The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1918-01-24

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the farms / managed to get n pair Of
wooden shoes to keep my feet off the
ground.
There had been promises OF Red
Cross packages and Y. M. G. A. boxes
at Brandenburg, but they hadn't AR
rived when left
AT Lucbeck everything was much
better. They kept us in big ware
house on the Hamburg-Amerlcan quay,
and made us load and unload ships.
But here we had steamer hunks 10
sleep In and decent blankets, and II
was luxury compared TO the other
places. We had the same Oil bum
coffee and turnip sOup-but our guards
got the same. Then In the summer we
began TO receive some clothing from
the International Y. M. C. A. and some
food boxes from the American Red
Cross through Copenhagen.
What Y. NJ. 6. A. Sent.
Every week we got box that had
In II 80 biscuits, some corned beef,
veal loaf, suet pudding, condensed milk,
one-qunrter pound Of tea, slice Of
bacon, can Of fruit, so cigarettes and
some tobacco. That saw us through.
II was so good we felt sorry for the
poor guards and would give them
scraps. They offered as high as so
marks for pound of tea. And the
bacon they would have given anything
for"
In June, Smith made his first at
tempt at escape. He had been work.
ing in shipyard distant from Lubbock
and managed to elude his guard at
nightfall. He struck out overland, but
his prison uniform revealed him and
two days later he was captured aud
returned. For the offense of trying To
escape he was given 10 days In the
"black hole" with only piece Of
bread day to eat. Also n big Ger
man guard "took couple of cracks"
at his face.
'"The Spanish ambassador came 10
see us Americans on June and prom.
iSed to send us books and clothing,
but | never saw any of them. They
did begin TO put few potatoes into
the turnip soup, and occasionally they
put about five pounds Of meat into the
soup supply for 300 men.
Another Getaway Chance.
"In October | made up my mind to
take another chance on getaway. The
ships we were loading were plying be-
tween Lubbock and Swedish ports, and
| thought might hide on one of these.
They carried mostly salt fertilizer to
Sweden, though sometimes some conl
and coke, and they brought back pig
iron and ore. | never saw them bring
In any foodstuffs. Sometimes the Ger.
man ships would go out carrying
barbed wire and iron rods for the |
trenches on the Russian front. They
went to Rign, believe.
There was one boat, the Undlne,
which Travelled between Lubbock aud
a Swedish port named Norrkoplng reg
llarly. got acquainted with Swede
On board her, and he told me one 9TH
ar fellow had made his getaway 10
by concealing himself in
he hold.
my scheme was this: Every morn
ng the guard would get together an
Early working crew of u men at four
,'clock. He would take them on board
while II was dark, to get the matches
'eady for the others One morning
when wasn't In this squad I hid my
ielf in the hallway where they always
ined up. The guard counted his II,
md then In the darkness l Joined
hem. AS we climbed aboard the
Jndine he didn't know he had 13, In
tead Of II. He was a boneheaded
herman anyhow.
II hid myself In the fertillzer-a
of salt and sulphur. What
t did to me was plenty. My feet are
Till full Of holes and the nails are
fl my toes"
For six days then (an unusually
Dng Journey Smith remained In the
old. When the vessel docked at
'orrkoping and the hatch was opened
e dashed down the gangplank to
afety. The Swedish police gave him
rater and food; American consulate
ttaches clothed him and sent him to
stockholm and then to Christiania,
Iorway, and there he boarded the liner
for home.
Adontad % rhiidran