The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1915-07-09
HIDDEN IN BEER
CAsK, SPY RIDES
PAST HIS FOES
French Officers Conveyance, 9
Dutchman's Dray, Passes
Safe Mid Man Hunt.
STOPPED NEAR THE FRONTIER
,PurloIner Of German Secrets at Namur
Finally Emerses In Holland From
Barrel Refuge-CIose to Cap
ture Several Times.
BY EDGAR ANsEL MoWRER.

IuTC OSNVt0i tIuhSSs
BY EDGAR ANSEL MoWRER.
Correspondent of the Chicago News.l
Paris-This is story that was told
me by hotelkeeper's wife at Namur,
who has travelled considerably about
Belgium.
After the Germans destroyed the
forts Of Namur with their long-range,
heavy cannon, the Belgians. for rea-
sons which are not yet quite clear,
evacuated the place. The invaders oc-
Icupied the city, made 1t one Of their
Icenters OF operations and settled down
las II they intended to stay.
With their usual precision they saw,
oven In August, that time might
come when retreat would be neces-
{ sary. Namur, at the junction Of the
Mouse and the Sambre, would be one
of the pivots for line Of defense.
They hastily began to rebuild the
forts, charging and strengthening
them.
Namurrols Go to Work at Last.
But this work demanded many
hands. The Germans called upon the
inhabitants, offering high wages. For
10 month not man from the town re-
sponded. The Namurrois would die
rather than work for the Germans, and
said SO. So the German military
brought a few hundred civilians from
Germany, but left the original offer
open to the Belgians.
There was no work in Namur; the
prices of foodstuffs rose higher and
higher. Finally one man, maddened
by the pinched faces of his wife and
babies, shouldered his shovel and re-
ported ready for work. This was the
signal. Not only the Namurrois but
idle men from all over Belgium came
Ito toll at the massive Notifications.
With them one day arrived French
man, who turned out to be an officer
iof the engineering corps. He came
originally from Givet, near the Bel
gian frontier, so his French resembled
that of the Belgians. He was dressed
like a workingman, even to the In
sigma Of the Belgian /. w. W., which
he wore conspicuously. His papers
showed his name was Georges Bezon,
Belgian, thirty-two years old, born at
iNeufchateau. The Germans accepted
him without question or suspicion.
Notices Hands Are Small.
For three weeks the French officer
dug on the Notifications. He did his
work well. Then, one day. German
officer, who happened to pause near
where the Frenchman was digging, no.
ticed that the latter's hands, despite
their coating Of dirt, were small and
well made. To this German they
seemed too small and too well made.
He questioned the pseudo-laborer. The
ilatter's replies were satisfactory.
But the German felt that in spite of
appearances something was wrong
about this Georges Bezon, born In
Neufchateau in April, 1882 That
might Namur telephoned Neufchateau.
Search among the municipal records
failed to reveal the name Of Bezon.
We'll get him." laughed the Ger.
man officer who had laid bare the de.
ception, and he gave orders to arrest
Bezon the following morning. When
morning came 1t brought the workers
to the Notifications, but Georges Be-
zon was not among them. A search
was made. Inquiries at the house
where the suspect had been staying
showed he had not come in the night
before. All of the efforts made by the
military failed to reveal how the art
full Georges had escaped. Perhaps
some of the inhabitants didn't tell all
they knew. The hatred of the Ma.
murrois for the German is extreme.
Next Seen In Llege.
The next that the clever German Of
ficer saw Of Georges Bezon was at
Liege. He had gone over to visit
friend, an officer In the artillery. The
friend was conducting him about the
town one evening. They entered
cafe. At the first table, slipping glass
of bitter wine, dressed as a well-to-do
bourgeois, sat the man who had
worked on the Notifications in Namur.
Catch that man." the German cried
to some soldiers, and he himself
rushed upon his enemy. But the we'll
dressed man had seen the German as
quickly as he was seen. In fash he
was out Of the cafe, around the first
corner and had disappeared.
The garrison Of Mege was all upset
and hunt was begun in earnest. The
Inhabitants were disturbed, guards
were posted, German cavalry secured
the country, descriptions Of Georges
Bezon were telephoned broadcast. But
when evening came and the cavalry
bands returned none of them had the
desired prisoner, though they had
plenty of others who were magnani-
mously released as soon as they
proved their innocence.
Were Close to Capture.
But the Germans had come closer