Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-08-30

/ ture is a check given me during this
banquet" by Lieut.. James Henry
Dickson of the Tenth Royal Irish Flu
sileers. Fellow prisoner. 1t was for
20 francs and was made payable to
the order of "Mr. Pat O'Brien, End
Lieut." Poor Jim forgot to scratch
out the London" and substitute
"Courtrai" on the date line, but it's
value as a souvenir is just as great.
When he gave it to me he had no idea
that would have an opportunity so
soon afterward to cash it in person,
although l am quite sure that what
ever financial reverses l may be des-
tined to meet, my want will never be
great enough to induce me to realize
on that check.
There was one subject that was
talked about in this prison whenever
conversation Jagged, and 1 suppose it
is the same in other prisons too. What
were the chances Of escape.
Every man seemed to have a differ
ent idea and one way, l suppose, was
| about as impracticable as another.
| None of US ever expected to get a
chance to put our ideas into execution,
| but it was interesting speculation, and
anyway one can never tell what op-
portunities might present themselves.
One suggestion was that we disguise
| ourselves as women. "O'Brien would
stand better chance disguised as a
horse !" declared another, referring to
| the fact that my height q am six feet
two inches) would make me more con-
| spicuous as woman than as q man.
Another suggested that we steal a
| German Gotha-a type of airplane
used for long-distance bombing. 1t is
| these machines which are used for
bombing London. They are manned
| by three men, one sitting in front with
machine gun, the pilot sitting behind
him and an observer sitting in the rear
with another machine gun. We fig
! ured that, at pinch, perhaps, seven
or eight of us could make our escape
in a single machine. They have two
motors of very high horse power, fly
very high and make wonderful speed.
But we had no chance to put this idea
to the test.
| worked out another plan by which
l thought l might have a chance if l
could ever get into one of the German
alrdromes. l would conceal myself in
one of the hangers, wait until one of
the German machines started out, and
as he TAXED along the ground l would
rush out, shout at the top of my voice
I
and point excitedly at his wheels. This
figured, would cause the pilot to stop
and get out TO see what was wrong
BY that time I would be up to him, and
as he stopped over to inspect the ma.
chine, l could knock him senseless
jump into the machine and be over the
lines before the Huns could make up
their minds just what had happened
1t was fine dream, but my
chance was not to come that way.
There were dozens of other ways
which we considered. One man would
be for endeavoring to make his way
right through the lines. Another
thought the safest plan would be tc
swim some river that crossed the lines
The. idea of making ones way tC
Holland, a neutral country, occurred
to everyone, but the one great obstacle
in that direction, we all realized, was
the great barrier of barbed and elec
trically charged wire which guards ev
cry foot of the frontier between Bel
gium and Holland, and which is closely
watched by the German sentries.
This barrier was q three-fold affair
1t consisted first of barbed wire wal
six feet high. Six feet beyond tha
was a nine-foot wall of wire power
fully charged with electricity. T,
touch it meant electrocution. BeyonC
that, at a distance of six feet, wa
another wall of barbed wire six fee
high.
Beyond the barrier lay Holland ant
liberty, but how to get there was
problem which none of US could solv
and few of US ever expected to hav
4 chance to try.
Mine came sooner than 1 expected