Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1918-09-13

When the meal was ready 10 serve
II consisted Of scrambled eggs, fried
potatoes, bread and jun, and pitcher
OF beer which we were allowed to buy,
That was the 10Th Of August. Had
/ known that It was to be the last
real meal that was to eat for many
weeks. I might have enjoyed It even
more than / did. but It was certainly
very good.
We had cooked enough for eight, but
while We were still eating. another
Joined us. He was an English Oficer
who had just been brought in on a
stretcher. For seven days, he told US,
he had lain In a shell hole, wounded,
and he was almost famished, and we
were mighty glad to share our ban
quet with him.
We called on each man for q speech,
and one might have thought that We
were ut a first-class club meeting. A
few days after that our party was
broken up and some Of the men, ! sup
pose, shall never see again.
One Of the souvenirs Of my adven-
ture is q check given me during this
banquet" by Lieut.. James Henry
Dickson Of the Tenth Royal Irish Fu-
/ slleers, q fellow prisoner. II was for
70 francs and was made payable to
the order Of "Mr. Pat 0'Brlen, End
Lieut." Poor Jim forgot to scratch
out the London" and substitute
"Courtrai" on the date line, but Its
value Us q souvenir Is just as great.
When he gave 1t to me he had no Idea
that I would have an opportunity so
soon afterward to cash 1t In person,
although / ain quite sure that what
ever financial reverses may be des-
tined to meet, my want will never be
great enough to induce me to realize
on that check.
There was one subject that was
talked about In this prison whenever
conversation Jagged, and l suppose 1t
Is the same In other prisons too. What
were the chances Of escape
Every man seemed to have differ
ent idea and one way, suppose, was
about as impracticable as another.
None of us ever expected to get a
chance to put our ideas into execution,
but 1t was interesting speculation, and
anyway one can never tell what OPP
portunitles might present themselves.
One suggestion was that We disguise
ourselves as women. "O'Brien would
stand a better chance disguised as a
horse! !" declared another, referring to
the fact that my height Il am six feet
two inches) would make me more con-
spicuous as q woman than as man.
Another suggested that we steal a
German Gotha-a type of airplane
used for lOng-distance bombing. 1t Is
these machines which are used for
bombing London. They are manned
by three men, one sitting In front with
q machine gun, the pilot sitting behind
him and an observer sitting in the rear
with another machine gun. We fig-
ured that, at q pinch, perhaps, seven
or eight of us could make our escape
in q single machine. They have two
motors of very high horse power, fly
very high and make wonderful speed.
But we had no chance to put this idea
to the test.
worked out another plan by which
I thought / might have chance If l
could ever get into one Of the German
airdromes. would conceal myself In
one of the hangers, wait until one OF
the German machines started out, and
as he TAXED along the ground / would
rush out, shout at the top of my voice
and point excitedly ut his wheels. This,
l figured, would cause the pilot to stop
and get out to see what was wrong.
BY that time would be up to him, and
as he stopped over to inspect the ma
chine, l could knock him senseless,
lump into the machine and be over the
lines before the Huns could make up
their minds just what had happened
II was q fine dream, but my
chance was not to come that way.
There were dozens Of other ways
which we considered. One man would
be for endeavoring to make his way
right through the lines. Another
thought the safest plan would be to
swim some river that crossed the lines
The idea of making ones way to
Holland, a neutral country, occurred
to everyone, but the one great obstacle
In that direction, we all realized, was
the great barrier of barbed and cleo
trically charged wire which guards ev-
cry foot of the frontier between Bel
GUM and Holland, and which is closely
watched by the German sentries.
This barrier was a three-fold affair,
1t consisted first Of barbed wire wall
six feet high. Six feet beyond that
was a nine-foot wall Of wire power
fully charged with electricity. To
touch It meant electrocutlOn. Beyond
that, at a distance Of six feet, was
another wall Of barbed wire six, feet
high.
Beyond the barrier lay Holland and
liberty, but how to get there was q
problem which none Of US could solve
and few Of US ever expected to have
q chance to try.
J., Mine came sooner than / expected,