Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1917-09-24
The sexton led Russell down a flight

communication with an enemy. You
have done good turn for France"
The next thing Russell did was to 20
again to the basement and examine
how he could mine his way out Of the
church. 1t was very old and the foun-
dation crumbling. The floor Of the
basement was about four feet lower
than the outside surface. Russell
found place where the wall was bro
ken, and all he had to do was to tun-
mel through it and up to the surface, a
distance Of only six feet. Returning to
his comrades, he proposed his scheme.
as follows:
IF one OF us can make an escape and
get through the lines we can be of
great service to our fellows. | think
an escape can be made. We can break
through the wall in the basement or
tunnel under it and upward to the sur
face. A man thus getting out at night
might be able to pass the guard when
he Is at the far end of his beat.
Il propose to use the hands of the
clock Of the church for cipher. | can
visit the belfry whenever | choose and
can place the hands on the dial at any
point. Our men by means Of their
glasses can easily see the tower and
! just where the hands are. All that Is
to be done is to arrange a code"
1t was decided that Andrews should
remain and send the signals, and James
Brooks volunteered to make the at
tempt at escape, taking the code with
him. There were plenty of hands to
dig the tunnel, and all the caution that
was required was to avoid work at
the hours the guard visited the prison
ers to bring their meals and for other
purposes.
That same evening the tunnel was
dug. 1t was found that the wall could
not be pierced, and portion Of the ce.
ment floor was removed and the tun.
neling done under the wall instead of
through It, The work was not difficult
and was accomplished in few hours.
The earth removed was concealed In a
dark inclOsure under the clock tower.
When all was ready Brooks, who was
small man Of great agility, having
| been provided with the code, crawled
into the tunnel and when at the point
where II extended straight upward
stood on his feet with his head above
ground and looked about him.
The night was dark, and he could sec
nothing, but he could hear the sentry
on that side Of the church walking his
beat. The man passed within twenty
feet Of him. Brooks noted his move
ments and estimated that the exit from
the tunnel was located about a third
nearer one end Of the beat than the
other. 1t behooved the American to
leave his point Of concealment after
the man had passed him on the longest
section of his beat and make his way
beyond the beat before he returned.
Watching his opportunity, Brooks
sprang out Of the tunnel and ran some
fifty yards into bush, behind which
he concealed himself. He heard the
sentry give challenge, which indi-
Gated that he had been heard. The
sentry stood still for some time, and
Brooks heard the click Of his rifles
lock. But he probably made up his
mind that he had heard some animal,
for he presently started again on his
beat.
Brooks crawled away toward the
firing line and on his way encountered
a dead body. The corpse was that of
German, and Brooks appropriated his
helmet and his coat. His rifle lay near,
and Brooks took that too. Then he ad-
vanced to the trench at a point between
the occupants and after standing guard
for awhile found an opportunity to
steal out unobserved, and, throwing off
his helmet and dropping his rifle, he
crawled on all fours toward the Ameri-
can line. Before he could make him
self known several shots were fired at
him, but fortunately he was unhurt.
The next morning man Yves sta
toned with powerful glass leveled at
the dial of the clock. In time he called
an officer, who in turn called Brooks
When they reached him he reported
that the minute hand of the clock was
moving-now backward now forward
Brooks consulted the code and reported
to the officer:
Nothing DOING
This, Of course, meant that there was
nothing of importance to be reported Of
the enemy's movements. During the
day the American troops made attacks
at two different points. About o'clock |
in the afternoon the watcher reported
that the minute hand of the clock was
again moving backward slowly. After
moving over twenty minutes on the
dial it suddenly sprang forward and
again began its slow retrograde move
ment. Brooks at once read from the
code:
"They are retreating."
The officer at once hurried to a tele-
phone station and reported the infor-
nation to the general commanding.
The general at once ordered barrage
of artillery fire, the shells falling just
beyond the church. Then he ordered d
charge. The fire kept the Germans
back, and the troops charging went
beyond the church and dug themselves
In before the enemy could make coun-
ter attack.
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