Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-12-01

SlOAS VI Ii. l.. v IoddNS VI ny
United States navy, watch officer OF
the American transport President
Lincoln when that vessel was tor
pedoed in the Atlantic on May 81
last. He was captured by the Ger
man submarine which sunk the ship.
When off the Scandinavian coast he
attempted to swim ashore but was
caught. On his way to a prison
camp in Germany he jumped from
a train, but was recaptured. He es-
capped from the prison and swan
across the Rhine river to safety IN
S itzerland.
The story has been told briefly in
the Associated Press dispatches, but
its details are so filled with the
spirit of adventure as to be we'll
worth the telling.
Is Iowa Man.
When the President Lincoln went
to the bottom of the ocean Lieu
tenant Isaacs, who is from Cresco,
Ia, climbed upon a raft. Soon aft
erward the submarine emerged and
its commander demanded the cap
tain of the President Lincoln as
prisoner. The survivors told him
they believed the captain had gone
down with the ship, not that they
were aware of that, but to save, if
possible, the captain being taken
prisoner.
While this was going on Lieu-
tenant Isaacs said, he lay on tn. raft
with his arms under him to hide the
officers stripes on his uniform, but
without success, and he was ordered
aboard the submarine. 1t was the
U-90 and its commander, Captain
Remy, had resided in the United
States and England and spoke Eng
lish huently.
apparently Remy had been af-
fected by our civilization" said the
lieutenant, as he treated me pleas
antly while inquiring as to the
whereabouts of the skipper of the
Lincoln. l was told that | would
tell him where he could find our
captain or go to Germany myself as
a prisoner. l could not conform to
his first command and of course
would not have had | been able to-"
Four Meals Daily.
The young officer said that he was
given a good bunk On the submarine
and four good meals daily including
meat, eggs and real coffee. The fol-
lowing day as the submarine was
cruising about seeking new victims
it was sighted by two American de-
stroyers.
while the destroyers were
plunging toward us we were getting
under water as rapidly as possil lie
and finally stopped at a depth of 60
meters" Lieutenant Isaacs said.
when the depth bombs began ex-
ploding every German was at Lis
station tense and pretty badly
scared. Now and then Nnior Of
ficer would sing out to the captain
that a destroyer was. about so far
away to starboard or port as the
case might have been. They were
recording the positions with their
listening devices. Then would come
a depth charge. 1t is difficult to
describe just the sensation, but it
seemed to ME much like a dog
shaking a rat and it was anything
but pleasant to be in the rat, With
each explosion a look of horror
would fash over the faces of the
Germans, for they expected every
moment that one of the chart
would be fired bit closer and they
knew their craft could not with
stand it"
Heads for Kiel. =,
Too many destroyers were in that
area for comfort, so Remy headed
for the Kiel canal the next night.
When off the Scandinavian coast
Lieutenant Isaacs said he decided to
attempt to swim to shore when the
submarine approached territorial wa
tiers. With his lifebelt on, he was
just slipping over the side shortly
after midnight when he was dis
covered by Remy himself and pulled
aboard. =
On arrival at Wilhelmshaven he
was kept three days on a submarine
mother" ship and three days in a
land prison, carefully guarded and
badly fed. During this time he was
taken to the German battleship
Kaiser Wilhelm II, the flagship OF
the feet, and questioned by a staff
officer.
II finally told him that the United
States would send so many men to
France that the battle lines wouldn't
hold them," said the lieutenant. 81
was then taken to Karlsruhe and
placed in a hotel room by myself the
first day. The next day ! was put
into another room with eight
French officers, it having been
learned in the meantime that spoke
French. These rooms | afterward
learned were known as the listen
ing rooms" and they were rightly
named. The Frenchmen and I found
three dictaphones and destroyed
them. The next day | was placed
in a room with three British officers
and there were dictaphones in that
ROOM"
After few days at Karlsruhe, the
lieutenant was started for a pre-