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 and apparently there was nothing doing.  Such an article was evidently a drug upon the Ruhleben market.  After the bird prisoner had been in the camp a while the advertisement re-appeared, but the word “not” was blotted out!  The advertisement disappeared almost instantly, which led one to surmise that someone had purchased Polly to repeat Ruhleben conversation at a later date, beside the fireside of an Englishman’s home, as a reminder of the times and the vernacular of a German prison camp.

The various reports which have been published in the German and British newspapers from time to time, relative to life at Ruhleben, have dwelt at length upon the social amenities of that imposing colony.  People at home have read about the tennis courts, our football field, the theatre, and other forms of recreation.  Possibly they think that the Germans have been very generous and sympathetic in this direction at least.  But have they?  For the use of a section of the cinder track to serve as tennis courts the German authorities demanded and received L50!  We paid them another L50 for the football field, while for the use of the hall under the Grand Stand which had never been used since the outbreak of war, and which we converted into a theatre, we were forced to hand over a third L50.  The camp treasury met these demands, and probably an examination of the books would reveal many other disbursements of a similar character for other facilities.  The Germans have never spent a penny on our behalf, and have never given us anything.

When the camp is broken up and the prisoners are released, there will be a pretty problem for some person to unravel.  By now Ruhleben has the appearance of a healthy and thriving little town.  The prisoners have toiled unceasingly to improve their surroundings.  When we entered into occupation of our horse-box, its solitary appointment was the manger.  We needed a shelf, and had to pay heavily for the wood.  As time went on our ingenuity found expression in many other ways.  We made tables, chairs, wardrobes, sideboards, and other furniture.  In some instances