The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1918-09-27

| inches from the lowest electric wire.
l came to an underground wire. l
| knew enough about electricity to real
ize that this wire could not be charged,
as it was in contact with the ground,
| but still there was not room between
| the live wire and this underground
wire for me to crawl through, and l
ether had to go back or dig deep
! enough under this wire to crawl under
it or else pull it up.
This underground wire was about
as big around as a lead pencil and
| there was no chance of breaking it.
The jack-knife I had had at the start
| Of my travels l had long since lost
and even if I had had something to
hammer with, the noise would have
made the method impractieable.
1 went on digging. When the total
| distance between the live wire and the
| bottom of the hole I had dug was
thirty inches, took hold Of the ground
wire and pulled on it with all my
strength.
1t wouldn't bulge. 1t was stretched
taut across the narrow ditch l had
dug-about fourteen inches wide
and all the tugging didn't serve to
loosen it.
1 was just about to give up in de-
spair when a staple gave way in the
nearest post. That enabled me to pull
the wire through the ground q little
and I renewed my efforts. After a
moment or two of pulling as 1 had
never pulled in my life before, a
staple on the next post gave way,
and my work became easier. l 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
gun, although I suppose it didn't
really make very much noise. Never
+heless, each time would put my ear
to the ground to listen for the guard.
If 1 heard him I would stop working
and lie perfectly still in the dark till
he had gone by.
By pulling on the wire, I 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 I
was nervous-afraid every moment
that 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 figured that had enough
space to crawl through and still leave
couple of inches between my back
and the live wire.
Before I went under that wire 1 no.
ticed that the lace which the Belgian
woman had given me as souvenir
made my pocket bulge, and lest it
might be the innocent means Of cleo
rocuting me by touching the live wire,
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 a snake, with my feet first,
and there wasn't any question of my
hugging mother earth as closely as
to touch the wire above me with my
back meant instant death.
Anxious as was to get on the other
side, 1 didn't hurry this operation.
feared that there might be some little
detail that l 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 l 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 I crawled under the barbed
wire fence and breathed the free air of
Holland. l had no clear idea just
where 1 was and I didn't care much.
was out Of the power of the Germans
and that was enough. l had walked
perhaps a hundred yards, when l re-
membered the lace l had thrown over
the barrier, and dangerous as l real
| lied the undertaking to be, 1 deter
mined to walk back and get it. This
necessitated my going back onto Bel
| gian soil again, but it seemed shame
| to leave the lace there, and by eXer-
cising a little care l figured l could
! get it easily enough.
| When l came to the spot at which |
| had made my way under the barbed
wire, l put my ear to the ground and
! listened for the sentry. l heard him
coming and lay prone on the ground
| till he had passed. The fact that he
| might observe the hole in the ground
! or the ladder occurred to me as lay
| there. and it seemed like an age be-
fore he finally marched out of ear
| shot. Then l went under the barbed
wire again, retrieved the lace and once
again made my way to Dutch terri
tory.
1t does not take long to describe the
events just referred to, but the Incl
dents themselves consumed several
hours in all. To dig the hole must
have taken me more than two hours
and l had to stop frequently to hide
while the sentry passed. Many times,
indeed, l thought l heard him coming
and stopped my work and then dis
covered that it was Only my magma
ton. l certainly suffered enough that
night to last me a lifetime. With a
German guard on one side, death from
electrocutiOn on the other, and starva-
ton staring me in the face, my plight
was anything but a comfortable one.
1t was on the 10Th of November
1917, when I got through the wire.
had made my leap from the train on
September 9th. Altogether, therefore,