Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-05-02
CAPTAIN LUX MAKES
A THRILLING ESCAPE
French officer Tells How He
Got Out of the Famous
German Prison.
From the London Daily Mail.

French officer sentenced for espionage
to detention in the German fortress Of
Glatz. has created a great sensation in
France. Indeed, his remarkable ex-
plot has given SO much satisfaction
that the French military authorities.
since his arrival in Paris on Sunday
morning, have ordered him. as far as
possible, to avoid popular ~demonstra-
tions. n above all to maintain silence
in the presence of newspaper reporters.
How he accomplished his daring es-
cape was described by Captain Lux
to All intimate friend.
Contrary to what has been reported"
he said. II enjoyed no measure of free
dom at Glatz. l was obliged to keep
with the exception of two hours in the
morning and two in the afternoon,
when l was permitted to take exercise
i'll the interior courtyard II COM
municate with the German officers on
duty in the fortress. For an hour dur
Ing each Of these exercise periods. i
was allowed, under the especial sur
VIGILANCE of a non-commissioned Of
ficer, to mount the rampant which
crowns the citadel. but at no time vas
l given permission To go into the town
of Glatz.
The same restrictions apply to Cap
tain Trench. the British officer confined
~ NAAS" VI &SE'CiihSS. ! a wv oi-
lowed to have n communication with
hlln. BESIDES. we We're lodged i'm diff
ferent buildings and We're both con-
stantly guarded by a sentinel.
1T has been stated i'm Germany that
j was a prisoner on parole. That is
absolutely untrue, n l give the state
ment a complete denial. So little was
on parole that l was confined i'm a
room giving ON to the interior court
yard of III fortress. which is guarded
by sentinels provided with ball cart
ridges. In order to escap from the
fortress, ] had to force two doors. saw
through the bars or q window. drop Is
feet to the ground, cross some gardens.
negotiate obstacles OF all Kind INC
then get over a railing eight feet high,
under the nose of Il sentinel and in the
night of a "a lamp
File From Outside.
1t is asserted that even while he was
detained in the fortress at GlantZ, Cap
tain Lux was able to keep I'm corres-
pondence with his friends outside. and
1T is conjectured that they supplied
him with the file With which, after four
hours work on Christmas night. he
succeeded i'm saving through the win
dow bars which opened the way to his
release.
When he reached the fortress co,rt-
yard he found Il suit of civilian clothes
and in n of the pockets Il passport
which enabled him to cross the 'front.'
Ter. While the sentinel was making
his rounds on the other side of the
fortress. the daring officer changed his
CLONES and jumped h ditch which
separated him from freedom. Once he
reached the main IA his friends were
waiting for him with a motor car and
after IL few hours at full speed In he
darkness the captain found asylum in
Austria. There he took rain through
Italy. switzerland and via the Simplon
to Paris.
He was met by n few friends on his
arrival in the French capital and short
ly after he reported himself at the min
lstry OF war. He was received by M.
Messiny, minister of war, to whom he
recountedth the details of his escape. Since
then he has moi at his home.
but is staying with friends, whose ad-
dress is only known to his chief at the
war Office.
Captain Lux has received kilograms
OF co~ngratulation from all parts of
France. and especially from his brother
officers ON the eastern frontier.
In due course he will be brought be-
fore a court martial on a charge of de-
sertion, as according to the strict mill
tary code, he was from the time of his
incarceration at Glatz posted as a de-
.serter. The trial VIII be a mere for
mality and the captain will be acquit-
ted as a matter of course.
Like Dumas Story.
The full story of Captain Lux's es-
cape from the grim citadel of Glatz
reads like a page from Alexandra Du-
mas. But, unlike the Count of Monte
Christie, the gallant little French officer
with the bristling black mustache and
the Arm chin was not left to his own
His escape was the result
Of a most ingenious plan. conceived by
a Drnlln Mt doVynf0J uS0nl h., A..
French army, and carried to success
through the captive's pluck and sang
froid.
The citadel OF Glatz. poised on a lofty
hill overlooking the TOWN., is the most
vigorously guarded military fortress in
Germany. Captain Lux was under in
cessant surveillance, yet every day for
n last six months Captain Lux re-
cetved from France a packet of papers
and magazines tied up with halt n yard
or so OF stout waxed cord. The SER
geant Of the guard duly inspected the
packets, n finding nothing passed
them on to the captive, who carefully
preserved the string. Further, every
five or six days packets of books ar
rived for the prisoner. ponderous vol
umes Of history to beguile the time.
The books were principally the massive
works of NJ. Frederic Mason, the great
Napoleonic historian.
Captain Lux's warders thought him a
voracious reader, for every minute out
side his daily walks about the fort ne
spent at his table, covered with VOL
umes of history, technical reviews and
newspapers. The captive's gaolers mo-
ticed that he used to bind ana unbind
the books sent him and thought the
captain had taken up bookbinding to
pass the time. But the prisoners books
were bound in q remarkable manner.
and as o as the warders' backs were
turned he slit the covers with a pen
knife and took out a number Of Ger