Italian prisoners of war at the Shenandoah compound have been apt pupils at corn detasseling and as a result the task of taking care of De Kalb's vast acreage of hybrid corn is nearly finished--a job that probably couldn't have been done if prison labor had not been used.

The Italians, most of them from urban areas in southern Italy, but a few from rural areas and none familiar with the stalk-by-stalk work of detasseling, have learned quickly and are satisfactory workers, according to those in charge. They work in the fields under armed guard of course, from about 5 am until mid-afternoon, because of the extremely warm weather. When the Herald-Journl reporter visited the prison compound Friday nine crews were in the field, the remainder of the prisoners from Weingarten camp in Missouri taking charge of various detail work in the camp area.

The masculine, swarthy prisoners, most of them apparently from the south of their native country, look to be in the best of physical health--that is most of them--and apparently are making the best of their lot, spending a great deal of time beautifying the grounds, taking advantage of recreational facilities and above all going about their tasks singing as only the Italians, music lovers all, can sing. The prisoners, some of them captured four years ago by Australians, transferred to England and later to this country, and others being taken prisoner only this year in north Africa where boys from this community were fighting, wear nondescript clothing from the sergeant major's decorated coat with shorts to denim pants and no shirts; some wearing heavy field shoes and others native sandals. They are organized by their own men and the "king bee" is a sergeant-major, whose word is law. Able to speak some English, he serves as the "go-between" for his fellow countrymen and the officers of the soldiers. He is the one who helps keep the Italians informed; he takes complaints to the commanding officer. In fact, Capt John G. Clary, commanding officer of the MP company, requested that he be sent with the prisoners.

The former CCC camp buildings at the west end of Shenandoah is the compound where the prisoners are held. Buildings have been made over for barracks, orderly room, infirmary, mess hall, kitchen and canteen, just as in any camp. The tour through the area disclosed that the barracks for the prisoners are neat, equipped with beds, tables and in some radios, one of which was on when the party went through. The mess hall, as neat as a pin, had row on row of tables with mess kits, similar to those used in the field, piled in one corner for the men to use.

The pin-up girl, an American institution in army camps, has a counterpart in the prison barracks with picutres of girls, as well as eye-catching advertisements adorning the wall. Religious pictures could also be seen.

Eat Spaghetti

The kitchen was a beehive of activity Friday morning as the mess details prepared for the noon meal. The food is prepared by Italians, under the supervision of an American mess sergeant. The food is the same ration value as that served American soldiers, but is not the same food since Italians like more starches than do Americans and consequently get more spaghetti, the national food of Italy in their diet. During the tour of the compound, lunches were brought the men at mid-morning. Prisoners are being well fed, but there still is a motto around the camp "no work, no eat."

Cooked for Royalty

The Italian prisoners employed by the De Kalb Agricultural Association, have nothing to complain about as far as food is concerned.

The cook at the prisoners' stockade is certainly no amateur in the profession. In fact, he is known throughout Europe as a professional chef and a connoiseur of food.

In the height of his pre-war culinary career, he was a personal chef of political dignitaries and even royalty.

Prisoners stood around in small groups, talking, and in some cases joking, among themselves. One, an older man, took special pride in the beautification project which he had accomplished with flowers from Shenandoah seed houses, brightening up the grounds. Everywhere the group went, prisoners snapped to attention and saluted Captain Clary, as is required by international law. It was noted that most of the prisoners executed the Fascist salute, although a few of the "King's men" used a salute very similar to the American's. Prisoners have been told of Mussolini's recent resignation from power and the disbanding of the Fascist party.

Recreational Facilities

Recreational facilities, managed by the prisoners, consist of a volleyball court and an outdoor bowling game, "Bocce" -- and of course music, some of the men having their own instruments. Entertainment is provided, the prisoners especially enjoying the appearance of Violet Nicolini, an employee at De Kalb's, whose parents are Italian. She sings beautiful Italian songs in their native tongue and has made a "big hit" at the camp. Favorite among the prisoners is "O Sol Mio," although they love any kind of music. At the close of each program the "Star Spangled Banner" is played and prisoners are required to stand at attention. Catholic mass services are provided, an Italian priest coming on Sunday.

From the compound, completely surrounded by armed guards, who walk their posts and with a wire separating it from the nearby roads, the party went to the De Kalb building where Captain Clary, Lt Louis Cartier and Lt John B. Jefress and the MP company is housed.

Here the men are comfortably quartered, mosquito nettings being provided all bunks.

The noon meal was being prepared, and here a small group of prisoners was assisting in preparation of the meal, nearly every modern convenience being available the mess detail and the food, which looked very inviting, appeared to be well-cooked.

A medical detachment from the MP company is on hand for any emergency and Dr E.J. Gottsch, a Shenandoah physician, works with officers of the company in medical matters.

In the mailroom at the stockarde, lettters written by prisoners to their relatives in Italy are received to be sent out, and between 20 and 25 letters a day are received by the group from home. Some of the men haven't heard from their families for nearly a year.

Six Soldier Dogs

Of special interest was a crew of six highly trained soldier dogs, most of them German Shepherds. During the morning a demonstration was given on the visiousness of the animals, especially trained for sentry duty. The dogs, donated by civilians, are given three months training and if they prove satisfactory are given special training. The dogs patrol the compound at night and could easily rip a man to pieces. Dogs are trained by the army for various types of work including sentry, message carrying, sledge work and actual combat duty. Four of the men in the company take charge of the dogs, exercising them daily to keep them in trim.

Many of the prisoners at Shenandoah helped on the Missouri river flood control, as did the soldiers who are guarding them, during the April flood.

The prisoners receive mail from home and are allowed newspapers, both of which are censored. None of the news in the papers is censored but the want ad pages are taken out, for this is one of the means of communication often used in contacting prisoners. They are allowed to write letters.

Several men in the military police company can speak Italian and are used as interpreters.

3 Camps in Iowa

To asist with the job of detasseling Iowa's 44,000 acres of hybrid seed corn, 794 prisoners of war from the Weingarten, Mo, camp, accompanied by necessary administrative, medical and security US Army personnel, were sent to Iowa. They are transported in groups of 40 to 50 to work in the cornfields near Shenandoah.

The work involved of establishing camps at Shenandoah, West Liberty, and Marengo, selecting the prisoners of war, equipping them and the necessary guards to accompany them, and arranging the transportation, made the Weingarten camp a busy one for several weeks.

The request for aid in detasseling corn was made to the army by the DeKalb Agricultural Association and the Pioneer Hybrid Seed Corn Co. The contracts with these two Iowa companies provide for payment of wages to the Treasurer of the United States at the rate of 30 cents per hour, plus 7 cents per hour for subsistence. In addition, the contractors pay for railroad transportation of the personnel, both US military and prisoners of war, and the cost of establishing and maintaining camp sites. The prisoners themselves receive the standard wage of 80 cents per day from the army while working.

Hand Process

The detasseling, a stalk to stalk process, can be done only by hand and must be done immediately upon the appearance of the tassels and before the pollen is formed. For that reason, it is necessary for the crew to go over a field several times during the tasseling period. The seed corn, produced from controlled crossing of selected high yielding strains of corn, results in average yields of 10 to 15 bushels per acre over open pollinated corn. The hybrid seed corn production is thus an important factor in the nation's goal for increased food supply in 1944.

The basic free labor wage rate in Iowa for this type of work is 50 cents per hour plus bonuses. It is estimated by Iowa Agricultural Extension Service that approximately 8,800 workers were needed in the state for detasseling work. The present shortage of free labor has necessitated the requests for prisoner of war labor.

Weingarten internment camp has been furnishing prisoner of war labor for harvesting of crops in Missouri areas for the past three weeks, thereby helping to solve the local labor problem there. From three to six "details" have been sent to farms in the Missouri vicinity each day and farmers have reported the work of the war prisoners as generally satisfactory.

While the sending of the group to Iowa taxed the available prisoner labor in the Weingarten camp, it is expected that the camp will still be able to furnish a limited number of working groups to farmers for the remainder of the harvest season.

The contracts for the prisoner of war labor involving Missouri farmers and Iowa organizations, have been handled through the offices of the county agricultural agents and the state extension directors with the assistance of emergency farm labor committees, in the states and counties concerned.