El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-03-02

ONDON, Eng, March lowing
to the snow and storms the stay
- Of British prisoners. Of which ]
was one. In the region Of the Baltic
was not prolonged. and It was with
pleasant feelings that We boarded a
train for Burgsteinfurt, which, though
very bad, was probably an improve
ment upon the potato farm which we
had previously been TO. A number Of
Russians. so I heard. had been driven
mad, and rather than PIT up with
their torture, many had committed
suicide. while others turned on their
tOrmcltors-
In one case the frenzied Russian
saw his chance. One Of the sentries
bad left his rifle in close proximity to
the Russian. who, clutching hold OF
II, went in search Of the work mas
ter. Finding him. the Russian at once
shot him dead. The report OF the gun
brought the farmer on the scene, and
he also fell a victim to the Russians
gun An alarm. was raised by the
farmers wife, who had jeered at the
poor fellow, but before she could get
help the Russian also killed her. The
Russian was now q raving maniac /
and, rushing to the farmhouse. he set
Il abiaze, and before II was discOv-
cred, the whole farmstead was burn
ing furicusly.
Satisfied that he had obtained his ]
revenge in full. he calmly placed the /
muzzle OF his gun 70 his head and, ]
pulling the trigger, shet himself
Made n show OF In Berlin.
On my way to Burgsteinfurt the I
train stopped at Berlin, where the 7!
first things which caught my eyes
were a couple Of Turkish officers. The /
party was afterwards marched /
through a busy Berlin thorough are
What struck me most was the small /
number OF able bodied men TO be seen.
IN fact, apart from those in military
Uniform, ! dare venture to say l did
not see a man who was fit TO work.
There were plenty OF WOmen-a large
number in mourning.
It was while on the latter part of
the journey that the idea came to me
good treking. snow lying thickly on
the ground Yet felt that If / could
only get away from the train I would
not be missed right away. owing to
the confusion ethst would occur when
the prisoners left the train
~ attempt 90 Escape Fails.
tall-el over the affair with an
otlcr prisoner, pointing out TO him
tn1- ] had compass and that my
J was 10 jump from the train when
it was slowing down. and make one
long dash for the frontier.
When the train stopped at the sta
ton at which we we're to aHght. my
ehum and had Just stepped out Of the s
carriage and were making for the Op ]
prsite side OF the platform, when a
sentry jumped upon us had the ]
presence Of mind, however, 20 show a
bold front. and when he asked ne
where we were going I merely told {
him ne were looking for the latrines.
Ee brought Us both back TO our car
rage. and soon afterwards we were
amongst the rest Of the party on our
way 20 the dreaded Burgsteinfurt.
Wcrk n a Blizzard.
The cold was intense, but we were
forced 10 work in billiards, the Ike Of
which / had never known before One {
day quite a number Of Russians,
starved to the bone, fell exhausted
But they received no special treat !
ment- As soon as they were brought
round, they had to continue their I !
work. Eventually things became {
practically unbearable. so we asked
for a fire to be placed IN the field
Al first the ''belt- weber" would have /
none Of il, but when We threatened I
20 stop working unless We had a fire, :
he granted the request Ii
We had only been in camp about :
seven days CT 50 when number OF US 81
decided TO clear out Our plans We I
made quickly, and one brave chap 5
TO 90 out and cut the :
wires. one or two OF our company
we're against going. owing to the fact
that the undertaking was on too big {
r scale, but this did not deter the Z
more ambitious ones. d
After I had finished ny work I
steaIthily made my way for the open {
ng in the wires, but when ] was In 8
ne act Of crossing the white sand q