Ripley County democrat., 1918-03-15
AVIATOR DODGES
HUNS II DAYS
Lieut.. Pat. 0'Brien Of Illinois
Tells Of Wild Adventures In
Germany.
Jumps FROM MOVING TRAIN
American Strategy TrIumphs Over
German Efficlency--one Of Hls
Hardest Stunts Was Swimming 4,
River Mcuae.
O'Drlcn Of Momence,

Chicago.--I'at O'Drlcn Of Momence.
ILL.,, is buck from the fighting front.
In the British flying corps the young
man from Momence is known as Lieut..
Patrick Alya O'Brien. He Is famous
for several reasons. His real story be.
gan when he made descent Of nearly
two miles In his airplane after a'Ger-
man bullet In the face had rendered
him unconscious. The fall cost him q
bump on the head. t N
He jumped out of the window Of q
moving train on his way to German
prison camp, and escaped. Then he
spent 70 days 10 getting to Holland, Q
distance of 25O miles as the .airplane
files. And the story ends with one OF
the longest interviews with king on
record-52 minutes by the royal stop
watch.
Many times during those u nights Of
travel through Germany, LuxeInburg,
and occupied Belgium, American
strategy triumphed over German eff
cheney.
"Usually." sold Lieutenant o'Brien,
''when bunch of fellows get together,
they talk about women, But In our
first prison. In Flanders, we talked
only about escape and food, and got
very little Of either. There were eight
officers going to an interior prison
cnmp, and q guard with rife for ev-
cry two prisoners.
Leaps From Train.
swo rode all dny and all night.
Twice put up the window to jump
and lost my nerve. It looked too much
like sudden death As put II m
ngnin. about -four IN the morning. the'
guard gave me an ugly look, I knew
1t was then or never md dove out.
"For nearly O month afterward I
thought my left eye wns gone. The
scars are there yet. BY the time the
train stopped, half-mile on. or more.
I was up and stumbled to a hiding
plnce. Those Germans looked every
where--0n the side of the tracks to
ward the border. / was In the oppo-
site direction.
ut was a month before got rid Of
my English uniform. ] stole pair Of
overalls one night. I got cap the
next and shirt later. A Belgian gave
me q scarf. That was oil the help !
got"
AS On appetizer Lieutenant O'Brien
nte turnlp. The entree was sugnr beet,
and the meal closed with q 'cnbbage
stump that even the Germans sccrned.
sand never did like vegetables"
he said. II hope I never have, to eat
another"
One night a German soldier saw him
swimming river. and raised the
alarm.
II felt sure they would be on top of
me In few minutes,n he said, $50 I
ran upstream ana swam back to the
other side. knew the ways of the
Hun pretty well by then. They looked
everywhere on the other side, but not O
German came near me.
ewam the Meuss.
zone Of the hardest things I did
was to swim the Meuse river / had
all my clothes on, to my boots, and
the river vns half mile across. It
nearly got me twenty-five feet from
shore. I was choking. and I admit
praying. My boyhood on the Kanka-
llkee saved my life.
"When got up the bank I fainted.
IL was the only time ! ever tainted"
| Lieutenant o'BrIen could not speak
Gernan. As boy, a Momence baker
Of Teuton origin taught him phrase
:of German, but he did not know what
lit meant. ! It was some 'ten lifetimes''
latter swimming the Meuse he found
the nine-foot death fence Of the Hol-
land frontier. Death all but got him
then, as his improvised ladder dropped
him on the charged wires.
u few minutes Inter-" he said, n
| could have tripped the guard with my
ladder. After he had gone I dug-dug
as never dug before in my life. My
! back was half an inch from death when
I crawled under and Into Holland"
4 v----------