The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1918-08-15

tatlon would have resulted seriously
for her and / would have been power
less to have assisted her.
Whenever we passed a Belgian
home or other building which had
been wrecked by bombs by our airmen
our guards made us stop moment
or two while they passed sneerlng
remarks among themselves.
One OF the most interesting souve-
Mrs have Of my Imprisonment at
Courtrai Is photograph Of group
OF us taken In the prison courtyard.
The picture was made by one Of the
guards, who sold copies Of It to those
OF us who were able to pay his
price-One mark apiece.
AS we faced the camera suppose
we all tried to look our happiest, but
the majority Of us, l am afraid, were
too sick at heart to raise smile,
even for this occasion. One Of our
Hun guards Is shown In the picture
seated ut the table. l am standing
directly behind him, attlred In my fly
ing tunic, which they allowed me to
wear all the time was in prison. as
Is the usual custom with prisoners of
war. Three Of the British officers
shown in the picture, In the fore
ground, are clad In "shorts."
Through all my subsequent adven-
lures / was able to retain print OF
this Interesting picture, and although
when gaze at 1t now 1t only serves
to increase my qualification at my ulti-
mate escape, 1t fills me with regret to
think that my fellow prisoners were
not so fortunate. All Of them by this
time are undoubtedly eating their
hearts up in the prison camps Of In
terror Germany. Poor fellows!
Despite the scanty fare and the re-
strictlons we were under In this prison,
we did manage on one occasion to ar
range n regular banquet The plan
ming which was necessary helped to
pass the time.
At this time there were eight Of us.
We decided that the principal thing
, we needed to make the affair sue
cess was potatoes, and l conceived a
plan to get them. Every other after
noon they took us for walk In the
, country, and 1t occurred to me that
1t would be comparatively simple
matter for us to pretend to be tired
and sit down when we came to the
first potato patch.
/ 1t worked out nicely. When we
came to the first potato patch that
afternoon, we told our guards that we
, wanted to rest bit and we were
, allowed to sit down. In the course
: Of the next five minutes each of us
managed to get potato or two. Be
g ing Irish, l got SIX.
, When we got back to the prison,
e managed to steal handkerchief full
D Of sugar, which, with some apples thai
4 we were allowed to purchase, we cas-
!, lily converted into sort of jam.
a We now had potatoes and jam. bA
e no bread. 1t happened that the Hur
a who had charge of the potatoes wal
!, n great musician. 1t was not yer!
n difficult to prevail upon him to pla!
e 'us some music, ard while he went ou
i to get his either | went into the brea,
pantry and stole loaf of bread.
}, Most of us had saved some butte
!, from the day before, and we used |
S to fry our potatoes. BY brlbing on
n of the guards, he bought some eggs 70
e us. They cost % cents apiece, but w
= were determined to make this banque
r success, no matter what 1t cost
It The cooking was done by the prisol
A. cook, whom, of course, we had t
% bribe.
J. When the meal was ready to serv
l. It consisted of scrambled eggs, frle
u potatoes, bread and jam, and pitche
n of beer which we were allowed to buy
l. That was the Doth of August. Ha
y I known that 1t was to be the las
J. real meal that was to eat for man
1t weeks. | might have enjoyed 1t eve
g more than l did, but 1t was certalnl
II very good.
,e We had cooked enough for eight, bu
% while we were still eating, anothe
$, ioined us. He was an English Office
le who had just been brought in on
H. stretcher. For seven days, he told III
ID he had lain in shell hole, wounded
n and he was almost famished, and W
lie were mighty glad to share our bal
Of quet with him.
rs! We called on each man for n speecl
;h and one might have thought that W
Of were at irst-class club meeting.
ie few days after that our party wa
rs broken up and some of the men, SUI
pose, shall never see again.
ne One of the souvenirs of my advel
vs. ture is a check given me during tn
I'd ''banquet" by Lieut.. James Henr
u Dickson of the Tenth Royal Irish FL
lg slleers, fellow prisoner. 1t was ft
,l- 20 francs and was made payable
MS the order of "Mr. Pat O'Brien, 2n
es Lieut." Poor Jim forgot to scratc
out the London" and substitut
IT. "Courtrai" on the date line, but 1
ey value as a souvenir is just as grea
rs When he gave IL to me he had no ide
at that l would have an opportunity {
m soon afterward to cash 1t In perso
nd although | am quite sure that wha
IS. ever financial reverses | may be de
n tined to meet, my want will never
n great enough to induce me to reali;
ly on that check.
xxrs