sunk.The crew was transferred ro theF boat and the American and English prisoners taken to Helgoland, then toHie big German prison camp at Brandenburg. They were allowed to write*ery few letters and som** of of tbe-«e were destroyed by the guards, if the'refused to work they were placed insolitary confinement, stabbed with a bayonet or starved. Thousands uimen died in thin camp. it is said The last letter received by Mrs Sawyer from her sun was dated November 1, and she did not get it urdii Christmas da;.. No doubt it was held vp by the Germans until after the armistice was signed. The following story related by Wiiiiam A Miller ot Chicago, vividly depicts some of the scenes that occurred while he was conftneu to Brandenburg Miller re turned on the same steamer with Sawyer last Friday;“Cn Aug 16 the 1' boat reachedHeligoland and there was a big uproar ashore, with bands playing. We were marched through the mob thatgpat and cursed at us. They took us todestroyer wheie the captain, who* our h*n* iJott Sunjzr and watch rc at lit* for ona month. If you don't And that I on Sun* pa* for Itself and pay* you a cood profit simply t*I! u* and \JOtir inonfi will ha refundedf Hunpr tt'hln**** for ajrjr-laying; I work * dlrwrll) on fha ii ir r * wotkadirtily ori t!**► -laytiijr argaitf* and 1*1also « aplandld tonic. It is «*n(ti)v irivcn Intfci feed improve* the hen a hrmth, \nnnk*'* h* r rnnjg»r and ftiort active In any weather and Mart* her Ia ina ‘Tr'\ lion Sunj? for ID day* and if if doepn't t yon the efTij*, no matter how aold or wet the weather, your money will t* refunded In ret urn m«i! Get DonHtififr from jour dmjreiat or poultry run* ' ed\ denier or a*rd 5f* renin today for apalt; kafre t» mat# prepaid Burrell - rHificer j 1*0 , IRS Columbia Bldpr . Indiana poll a, !ndJ whiitI trnlt;whifCJVIinIpidi\\pito ent labor out of the worn out In* \yoners. “TherefcriXI)Si£ frsiwere twenty five American civilians there who were not supposedto work, but they had to else they would have been b* aten to death. They had been taken before Americaentered the war, Italians were trea*ed worse. I saw 1.000 come to camp j tl and wait four uuvs before they got tl a lt;rumb to rat But they had to dwork. Lots of them dielt;j in the coal mines.3,COO Murdered Captives.“There were youo or more graves around the camp anti every one held h prisoner’s body There was a fire in the solitary confinement rells and seven prisoners were burned to death, because ihe German guards would not bother lo let them out.“We finally escaped by bribing aguard With three companions I traveled through open fields at night, sleeping by day In woods and shsub-bery for nine days. Then we ran ouf of food One Hied *o rob an ap-and was detected by aa A a: ir rlt;CMhpie orchard guard.“We werefor ten days We said weben, the English gave assumed names,thrown in the town jail on bread and water diet, had come from Ruehie-ctvilian camp .andbut we werealt;lt;We steamed we weresaid he had lived in America helote ihf war, questioned us.We told him nothing, to Wilheimshyen, but asabout Tb pass the big fleet we were sent below“My companions in misery wereJames Delaney of Brooklyn, Fred 8 Jacobs of Pittsburgh, Hay Roup ofMissouri aud Charles L. Kline of Heading, Pa., all of our gun crew. We stuck together tight and helped each other hoid our nerve. I hey JustoouMLn’t break us downSpat Upon by Women.Then they took us to the naa! barracks through a lane of cursing men and spitting women The place was full of lice, rags, dirt and Kus-sian prisoners.“The food, once a day, was sour soup from half raw turnips and black hreati that was mostly bark, sawdusf i.nd potato peels. I got sick on it and went to the hospital. The others were sent to the Brandenburgsent back to Brandenburg and throwninto oelNAttacks Camp Dcctor.“I reported sick and got in*o thehospital foi two weeks, 5hen nasejected to return «o vrork. I attackedthe doctor and rcfu«ed to work, and for this 1 was beafen“Scheduled to be tried in Berlin forescaping, I storfKj| away some civilian clothing and on Jan. 37 escsjied again. I was caught asleep in the’ woods and lodged in a country jail after three days on the road“With my companions from the gun crew 1 dislodged bricks from the prison wall and we got away once more.“After four days, food ran out and we leaped aboard an empty coal car and fell asleep. Discovered next morning we were turned over to the police and sent to another Jail. EveryirtimmWwCilbbtlmirkiia*h*| u! ofRditsdeGerman Jail will have a homelike a*- vprison. *“After two w-eeks 1 was failed up for examination and 1 laughed outright at fue sight of the wooden Germans on duty. The doctor kic ked me out of the room. Next (lav 1 wa^marched to rejoin my comrades “They gave men a piece of breadthat had to last twenty-four hours.Camp is Nauseating.“The camp reeked with filth and vermin. The prisoners were workedmosphere hereafter!Sent to Ruehleben.“We ‘-aid we were English civilians and were sent to the model camp atRuehleben, where comparative luxury'was enjoyedThere we rnct American survivors of the British ship Esmeralda. Including Paul J. Nagel of Jersey City, W.tiiammr\i\Thompson of New York. John , awyer*of Iowa, and P. J. Mcltor.ald of Boston All passed as British civilians.“After tlie truce and temporary liberty. we were given full freedom and the entire camp population shipped bythe revolutionists to Stralsund. *“There we were ferried to Sasnitze, tp.ken aboard a Danish lied Grosssteamer for Denmark and reshipped to Scotland, thence to England and\tatIIfrom 5 a. ui to 6 p. m. in ammunition j finally to America on the Leviathan, factories. SolTTary confinementftonlittle bread and less water, beating with a gun stock or stabbing with a bayonet, blows and kicks were usedTo Cure a Cold in One Day'take LAXATIVE BKOMO QUININE (Tablets). It stops the Cough and' Headache and works off the Cold. E.
Newspaper Details
Dubuque Telegraph Herald
Dubuque, Iowa, US
Mon, Dec 30, 1918
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Lyn B.
USA 11 Nov 2019
Other Publications Near Dubuque, Iowa
Sunday Morning Telegraph
Dubuque Daily Telegraph
Dubuque Daily Herald
Dubuque Democratic Herald
Dubuque Witness
