CAPTAIN THIERICHENS (top)
And scenes on the Eitel Friedrich, which escaped from Tsing-tau and interned at Norfolk
To make complete the picture of this hero of the Prussian officer class, it may be well to quote also the round robin of the crew of the Prinz Eitel Friedrich. To them even the air of an American internment camp was the breath of freedom compared to their service on a ship of his Imperial Majesty’s Marine. Here is their opinion of life in it and of their gallant captain:
Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.,
July 8.
United States District Attorney,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Dear Sir:
We of the crew of the Prince Eitel Friedrich, beg to inform you about the conditions as there had been existing on board said vessel, and of the character of Captain Max Thierichens. He is one of the most cruel and dishonest men who ever had been in charge of a vessel. He is a disgrace to any military organization, and we feel ashamed that he brought disgrace to our vessel. He is one of the worst egoists in existence, without any feeling for his fellowmen. He is guilty of using the United States mails for fraudulent purposes, advertising in the papers that he would receive liebesgaben (love packages) for the soldiers in order to benefit himself, and later selling the same in the cantine after an inspection and rifling; he kept everything of value. He has received 1,000 of packages and money from very near every German society and countless private people, but his men never saw a penny of the same. The money he has spent for himself and some of his officers in his orgies.
As we had been out on the high seas, he only had an eye for his personal welfare. If we met a vessel, after stopping the same, the first thing he always did was to secure as much wine and other good things for himself, and officers, so that they always had plenty. He would not allow his sailors to bring enough potatoes and common food on board to satisfy their hunger. There had been cases where men had been severe punished just for taking a piece of meat from the table of one of the sunken vessels. The men did not even have drinking water but he and his officers used the same for bathing. He had been afraid that the U. S. Government would find out about his various misdeeds, so in order to make the Government think that he was all he should have represented he pulled off the biggest bluff ever thought of. He told ten men that they could run off, supplied the same with money, and after a few moments sent some other boys over the side to make as much noise as possible to call the attention of the guards. He had his men maltreated wherever there was a chance to do so. He even did this after we had been brought to Fort Oglethorpe. We have to thank the U. S. Officers for putting a stop to it. The captain had been mad that he lost the power over the men. He swore he would bring the men to a military prison for years to come, simply because they refused to be treated like dogs after being informed by the U. S. Officers that they don’t have to stand for anything like that. If it was not for the iron discipline maintained by the Germans, there would have been a mutiny on board the ship. Even a common man hates to see good supplies going to waste just because the captain could not get quick enough to his wine, and the men feed on hardtack that was full of worms. Some of the men are willing to appear in court against the captain to bear out because they are not protected by the U. S. Government, and may have to face a court martial law if they are returned to Germany. We do hope that there will be an investigation of the evil doings of said Captain. If found guilty, we do hope that he may find out what it does mean to do wrong to his fellowmen.