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

As we faced the camera suppose
we all tried to look our kappiest. but
the majority of us. l am afraid, were
too sick at heart to raise smile,
even for this occasion. One of our
Hun guards is shown in the picture
seated at the table. I am standing
directly behind him, attired in my fly
ing tunic, which they allowed me to
wear all the time l was in prison, as
Is the usual custom with prisoners of
war. Three of the British officers
shown in the picture, in the fore
/ ground, are clad in shorts"
Through all my, subsequent adven.
lures l was able to retain a print of
this interesting picture, and although
when l gaze at it now it only serves
to increase my qualification at my ulti-
mate escape, it fills me with regret TO
think that my fellow prisoners were
not so fortunate. AL of them by this
time are undoubtedly eating their
hearts up in the prison camps of in
terror Germany. Poor fellows!
Despite the scanty fare and the re-
strictions we were under IN this prison.
we did manage on one occasion to ar
range q regular banquet The plan
ming which was necessary helped to
pass the time.
At this time there were eight of us
We decided that the principal thing
we needed to make the affair a sue.
cess was potatoes, and l conceived a
plan to get them. Every other after
noon they took us for a walk in the
country, and it occurred to me that
1t would be a comparatively simple
matter for us to pretend to be tired
and sit down when we came to the
first potato patch.
1t worked out nicely. When we
came to the first potato patch that
afternoon, we told our guards that we
wanted to rest a bit and we were
allowed to sit down. In the course
Of the next five minutes each of us
managed to get a potato or two. Be
Ing Irish, 1 got six.
When we got back to the prison, ]
managed to steal a handkerchief full
Of sugar, which. with some apples that
we were allowed to purchase, we ees
lily converted into a sort of jam.
We now had potatoes and jam, but
no bread. 1t happened that the Hun
who had charge of the potatoes was
a great musician. 1t was not very
difficult to prevail upon him to play
us some music, and while he went out
to get his either 1 went into the bread
pantry and stole loaf of bread.
Most of us had saved some butter
from the day before, and we used II
to fry our potatoes. BY bribing one
of the guards, he bought some eggs fol
us. They cost 20 cents apiece, but WE
were determined to make this banque
a success, no matter what it cost.
The cooking was done by the prison
cook, whom, of course, we had tt
bribe.
When the meal was ready to serv,
it consisted of scrambled eggs, frieC
potatoes, bread and jam, and a pitche
of beer which we were allowed to buy
That was the Doth of August. Hal
known that it was to be the las
real meal that l was to eat for man,
weeks, 1 might have enjoyed it evel
more than 1 did, but it was certainl,
very good.
We had cooked enough for eight, bu
while We were still eating, anothe
Joined us. He was an English office
who had just been brought In on
stretcher. For seven days, he told us
he had lain in a shell hole, wounded
and he was almost famished, and w
were mighty glad to share our bar
quet with him.
: We called on each man for a speech
and one might have thought that w
were at first-class club meeting. .
few days after that our party wa
broken up and some of the men, l SUI
| pose, shall never see again.
One of the souvenirs of my adver