Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-11-24
Iowa Officer SWinns Rhine
in Escape from Hun Prison

! outside the camp building and to
plunge the yard into darkness. This
was the uignal for the four escaping
parties. Isaac's had managed to do
away with the small bars at his
window with the exception OF a
solid one in the center, and as he
D all his strength on it to bend
it he alarmed the guard.
However, from the window over
the shaking laths climbed the four
men, the lightest first. The other
parties started Also and Lieutenant
Willis at any rate got out by the
guard through the main gate.
How his comrades Jared Isaacs
does not know in detail. He is sure,
however, that the first of his party
got over the wire and jumped down
to the right, and that the next also
got clear and jumped to the left and
then he came. The sentry yelled
halt" and fired, but he ran straight
on, and there was no time to stop
and see what happened to any of the
rest. All the sentries then fired and
it was a barrage too difficult to
enter.
For two miles he ran, and on the
way one of the fugitives crossed
his path at right angles, and then in
a little while he fell in with Lieuten-
ant Willis, They travelled all night
by the aid of the compass and their
maps, and managed to put twenty
five miles between the camp and
themselves before dawn. They had
crossed three rivers, but were still
in the valley of the Danube.
Reach Swiss Frontier.
From that time on it was ques-
ton of travelling as hard as they
could by night and hiding during
the day. In three days they went
seventy-five miles, and on the sew
enth night they came in sight of the
Rhine on the Swiss frontier.
But when they reached the Rhine
between Basic and Schaffhausen at
| o'clock on the night of Oct. u a
new difficulty presented itself. The
river was about 200\ meters broad
and its current was running at
twelve miles an hour. It's banks
were high and precipitous, and
wherever there was a possible place
ct entering the stream there was
German sentry.
For two hours or more Willis and /
lsaacs secuted along only to find
e.,ery approach to the river blo,' :,
Then they decided they must creep
down to the Rhine by one of it's
little tributaries, So they stepped
into a little mountain stream and
crept along its bed toward the line
of sentries.
The water was icy cold, they were
clad only in jerseys and short
hfeeches. and they had to feel every 4
stone before they put their weight
ON 1t to- see that it would not Sin
and rattle, 1t took them two hours
thus to travel. mile under the
bushes, and it was about 2 in the
n. rning as they at last reached the
big rvei.
Willis turned to me-" said Lieu
tenant lsaacs, ''and advised me to
take my breeches off. | answered i
and got no reply. | couldn't find
J m anywhere. He was only six
inches ahead of me, but had been
caught by the current and swept
away. | did what he said and all of
sudden found myself swept away,
too.
Swims the Rhine.
ut was a tough swim, and there
was fog, which made it dangerous
as we might have lost directions
and landed on the German side
again. When | got to the middle |
thought | was exhausted. Try all I
could, could not get out of the
current. The water was like ice on
my head, and | tried breast stroke
and side stroke and every kind of
stroke and couldn't get any farther,
Then all of sudden l was out of
the current and made my way better.