Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-09-13


they were too poor to have more than
they actually needed themselves, and
l rose to go. 1 had aroused them out
of bed and knew / ought not to keep
them up longer than was absolutely
necessary.
AS l approached the door l got a
glance at myself in a mirror. l was
the awfulest sight l had laid eyes on
The glimpse l got of myself startled
me almost as much as if l had seen
dreaded German helmetl My left eye
was fairly we'll healed by this time
and l was beginning to regain sight
of it, but my face was so haggard and
my beard so long and unkempt that l
looked like Santa Claus on bat
AS they let me out of the door l
pointed to the opposite direction to
the one / intended taking and started
off in the direction l had indicated.
Later l changed my course completely
to throw off any possible pursuit.
The next day 1 was SO worn out from
exposure and exhaustion that l threw
away my coat, thinking that the less
weight 1 had TO carry the better it
would be for me, but when night came
l regretted my mistake because the
nights were now getting colder. L
thought at first it would be better for
me to retrace my steps and look for
the coat 1 had so thOughtlessly dis
carded, but 1 decided to go on with
out it.
/ then began to discard everything
that had in my pocket, finally throw
ing my wrist watch into "a canal. A
wriSt-watch does not add much
weight, but when you plod along and
have not eaten for month it finally
becomes rather heavy. The next
thing discarded was pair of flying
mittens.
These mittens had gotten at Camp
Borden, in Canada, and had become
quite famous, as my friends termed
them 'snow Shoes" In fact, they
were a ridiculous pair of mittens, but
the best pair 1 ever had and 1 really
felt worse when 1 lost those mittens
| than anything else. 1 could not think
of anybody else ever using them, so l
| dug a hole in the mud and buried
them and could not help but laugh
at the thought if my friends could see
me burying my mittens, because they
were standing joke in Canada, Eng
land and France.
had on two shirts and as they were
always both wet and didn't keep me
warm, it was useless to wear both.
One of these was a shirt that 1 had
bought in France, the other an Amer
ican army shirt. They were both
Khaki and one as apt to give me away
as the other, so / discarded the French
shirt The American army shirt l
brought back with me to England and
it is still in my possession.
When escaped from the train 1 still
had the Bavarian cap of bright red in
my pocket and wore it for many
nights, but l took great care that no
one saw 1t. 1t also had proven very
useful when swimming rivers, for
carried my map and a few other be-
longings in it and 1 had fully made
up my mind to bring it home as a
souvenir. But the. farther l went
the heavier my extra clothing became
so / was compelled to discard even
the cap. l knew that it would be q
tell-tale mark if 1 simply threw il
away, so one night after swimming q
river, dug a hole in the soft mud on
the bank and buried it, too, with con
siderably less ceremony than my fly
ing mittens had received perhaps; sc
that was the end of my Bavarian hat
My experience at the Belgian's
house whetted my appetite for more
food and 1 figured that what had beer
done once could be done again
Sooner or later. l realized / woull
probably approach a Belgian and fint
II German instead, shut in such a con
lingency l was determined to meas
ure my strength against the Huns i
necessary to effect my escape.
As it was, however, most of the Bel
slans to whom I applied for food CAV,
it to me readily enough, and If SOM
of them refused me it was only be
cause they feared I might be sp,
ar that the Germans would shoot then
If their action were subsequenti
found out.
About the fifth day after I had en-
tered Belgium 1 was spending the da
: MS usual in clump of bushes when
discerned in the distance what az
peared to be something hanging on
line. All day long 1 strained my eye
trying to decide what it could be an
arguing with myself that it might b
something that / could add to my il
adequate wOrdrobe. but the distanc
was so great that l could not identif
! it. / had a great fear that befOr
night came it would probably be r,
moved.
As soon as darkness fell, however,
> crawled out of my hiding place an
:. worked up to the line and got pal
of overalls for my industry The pal
= of overalls was the first bit of civi
: ian clothes l had thus far picked u
: with the exception of a civilian ca
:. which l had found at the prison an
. concealed on my person and which
;. still had. The overalls were ratht
s7A4ietiA anu fCAy DuJ Mll6H L pt
! them on found that they hung dow
% far enough to cover my breeches.
k 1t was perhaps three days later tn;
l. planned to search another house fl
d further clothes. Entering Belgia
It houses at night is anything but a sal
proposition, because their families al
b. large and sometimes as many as seve
d or eight sleep in a single room. III
,r barn is usually connected with Il
lie house proper and there was alwa.
l. the danger of disturbing some dun
Dt animal even if the inmates of Il
i'll house were not aroused.
Frequently 1 took chance
1 searching q back yard at night in Il
st hope of finding food scraps, but n
in success in that direction was so slig
n that l soon decided that it wasI
es worth the risk and / continued
e. live on raw vegetables that l cou
I'd pick with safety in the fields and t
ed occasional meal that was able to G