The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-11-28

on its way to America.
Then he sent for one OF the naval
men who had been interned there
since the beginning of tie war and
who wns able to speak Dutch and
told him to take good care of me.
After had been bathed and shaved
and had haircut bought some new
clothes and had something to eat. and
I felt like new man.
As / walked through the streets Of
Rotterdam breathing the air of free
dom again and realizing that there
was no. longer any danger Of being
captured and taken back to prison.
It was wonderful sensation.
! don't believe there viii ever be a
country that will appear In my eyes
quite as good as Holland did then.
bad to be somewhat careful, however,
because Holland was full of German
spies and knew they would be keen
to learn all they possibly could about
my escape and my adventures so that
the authorities In Belgium could mete
out punishment to everyone who was
In any respect TO blame for 1t. as was
In Rotterdam only one day. they
didn't have very much opportunity to
learn anything from me.
The naval officer who accompanied
me and acted as interpreter for me
introduced me to many other soldiers
and sailors who had escaped from Bel
gium when the Germans took Ant
werp, and as they had arrived In Hol-
land In uniform and under arms, the
laws Of neutrality compelled their in
ternment and they had been there ever
since.
In . neutral county, learned. is any
thing but satisfactory. He gets one
month year to visit his home. II he
lives In England that Is not so bad.
but II he happens to live farther
away. the time he has TO spend with
his folks is very short, as the months
leave does not take into consideration
the time consumed in travelling to and
from Holland.
land Is always there, but the British
authorities have an agreement with
the Dutch government to send refu-
gees bnck Immediately. In this re-
spect. therefore. the position of q man
who is interned is worse than that
OF prisoner who. II he does succeed
In making his escape. is naturally re-
ceived with open arms In his native
land Apart from this restraint. how
ever. fnternmeut, With all its draw
backs. Is thousand dimes. yes, a mill
lion times, better than being q prisoner
Of war in Germany.
II seems to me that when the war
Is over and the men who have been
imprisoned in Germany return home,
they should be given q bigger and
greater reception than the most VIC
torious army that ever marched into
. city. for they will have suffered
and gone through more than the world
will ever be able to understand.
No doubt you viii find In the Ger
man ptisan camps one or two faint
hearted Individuals with pronounced
yellow streak who voluntarily gave
up the struggle aud gave up their lib
erty rather than risk their lives or
limbs. These sad cases. however, are,
am sure. extremely few. Nine hum
dred and ninety-nine out Of q thousand
Of the men fighting In the allied lines
would rather be in the front trenches,
fighting every day. with all the horrors
and all the risks. than be a prisoner
cf war In Germany. for the men in
France have q very keen realization
OF what that means.
But to return to my day In Rotter-
dam. ~
After l was fixed up I returned to
the consulate and arrangements were
made for my transportation to Eng
land at once Fortunately there was
boat leaving that very night and /
was allowed to take passage on it
lust MS We were leaving Rotterdam,
the boat was on rammed our. own
convoy, one Of the destroycrs. and in-
jured It 50 badly that 1t had to put
hack to port. II would have been a
strange climax to my adventure if the
disaster had resulted In the sinking
of my boat and 1. had lost my life
while on my way to England after
having successfully outwitted the
Huns. But my luck wns with me to
the last. and while the accident re-
suited in some delay our boat was not
seriously damaged and made the trip
over in schedule time and without fur
ther accident, another destroyer hav-
ing been assigned to escort us through
the danger zone In place Of the one
which had been put out Of commits
sion.
When I arrived In London. the re-
action from the strain 1 had been
under for nearly three months imme-
diateiy became apparent. My nerves
were in such n state that II was abso-