Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-10-18

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES &eeee-%<e%$ee-
moment or two of pulling as 1 had
never pulled in my life before,
staple on the next post gave way.
and my work became easier. 1 had
more leeway now and pulled and
pulled again until in all eight staples
had given way.
Every time a staple gave way, it
sounded in my ears like the report Of
a gun, although / suppose it didn't
really make very much noise. Never
+heless, each time 1 would put my ear
to the ground to listen for the guard.
II / heard him would stop working
and lie perfectly still in the dark till
he had gone by.
BY pulling on the wire, l was now
able to drag it through the ground
enough to place it back from the
fence and go on digging.
The deeper 1 went the harder be-
came the work, because by this time
my finger nails were broken and 1
was nervous-af afraid every moment
that 1 would touch the charged wire.
kept at it. however, with, my mind
constantly on the hole I was digging
and the liberty which was almost with
In my reach.
Finally 1 figured that had enough
space to crawl through and still leave
couple of inches between my back
and the live wire.
Before 1 went under that wire no
ticed that the lace which the Belgian
woman had given me as a souvenir
made my pocket bulge, and lest it
might be the innocent means of cleo
trocuting me by touching the live wire,
I took it out, rolled it up and threw it
over the barrier first.
Then lay down on my stomach and
crawled or rather writhed under the
wire like q snake, with my feet first,
and there wasn't any question of my
hugging mother earth as closely as
possible because I realized that even
to touch the wire above me with my
back meant instant death.
Anxious as was to get TN the other
side, didn't hurry this operation.
| feared that there might be some little
detail that had overlooked and I ex-
ercised the greatest possible care in
going under, taking nothing for
| granted.
When 1 finally got through and
Strengthened up, there were still sew.
eral feet of Belgium between me and
liberty, represented by the six feet
which separated the electric barrier
! from the last barbed wire fence, but
before 1 went another step 1 went
down on my knees and thanked God
for my long series Of escapes and es
pecially for this last achievement
which seemed to me to be about all
that was necessary to bring me free
dom.
Then 1 crawled under the barbeC
wire fence and breathed the free air Of
Holland. 1 had no clear idea JUS
where / was and I didn't care much
was out of the power of the Germans
and that was enough. 1 had walked
perhaps q hundred yards, when re
membered the lace had thrown ovel
the barrier, and dangerous as I real
ized the undertaking to be, I deter
mined to walk back and get IL. Thi!
necessitated my going back onto Bel
gian soil again, but it seemed shame
to leave the lace there, and by exer
cising O little care 1 figured coult
get it easily enough.
When / came to the spot at which
had made my way under the barbe,
wire, put my ear to the ground an,
listened for the sentry. heard hin
coming and lay prone on the grount
till ne had passed. The fact that h
might observe the hole in the groun'
or the ladder occurred to me as la.
there, and it seemed like an age be
fore he finally marched out of eal
shot. Then 1 went under the barbet
wire again, retrieved the lace and one
again made my way to Dutch terri
tory.
1t does not take long to describe tn
! events just referred to, but the inc
dents themselves consumed severe
hours in all. To dig the hole mus
have taken me more than two hour
and 1 had to stop frequently to hid
: while the sentry passed. Many time!
indeed, I thought heard him comm
and stopped my work and then di
: covered that it was only my imagins
e ton. / certainly suffered enough tha
night to last me a lifetime. With
: German guard on one side, death frol
J electrocution on the other, and starvi
l tion staring me in the face, my pligt
was anything but comfortable one.
: 1t was on the 10Th of Novembe
1917, when 1 got through the wire.
had made my leap from the train @
= September 9th. Altogether, therefor
9 just seventy-two days had elapse
since I escaped from the Huns. If
live to be as old as Methusaleh, I neV'
$ expect to live through another Sc
1 enty-two days so crammed full Of /
L cident and hazard and lucky escap