th organ! Our belief in German statements
received another shattering blow. During my twelve months in this camp I
never caught a glimpse of or heard a note from an eminent German
impressario or artiste of any description. All the amusements we ever
obtained were due to our own efforts, and I am glad to say that they
evidently were vastly superior to any that the much-vaunted city could
offer to its estimable citizens. At least this was the only impression
we could gather from the statements of visitors who were occasionally
permitted to attend our theatrical and vaudeville performances and
concerts. We had nothing for which to thank the Germans in the way of
diversion than we had in any other direction.

CHAPTER XIX

ORGANISING THE COMMUNAL CITY OF RUHLEBEN

When I reached the internment camp it was in a wildly chaotic condition.
Every semblance of management was conspicuous by its absence, while the
German authorities never lifted a finger or uttered a single word
towards straightening things out. Some of the enlightened spirits among
us maintained that the Germans would not assist us, but it is my firm
impression that they could not: it was a problem beyond their
capacities. Such a state of affairs seems remarkable when one recalls
how persistently the Teuton flaunts his vaunted skill in organisation,
scientific management and method before the world at large. As a matter
of fact it is only when one secures a position behind the scenes in
Germany, to come into close contact with the Hun as he really is, when
he has been stripped of the mask and veneer which he assumes for parade
and to impress his visitors, that the hollowness of the Teuton
pretensions is laid bare in all its ghastly nakedness.

The result in Ruhleben camp was terrible. It was every man for himself
and the Devil take the hindmost. If one, in desperation, approached the
authorities for a word of suggestion to improve this or that,
officialdom merely shrugged its shoulders and candidly admitted
impotence to recommend a remedy. So we had to depend essentially upon
our own exertions and initiative.

Each barrack elected a captain, whose position was somewhat analogous to
that of the Governor of a State, while over the camp as a whole reigned
a super-captain. Seeing that there were several thousand prisoners at
the time of my arrival on November 12, 1914, accommodated in twelve
barracks, which presented a ghastly exhibition of congestion, and