The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, August 30, 1917, Page 4, Image 4
PRISONER OF GERMAN'S
TELLS THRILLING TALE.
. I
(Continued from page 3, column 2.) j
been anywhere. We had 20 hours'
daylight, and four hours" twilight: it
never got altogether dark. It was
summer when I was there and very I
hot. The island was seven miles
long and five miles wide. The Germans
said it was in the southern Atlantic.
between Africa proper and
South America.
Ford Wheel Sunflowers.
"Communication existed between
Germany and the island, because j
there were German warships in the 2
harbor and the place was guarded by
disabled German soldiers. The island
was cultivated and was the best land
I ever saw. Every foot of ground
was planted in sunflowers. The heads
of some 01' them were as big as a
Ford wheel, and the grain as large
as a man's thumb. The seed was
ground into flour from which "black
bread" was made. This was sent to
Germany. I should say there were j
about 7,000 men of all nations on j
the island. The German officers were
unwounded, well taken care of, and
spoke excellent English. They would
walk around among us. spit in our
faces, and curse at us in good English.
The German soldiers all seemed
very much afraid of them. They
lil.-a/} trt c-i* i r-i tllo cliarlo
IJLIY^U. t U OXC ill ViiV cuwviv w^>v 9 - ?
out to one of the prisoners to run,
and they would shoot at him when he
ran: then they would laugh when he
. tumbled over wounded, or dead. The
ordinary soldiers were not as bad.
but they used to hit us over the head
"* with rakes when officers came around.
"We were fed on half a pound of
sunflower seed bread a day and four
ounces of crude fish oil, which was issued
to us about 10 o'clock in the
morning. I weighed 202 pounds
when I went to the island and 109
when I got away. Men were dying
all -tiie time. Thirty-one of our crew
died to my knowledge before I left.
After we had been on the island for
four weeks Dr. Hurley, the only physician
we had, called me over on the
sand one night where he lay and said
that he was going to die. He said he
was not sick but just starved. He
talked to me a few minutes about
messages to give his mother and sisters
in Mexico, Mo., his home, and
' then dragged himself off under a little
bush. The next morning he was
dead. The Germans threw his body
into the sea next day without even a ;
covering. They made way with all
the dead prisoners in this way.
"They made no effort to care for
the sick. Of course, we had suffered
greatly while in the salt water, and
some of our men looked as though
they had been cut with knives all
over. They took off all our clothes
and gave us a pair of jeans, so that <
we were naked from the waist up:
we didn't have hats, and were bare- i
footed. It was very hot.
"They put all the men to work in
, the field except me. They found the
delivery papers for the horses on me, i
\ and put me in charge of the mules in <
, the barn. They had 300 fine young 1
Missouri mules. They were in good ]
shape except for a few cases of colic, j
and after two weeks they told me to '
go into the fields. I said that I ;
would rather shoe mules than go into i
the fields: I showed them that 1
could shoe mules, so they kept me <
* . in the barn. I sometimes put on 90 1
shoes in a day. (
"Being in the mule barn I escaped j
some of the tortures that the other i
prisoners had to endure. But my day i
came at last. I told the guard one
morning that the hay I was furnished i
gave colic to the mules. He acted as <
though he didn't understand and went <
off and told the man in charge of the j
stock. Then he came back and motioned
me to go with him. I was
taken into a building before a sharp i
eyed young officer. He asked me what
was the trouble with the mules. I ;
told him the hay was no good, and
was going to kill the mules, and
from the look of things they needed
mules. He said, "You don't like it?'
I said T won't feed that hay to an ox '
a (rrtor * Thon snid *We have
v/i a ^vuc* x **v" "x/ ?/ ? ?. - - ^
got things here that will make you
like some things.' He seemed to be
in a towering rage, and rapped for a
guard to come in. The guard took
me out to a wall where the 'thumbing
rack' was. Guards tied my two
thumbs and jerked me off the ground.
They left me there 30 minutes. My
thumbs swelled, bled and came out of
socket; iny mouth got very dry and
my head throbbed. ^ When they cut
me down, I suppose 1 must have been
in a rage because I cursed them and
all Germans, under my breath, at first
and out loud when I could breath
better. Without waiting a minute
they jerked me up again. I became :
unconscious alter a while, and camej
to just when they cut me down, three
hours later. Ir was noon the next
day before I could walk around.
How Jim Watson I>ied.
I
"Another day that sticks out in my;
mind is the day Jim Watson died. We
had been carried to church on Sunday
morning, and at the close of the service
the priests in charge stood up
and began to chant, "God preserve
the kaiser; God love the kai
ser." which they made us say
after them. Jim was standing next
to me, and he whispered: "To hell
with the kaiser: God love the United
States!" A German guard behind
him heard it. and reported it to an
officer. They took Jim out of line
as we came out of church and 'thmbed
him.' They cut him down and
told him to repeat the chant. He was
dazed and mad then, and he yelled:
"God love Uncle Sam! To hell with
the kaiser!' With that they hung
him up again and whipped him with
a cat o'nine tails. They would start
at his neck and go down, then up and
back and forth. He kept on yelling
defiance until he lost consciousness.
They stood us around in shackles
where we could watch. I think
Jim died about eight or nine
o'clock, but they didn't cut him,
down until non the next day.
The last we heard Jim say was:
'God love the United States and stick
to it!'
"The sight of Jim's body hanging
up there, with the arms and thumbs
all out of socket, and his back raw
and mangled, fired us until we were
almost on the point of rebellion. It
was the nearest to an outbreak that
we ever came. The Germans seemed
to feel that too, for they kept us
locked up tight for three or four days,
and stopped working the fields. After
that at night we were all fastened by
a chain to iron rings which fitted into
a sort of long curbstone, and we slept
on the ground all around. Sheets of
heavy rain would come down on us at
night for short intervals, but we
didn't mind that because it was usually
very dry and dusty, and without
clothes the sand ground into us.
A Delicate German Attention.
'JThe following Sunday morning I
was standing up on top of a kind of
hitch rail treating an abcess on a
mule's head. I felt something hit my
foot, then a sharp pain, and I looked
down expecting to find a snake, because
I was barefooted. I found that
my foot was bleeding. I had been
shot in the foot. German officers had
been shooting at a Belgian as he ran,
and had wounded him. He scrambled
up to run again: they shot at him,
missed, and hit me.- The wound
broke no bones but it was clear
through the foot. I wrapped it up
with a piece of sack and asked for
medical attention. The< guard told
me that I was such a good mule doctor
I could look after myself. I was
afraid of tetanus, but the wound healed
over all right, but it was harder
to work after that.
"Sometimes on Sunday they would
let us go in bathing in the sea but
they would not let us go far out. and
watched us very closely because some
of the prisoners if they got a chance,
would try to commit suicide by
drowning themselves. The English,
Belgian, Russian and French prisoners
were shackled when they went
in.
"The English and French came in
for most of the brutality. The Russians
were very savage, and would
sjnash the guards with the ends of
their shackles or a hoe if they came
near them. They seemed dreamy and
indifferent to what happened to them.
The Germans kept at a safe distance
and left off those little spiteful attentions
which they paid to the other
prisonersltoul never took off. their
shackles. When I was on the island
%
there were about SO Americans, most
\
Df them Westerners and a good many
negroes. I know that 30 Americans
died while I was there from starvation
or torture.
Out of Range of Attacks.
"The island was fortified and well j
stocked with supplies of all sorts. The!
coal heaps looked like mountains and
appeared as though they would last
for years. From all I could gather
England's control of the sea did not
extend that far South, and the Germans
did not appear to anticipate an
attack of any sort.
"Toward fall I felt myself getting
weaker. I weighed only 109 pounds
now. My arms and feet began to feel
very heavy and my head light, and it
ft-as very hard to keep working. Finally
I calculated that I could last just
ten days longer. I had long before
given up any hope of ever getting
home or of coming out alive. Three
days after when I was shoeing a big
mule in the barn and having a very
bad time of it, a guard came in and
issued a command for us all to come
down to the beach. I put down the
shoe, tied up the mule and went with
l-iii-vi ?/->? lrnrnvincr wlist \V5)<5
l i 1 ill , nut aav/ ? ^
this time: The officers were gathered
around a big box, pulling out numbers
which the guard would sing out.
I heard my number *:>o' and went forward
and held up my hand. The ones
drawn were locked in a stable that
night and early next morning we were
marched down to the beach to be
loaded on a battleship. I had been
exchanged, and if I lived long enough
I would see America and my wife
again.
Ail Oldtime Preacher's Dream.
"While we were waiting an aged
Methodist preacher, who lived in De
Sota. Wis., who had shipped with us
as a ship's chaplain, slipped around
to tell me good bye. He was very
weak then, and don't suppose he liv
FOU HIS MASTER'S SAKE.
| Ex-Slave Wills Property to Former
Owner's Son.
! Edgefield, Aug. 2d.?Phil Dozier,
I
| a negro citizen of Saluda county and
[ an ex-slave, is not only a very worthy,
j but in some respects a remarkable
1 personage. He belonged to Capt.
James Dozier, a splendid representative
of one of Edgefild county's most
prominent families and slave-holding
aristocracy of the South. A just and
benevolent master, his slaves loved
him with a true devotion. The earthly
career of the knightly master has
long since ended, but no so with
Phil's fidelity to his honored memory
and love for his family. When freedom
pmiip followed bv reconstruction
j days, Phil heeded not the advice of
those whose work was to separate and
alienate the negroes from their mastors
and white friends. He went toj
work and by industry arid economy
has accumulated a handsome property.
His modest and useful life has
almost run its course, and realizing
this, he has made his will bequeathing
and devising all of his property
to .Mr. J. Albert Dozier, a worthy son
of his old master. This is a substantial
and fitting tribute of Phil's devotion
to the memory of his once
beloved owner and his family.
Was ever love or gratitude more
loyal?
J>. C. Guardsmen at Camp Sevier.
Greenville, Aug. 21.?Coihpany L,
of the Third infantry, National Guard
of the District of Columbia, arrived at
Camp Sevier early this afternoon and
went into permanent quarters at the
site which had been prepared' for
them. The trip was made without
mishap and all the men were in the
best of spirits*
The company has been sent here to
prepare for the reception of the remainder
of the district troops, which
will likely entrain within a week.
Very little work is to be done on the
camp by them, however, since permanent
mess halls, headquarters
buildings and other structures have
been completed for the whole regiment.
REPULSE COUNTER ATTACKS.
General Petain's Men Maintain Their
1
Gains.
Paris. Aug. 22.?The second day of I
the new battle of Verdun was taken
up as was to be expected, by the
desperate efforts of the Germans to
recover their lost positions. -The long
artillery preparation by the French*
interrupted as it were by bad weather,
had given the Germans time to
mass reserves for counter-attacks.
' ?' * - J xs
Tney naa wuaarawn luroes num men
advance lines which were too greatly
exposed to the French artillery,
massing these men together with reserves,
around the extremities of the
| sector attacked, between Avocourt
and Bezonvaux, in readiness for counter-attacks.
No less than eight of these counterattacks
were made in the evening.
All of them were repulsed.' The gains
of the French were maintained entirely
further advances were made j
and a large number of prisoners were
added to the previous total. ,
ed long afterward. 'I think I am in
hell,' he whispered, 'I have preached
about it for 4 0 years and I always
thought I could recognize it if I came
to it." I lei'/him, to go on the ship,
kworking his way out to the fields behind
the other prisoners, supporting
himself with his rake, trying to keep
j from walking on the bottoms of his
j blistered feet, a big German with
I thick glasses yelling behind him.
"We were at sea three or four
! (lays on a German warship. Nobody
said a word to us: black bread and
some very good water were left for
; us every morning and that was all.
j One night we drew up alongside an!
other ship and-were transferred. The
j ship was manned by Japanese or they
j may have been Chinese. There we
; got good food and hospital attention.
| The ship would run hard at night and
I lay to without lights for long periods
' at a time. In the daytime they went
j very slowly and would stop frequent;
ly. In about ten days we were in
i Liverpool. I stayed in a hospital
| there for about five weeks. While I
; was there an agent of the British
I government called and took my stoTy.
| i landed in Key West,' February 17,
' having been gone just about a year.
My people thought I had been dead
\ for months.
1 ''For several months afterward
pictures of that island, faces of the
prisoners and that "thumb rack'
would float over my mind when I was j
asleep, and I would get up .'screaming.
Sometimes that sharp eyed commanding
officer would be pointing at!
me and I would yell. When T passed
a man on the street whom I knew
was a German. 1 could feel myself j
moving toward him to get my hands!
on him. When Germany's prisoners
began to be taken, I wrote my congressman
right away to let me be put j
in charge of them. I guess it was a
good thing I wasn't."?The State.
I
PRINTING
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FOR
PRINTING That
LEASES
Call on or Write us
THE
BAMBERG
HERALD
BAMBERG, S. C.
IFOR SALE!
g x I have a fine buggy
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tor saie. mis is a
good chance for some
one some one to get
a nice, fancy horse.
Weight about one
thousand or eleven
hundred ponnds.
W.P.Herndon
'Phone 24 Bamberg, S.C.
Whenever You Need a General Tonic
Take Grove's.
The Old Standard Grove's Tasteless
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DOUBT DISAPPEARS
No One In Bamberg Who Has a Bad
Back Should Ignore This Double
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Does your back ever ache?
Have you suspected your kidneys?
Backache is sometimes kidney j
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With it may come dizzy spells,
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Doan's Kidney Pills has been endorsed
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You have read Bamberg proof.
Read now the Bamberg sequel.
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Mrs. Julia B. Sandifer, Calhoun St.,
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On May 27, 1914, Mrs. Sandifer
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Price at all dealers. Doc'*
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What is LAX=FOS
V V m* M. am ?? ? - LAX-FOS
IS AN IMPROVED CASOARA
A Digestive Liquid Laxative, Cathartic
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Blue Flag Root, Rhubarb Root, Black
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table aromatic taste. Does not gripe. 50c I
New line of Waterman's Ideal j
Fountain Pens just received at the!
Herald Book Store.
*
STEPS TO WEALTH
['' i1 soon co*me to tlie final step. "'*
A baxk Acc?rxT
^ ?IjllW which, if in conjunction with
lijllfw I ^ mill y?Ur business *s liandled propP
"T" ^ f^lt! erly' and accommodations
' ^l^vag / I \ v j?||ifi granted when needed, is but
1^3^13 / l&JSS another step to wealth. We
' [ )|7 |jj will do your share if youriacI
IT wlr
ILiinci pi idu uaiin. I
5 Per Cent. Interest Paid on Savings Deposits. Bamberg, S. C. H
The Human Factors
In Good Service
There are three parties to every telephone
conversation?the party calling,
the trained operator, and the party who
answers. All three share alike the responsibility
for quick and accurate telephone
service.
The calling party should give the correct
pumber in a distinct voice, speak
ing directly into the transmitter, and
wait at the telephone until the party an- 4
ArvAt-ntAf rnr\Artc Tti a no \UA ii
SWC15 U1 L11C UptidHJl XUO? x iiv vunvv* ( a v
party should answer promptly.
Patience on the part of the telephone
->V
user and the telephone operator is also es- - * sential
to good service.
i '
When you Telephone?Smile
SOUTHERN BELL TELEPHONE
AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY WW' - v
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catolog showing Engines, Boil- h ^
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Augusta, Ga. j? Pink> White^ Pose.Pej
j 75C- o'Vrugguts oriy mail JirtcL
mmm ' Sample (either color) for 2c. Stamp.
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tPiji ff ?v ?? fe'L: Piles Cured In 6 to 14 Days
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raB : t>,? first ftnnlication eives Ease and Rest. 50c.
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other troubles are bound HW! . ___ J
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and^of^ofters^do10 521 i Saw- Lath and Shingle Mills, Injectaking
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uaiiiiii KJi UUC,lil i AOAwa tactpt.rss rhill TONIC, drives out
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A true tonic. For adults and children. 60c
BEL Mrs. W. F. Pickle, of j ?iAna
HH Rising Fawn, Ga., writes: MTM 0?? |B if bT B SWI
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fj motot^n"awiCcould j& Q' rT^f*'* He|daches'a.CfmPs>
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the liver made." Try it. ^^$3 ! take laxative bromo Quinine, it stops the
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Thedford S. ~QC a E7" GROVE'S Signature on each box. 30c.
A circus train in the West was de- .S-wro5'
, . it*, ^^i r, f?r MAlARiA or v^HJLLS & FEVER,
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water from the tender. return it acts on the liver better than
?-?? Calomel and doe3 not gripe or sicken. 25c
New supply of Waterman's Foun- ?
tain Pens at Herald Book Store. ^ead The Herald, $1.50 per year /
y*'
*