ch we were able to
brew beverages and soups in the secrecy of our barracks. We purchased
this convenience, of which the Germans took a proportion, so that we
really paid a prohibitive price for the water which we consumed! _The
supply of hot water, no matter for what purpose, was construed by the
Germans as coming within the business of the canteen!_ Shower baths were
also introduced, the cost being defrayed out of the camp treasury. I
wonder if the British authorities follow a similar practice among the
German internment camps in this country? It is an excellent method of
making the prisoner pay for his own board and lodging.

The educational classes proved a complete success. Almost every language
under the sun could be heard among the prisoners. The classes were
absolutely free, of course, although you could contribute something, if
you desired. Individual tuition was given, but in this instance the
tutors were free to levy fees. The mastery of languages became one of
the most popular occupations to pass the time. I myself had a class of
dusky members of the British Empire, drawn from various Colonies, and
speaking as many dialects, to whom I undertook to teach English,
reading, writing, drawing, and other subjects. At the time the class was
formed, they could only muster a few English words, conducting
conversation for the most part by signs and indifferent German. But my
pupils proved apt and industrious, and by the time I left they had
mastered our tongue very effectively, as the many letters they sent me,
before leaving Ruhleben, striving to thank me for what I had done,
testify.

Camp life was not without its humour. Around the boiler-house stretched
a large wooden hoarding which served as a notice-board. Every day there
were posted the names of prisoners, set out in alphabetical order, for
whom parcels had arrived. The remaining space was covered with
advertisements of a widely varied order. The humour unconsciously
displayed upon that board probably has never been equalled in the pages
of a humorous journal yet printed. It is impossible to narrate every
quaint announcement as they were so prolific, but I have never
forgotten some of them. One I recall was an advertisement of a tutor
setting forth his terms for teaching English. But only one word in the
announcement was spelled correctly! Another, posted by a sailor, ran,
"_Talking Parrot for Sale._ Guaranteed _not_ to swear!" It remained up
for three days an