Turkish Prisoners in Egypt Part 5

_Wishes of the Interned._--Some of the women express a wish to see their husbands more often, at least once a month; others wish to see their sons or brothers who are prisoners at Maadi or at Sidi Bishr. This being a legitimate and comprehensible desire, the English Government has several times already allowed the husbands to come from these camps (4 hours distant by train) to spend three or four days with their wives in the Citadel. A part of the building containing 12 rooms has been reserved for these visits. But it would clearly be impossible to permit these indulgences often, as they entail considerable expense, and require much organisation and surveillance.

_Repatriation._--Some of the women beg to be sent back to Turkey, which the British Government has already offered to do. Many, on the other hand, prefer to remain in Cairo. The American charge d'affaires in Egypt, M. Knabenschuh, is considering this question. He has visited the camp several times, and has transmitted different propositions of the English Government to the Sublime Porte. The first offer was to repatriate the interned women and children by means of an American vessel, which would land them at the port of Mersina in Asia Minor. The second was to take them back to Turkey in an English hospital ship, which should at the same time carry medical supplies, food and clothing to the English prisoners in Asia Minor, and bring away about 25 English ladies who had been made prisoners in Mesopotamia. Finally, the English Government offered to repatriate the Turkish women without any reciprocity conditions. Unhappily, up to now all these proposals have borne no fruit. The English Government sincerely desires to be freed from the maintenance and surveillance of these people, whom it took under its care merely for reasons of humanity.

_Special Inquiry at the Citadel Camp._--During our visit to the Maadi Camp, Dr. Suleman Bey, head physician at Taf, a town of the Hedjaz, told us that he had personally nothing to complain of in the camp treatment, but that his wife and children, interned in the Cairo Citadel, were suffering greatly from the conditions there. What he especially criticised was the diet and the medical attendance. These complaints, made in much detail, seemed to us to deserve a specific inquiry, and we went again to the Citadel next day. We closely cross-questioned Mme. S. and another of the ladies. Her replies, collected and confronted with the official data, our personal observations, and the testimony of the other interned, absolutely convinced us that Dr. Suleman's accusations had no real foundation.

Mme. S. a.s.sured us that meat was only provided three times weekly. We have proof that meat is served six times each week, a quarter of an English pound being supplied to each person. After telling us that the cheese and olives were of the worst quality, she finished by owning that she only found the cheese too salt and the olives monotonous. Mme. S., who purchased coffee, biscuits, fruit and bonbons at the canteen, would not touch ordinary bread because it was not good enough for her. This bread, which is provided by the best bakery in Cairo, is served fresh twice a day to whoever desires it. Mme. S. has enough money to buy any food that she wishes, either from the canteen or by ordering it in from the town. Her companions, less rich and less dainty, find the food provided by the camp kitchen both excellent and abundant.

As Dr. Suleman Bey complained that his two sick children, interned at the Citadel with their mother, received no medical care, they were examined by Dr. Blanchod. The one suffered on its arrival in camp from ophthalmia, now completely cured, no trace of photophobia remains, no redness nor oedema; the other had its sub-maxillary glands enlarged; these glands are now reduced and nothing to worry about.

These two children have received constant care from (Dr.) Captain Scrimgeour, their names are repeatedly entered in the infirmary register, and their mother herself expressed grat.i.tude for the care which had been lavished upon them.

Dr. Suleman Bey's complaints upon this point therefore proved equally inexact.

~6. The Ras-el-Tin Camp.~

_(Visited January 5, 1917.)_

This camp of interned civilians is situated on a rising ground beside the sea, 5 kilometres (3 miles) from Alexandria.

The camp contains 45 Ottoman civilians of military age, and 24 others; the latter are all elderly men, or have been exempted from military service owing to illness. There is one priest (imaum). We also found 400 Austro-Germans interned at Ras-el-Tin; many of them had been in Egypt when war was declared and could not get home.

Though our mission was to visit the Turkish prisoners, we made a point of concerning ourselves equally with the Austrians and Germans, and of entering into conversation with them.

Several Ottoman prisoners in the camp were making the pilgrimage to Mecca when they were captured by the Sherif's troops and pa.s.sed over to the English authorities, who interned them. The camp at Ras-el-Tin was to be evacuated in a few days' time, and all the occupants were to be transferred to Sidi Bishr Camp, now prepared to accommodate 5,000 men.

In this camp there will be a special section for civilians.

The commandant of Ras-el-Tin is Major F.G. Owens, who takes the greatest interest in his prisoners. Every day he personally receives anyone who has a wish or a complaint to bring forward.

The camp was visited in 1916 by the American Consul from Alexandria, and also by the American charge d'affaires from Athens.

_Accommodation._--The civilians interned in the camp of Ras-el-Tin are placed in tents. These circular tents, set up either on the sand or on a cement base, each contain three men. Those of the Ottoman prisoners form one sectional group of 24 tents. In the centre of each tent is a wire-work cupboard to contain personal belongings. The s.p.a.ce inside the tent is ample for the three beds. Some prisoners are provided with matting and small rugs.

In the stone buildings surrounding the court a certain number of rooms are reserved which open upon a veranda. Each contains three beds. These comfortably fitted-up chambers are a.s.signed to elderly prisoners or to those in weak health. The rest of the camp buildings are occupied by the administrative quarters, the kitchens, refectories, canteens, etc. The English guard is lodged under canvas in a special section. The camp is lighted by electricity.

_Bedding._--The bedsteads are iron provided with a wire-spring mattress, a squab of vegetable fibre and a sufficient number of blankets. All the bedding is kept scrupulously clean.

_Food._--The commissariat is supplied by a private contractor. A committee presided over by the camp commandant, and composed of delegates from among the prisoners, arrange the menus for each week. The kitchen is very clean, and the prisoners do not provide the personnel.

Here is the menu for Friday, January 5, 1917, the day of our visit: _Breakfast_: Porridge; milk; chocolate; b.u.t.ter; bread.

_Lunch_: Haricot soup; ragout of beef and potatoes.

_Dinner_: Rice soup; hashed meat (moussaka), with vegetables; eggs; tea.

The prisoners' menu is extended on Thursdays and Sundays by an extra dish and cake of some sort. We examined the day's provision in the kitchen, and found it wholesome and appetising. When pork is included in the menu, which happens rarely, this item is replaced, in the case of the Turkish prisoners, by a dish of eggs and vegetables.

A second kitchen staff, installed in a separate room, prepares a special menu which the prisoners can have by paying for it. The commandant himself authorised the reservation of this kitchen to provide for such prisoners as possess ample means.

Here is the extra menu for January 5, 1917: _Lunch_: Italian dumplings; roast veal; salad and gherkins.

_Dinner_: Soup "parmentier"; fish croquettes; braised beef with cabbage.

The meals are served at: Breakfast, half-past seven.

Lunch, one o'clock.

Dinner, half-past five.

Three canteens furnish all kinds of commodities to the prisoners--ham, sausages, preserves, cakes, chocolate, fruits, wine, beer, etc. The prices are exactly the same as in the English army canteens. A shop, run by a Bulgarian merchant, is permitted for the sale of tobacco, cigars and cigarettes. Besides this there is a Viennese who makes cigarettes in the camp itself. On Christmas Day the commandant made a generous distribution of cigarettes to all the interned men at his own expense.

They can also obtain at the bar tea, coffee and other drinks. In point of fact, we made sure that the camp administration has organised the commissariat in a manner that meets all needs.

_Clothing._--The men arrived in camp in their own clothes. When these began to wear out the administration furnished a new outfit, which consists of two flannel shirts, two knitted pairs of drawers, a vest and trousers of blue cloth, an overcoat, a police hat or a fez for the Turks, socks and slippers. The Mahometans receive Turkish slippers. All prisoners have a red scarf and two handkerchiefs. A well-found shop sells under-clothing at moderate prices, and articles of outfit, scent, post-cards and watches.

_Hygiene._--Drinking water, abundant and wholesome, is brought from the mains of the town of Alexandria. Besides the toilet lavatories, there are 4 bathrooms supplied with hot water and cold douches always available. The prisoners go in parties to bathe in the sea near the camp, under guard of British soldiers.

The prisoners do their own washing, numerous wash-houses being provided for the purpose.

The latrines are partly on the English and partly on the Turkish system, 1 to every 10 men, cleanly kept. They are disinfected daily. The floor and the lower part of the chambers are treated with cresol; the upper part is whitewashed. The sewers discharge into the sea. The sweepings are burnt in a special stove.

_Medical Attention._--The sanitary condition of the camp is inspected at regular intervals by the Colonel, medical director of Hospital No. 21, Alexandria. Captain (Dr.) Dunne is resident in the camp; he pays a medical visit each day at 9 o'clock. Eight to ten prisoners out of the total in camp may present themselves for treatment, among them 1 or 2 Ottomans.

An interned Turkish civilian, Abrahim a.s.san, by calling an employee in a Constantinople factory, who speaks French and English perfectly, serves as orderly-interpreter.

An English Red Cross orderly a.s.sists the doctor. An Austrian dentist, formerly in business at Cairo, gives dental attention to the prisoners; he has a complete outfit of instruments.

The infirmary is well housed in a stone building. It contains a consulting-room, supplied with a full-flushed lavatory basin; a sick ward with 6 iron beds, mattress and coverings _ad libitum_; an isolation ward, and a dispensary.

Only slight cases are treated at the infirmary; serious cases are removed to Hospital No. 21 at Alexandria, situated within 10 minutes of the camp, a large modern hospital overlooking the sea.

On the day of our inspection there were in the infirmary 1 prisoner ill with bronchitis; at the hospital 1 tuberculous case and 1 with a wounded elbow.

The sanitary state of the camp has always been excellent. Apart from two relapse cases of dysentery in 1916, there has been neither trachoma, typhoid, typhus, malaria, nor any other infectious disease. This is explained by the fact that the interned civilians were not in bad health before their captivity, as was the case with soldiers who had sojourned in the desert, whom we saw in the other Egyptian camps.

There had been no deaths in the camp or at the hospital in Alexandria.

The orderly, Abrahim Ha.s.san, told us of his own accord that the sick receive the most a.s.siduous attention, and have nothing but praise for the resident physician.

_Religion and Amus.e.m.e.nts._--The prisoners offer their prayers daily. A mosque will be built for them in the new camp at Sidi Bishr.

Catholics are looked after by several Austrian priests, who used to manage Catholic schools in Upper Egypt.