New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
American Navy Lieutenant
Captured on Raft After
Pres. Lincoln Was Sunk
Two Attempts Failed
Finally Gets Out Of German
Prison and Swims Rhine.
to Switzerland


coin when that vessel was torpedoed
IN the Atlantic on May 81 last. He
was captured by the German submarine
which sank the ship.
When off the Scandinavian coast he
attempted to swim ashore but was
caught On his way to a prison camp
in Germany he jumped from train
bat was recaptured.
He escaped from the prison and
swan across the Rhine to safety IN
Switzerland
The story has been told briefly in
The Associated Press dispatches, but
it's details are SO filled with the spirit
of adventure as to be we'll worth the
telling.
When the President Lincoln went to
the bottom of the ocean Lieutenant
Isaacs, who is from Cresco, Iowa,
climbed upon a raft. Soon afterward
the submarine emerged and her COM
mander demanded the captain of the
President Lincoln as prisoner. The
survivors told him they believed the
captain had gone down with the ship,
not that they we're aware of that, but
TO prevent if possible the captain being
taken prisoner.
Taken Aboard U-Boat
While this was going on, Lieutenant
Isaacs said, he lay on the raft with MS
arms under him to hide the officers
stripes on his uniform, but without
success. and he was ordered aboard the
submarine 1t was the U-90, and her
commander. Captain Remy, had resided
in the United States and England and
spoke English Auently.
"Apparently Remy had been affected
by our civilization" said the ileuten-
am. "as he treated me pleasantly, While
inOuring as to the whereabouts of the
skipper of the Lincoln. | was told that
| must tell him where he could find
out captain CT go to Germany myself
SIS prisoner. | could not conform to
his first command, and, of course,
would not have had I been able to-"
The young officer said that he was
given a good bunk on the submarine
and four good meals daily, including
meat, eggs and real coffee. The fol-
lowing day as the submarine was cruis-
ing about seeking new victims, she
was sighted by two American de-
stroyers.
Scared by Depth Bombs
"While the destroyers we're plung-
ing toward us, we were getting under
water as rapidly as possible and final
ly stopped at depth of so metres,'
Lieutenant Isaacs said. when the
depth bombs began exploding every
German was at his station, tense and
pretty badly scared. Now and then a
junior officer would sing out to the
captain that destroyer was about so
far away TO starboard or port, as the
case might have been.
"They were recording the positions
with their listening devices. Then
would come a depth charge.
at is difficult to describe just the SEN
sation, but it seemed to me much like a
dog shaking a rat and it was anything
but pleasant to be in the rat. With
flash over the faces of the Germans.
for they expected every moment that
one of the charges would be fired a bit
closer, and they knew their craft could
not withstand it."
Too many destroyers were in that
area for comfort, so Remy headed for
the Kiel Canal the next night When
off the Scandinavian coast, Lieutenant
Isaacs said, he decided to attempt to
swim to shore when the submarine ap-
preached territorial waters With his
lifebelt on he was just slipping over
the side. shortly after midnight, when
he was discovered by Remy himself
and pulled aboard.
On arrival at Wilhelmshaven he was
kept three days on a submarine
mother" ship and three days in a
land prison, carefully guarded and
badly fed. During this time he was
taken to the German battleship Kaiser
Wilhelm II, the flagship of the fleet,
Dictaphones in Room
81 finally told him that the United
States would send SO many men to
France that the battle lines wouldn't
hold them" said the lieutenant. 81 was
then taken to Karlsruhe and placed in
q hotel room by myself the first day.
The next day | was put into another
room with eight French officers, it hav-
ing been learned in the meantime that
] spoke French. These rooms | after
ward learned were known as the lis
tening rooms and they were rightly
named The Frenchmen and found
three dictaphones and destroyed them.
The next day | was placed in a room
with three British officers and there
we're dictaphones in that room"
After a few days at Karlsruhe the
lieutenant started for preliminary
distributing camp at Villingen, Baden
In the railway carriage with him were
conditions at the Villingen camp, and
decided to try to get away from the
train if the slightest opportunity came.
Zone of the guards seemed to be
doing, while the other was interested
in something out the other side of the
carriage, when I dived through the car
rage window" the officer said. "The
train was moving more rapidly than
| believed. for | received an awful bump
on the head and both of my knees
were cut on the iron ties of the parallel
track
II scrambled into the brush as best
q, / could. Very soon bullets were whist
ling about me, rs the train had stopped
and guards were on my trail. | could
not make speed in the condition I
was in, SO to save my life / held up
my hands in token of surrender when
the guards were about seventy-fve
yards away.
Beaten and Kicked
-" hen they came up to me one of
them welcomed mo with a blow with
his rife. | was beaten and kicked and
knocked down seven or eight times
before they finally loaded me back into
the train.
Arriving at the camp, was swathed
In paper bandages. They have very
little cloth in Germany, you know Had
it not been for food supplied by the
Red Cross Pm sure would have starved
10 death, but with that we Jared very
we'll and within a month l had regained
my strength. There were about 150
Z