Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-03-22

Few outsiders know of the heartrend-
Ing scenes enacted within the wire in
closed prison camps In the Bermudas,
so near to our coast The very monOto-
ny and heat and the eternal glare Of
white coral rock and whtewashed
buildings are distressing enough, but
when added to these dlscomforts are
the confinement, the forced lnaction
and continual espionage OF guards
with loaded rifles the condition OF the
prisoners may be imagined as almost
intoleable. Not only are the ablebod-
led Beers confined here, but decrept old
men and boys Of tender years,
~ was determined from the first,
says Mr.. De Wet, ito take advantage OF
any opportunity 10 escape, and, after
one unsuccessful attempt, which gave
me some suggestions as to the proper
course to pursue, made another break
for liberty and succeeded. | had noted
small tramp steamer out In the bay
ana one night In october after supper
and prayers were over | contrlved to
get down to corner Of the compound
where the fence ran into the water !
waded In, crawled under the wires and
then struck out for the ships lights,
which | could see cleaning in the dis
lance. The steamer was probably
three quarters Of mile away, but as
am a strong swimmer the effort nec-
essary to reach her was not exhaustng
until was within about quarter of a
mile. when the tide turned against me,
and / had to swim for my life.
after being about an hour and a
half In the water l succeeded in reach
Ing the vessel caught hold Of her an
chOr chain and tried 10 crawl aboard
Finding this impossible, I'dropped back
into the water and swan around TO the
stern, where | rested by placing my
feet on the propeller blades and hang
Ing ON to the rudder, more dead than
alive, Fortunately one of the sailors
happened to look over the rail- and, see
ing me there, passed me the flag hall
yards, by the aid OF which and with
his assistance | managed to reach the
deck ! didn't stay there long, but i'm
mediately scooted for the stokehole as
fast as my benumbed legs could carry
me. The second engineer whose watch
II was. finding me warming up before
the furnace, asked me who | was, and
upon receiving the requested lnforma-
ton was as kind as any man could be.
He knew well enough the risk he ran,
but he hid me In a coal bunker, where
| remained for nine hours, or until the
steamer had left the harbor, A coal
bunker rs not the coolest spot in the
world, and when | emerged was about
as exhausted as / could be and live,
but It served to hide me while the Brit.
ish officers searched the ship. The cap
tain. who was not aware Of my pres
ence, threatened TO take me back, but
was persuaded to carry me along and
after an eventful voyage, during
which | stocked for my passage, we arr
rived in New York harbor
~ had at last reached a free country,
but was still IN state Of anxiety. not
knowing but that could be extradted
And then, again, as my hasty departure
did not permit of my taking what few
belongings | had in the compound. my
total possessions consisted Of q suit Of
oyeralls a pair Of shoes and cap, to-
gether with 70 cents In cash which my
friend the engineer had given me. Like
poor old Robinson Crusoe ! began TO
think ! had had a dreadful deliver
ance' indeed for, though was a free
man, was without friends and almost
destitute in a strange land.
81 was hungry, however and, wan
derlng into restaurant on the Bowery,
] got some cheap food and then inquired
OF the proprietor II he could give me
something to do He promptly advised
me to jump into the river and wash my
self but after awhile agreed to let me
wash the dishes of the establishment
during the daytime and sleep on
chair In the kitchen at night. Two
weeks Of this sort of life was about all
| wanted, and having recovered my
strength and pristine cleanliness some
what ! started to look for a more con-
genial position, taking the first that Of
fered as section hand on the Pennsyl-
vania railroad The change of climate
from the mild Bermudas to the inclem-
ent north, together with my lack Of
warm clothing, brought on an attack of
recovering from which |
made my way south as far as Jackson-
vile, Fla, bringing up at st. Angus
tine. There | found employment in
hotel as electrician and stayed until
the last Of February, returning north
again after the work was finished and
taking up my residence in New York
city. where hope an opportunity to re-
turn TO my native land viii offer. The
Beers are far from being beaten and
will hold out to the bitter end, which Ia
still long ways off, and at the present
time they need every ablebodied man
and boy in their ranks"
TRUMAN l.. ELTON.