Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-04-19

substitute "Courtrai' on the date
line, but its value as a souvenir is
just as great.
When he gave 1t to me he had no
idea that / would have an opportun-
ity so soon afterward to cash 1t in
person, although 1 am quite sure that
whatever financial reverses I may be
destined to meet, my want will new
er be great enough to induce me to
realize on that check.
There was one subject that was
talked about in this prison whenever
conversation Jagged and it was,
What were the chances of escape?
Every man seemed to have a differ
ent idea and one way, l suppose, was
about as impracticable as another.
None of us ever expected to get a
chance to put our ideas into eXecu-
ton, but it was interesting specula-
tion, and. anyway, one can never tell
what opportunities might present
themselves.
One suggestion was that we dis
guise ourselves as women. "O'Brien
would stand a better chance disguised
as a horse!" declared another, refer
ring to the fact that my height U
am six feet two inches) would make
me more conspicuous as a woman
than as a man.
Another suggested that we steal
German Gotha-a type of aeroplane
used for long-distance bombing. 1t
is these machines which are used for
bombing London. They are manned
by three men, one sitting in front
with machine gun, the pilot sitting
in the rear with another machine
gun. We figured that, at pinch,
perhaps, seven or eight of us could
make our escape in single machine.
They have two motors of very high
horsepower, fly very high and make
wonderful speed. But we had no
chance to put this idea to the test.
l worked out another plan by
which 1 thought 1 might have a
chance if 1 could ever get into one
of the German aerodromes. 1 would
conceal myself in one of the hangers,
wait until one of the German ma
chimes started out, and, as he TAXED
along the ground, / would rush out,
shout at the top of my voice and
point eXcitedly at his wheels. This,
L figured, would cause the pilot to
stop and get out to see what was
wrong. BY that time 1 would be up
to him. and as he stopped over to
inspect the machine / could knock
him senseless, jump into the machine
and be over the lines before the Huns
could make up their minds just what
had happened.
1t was fine dream, but my chance
was not to come that way.
There were dozens of other ways
which we considered. One man would
be for endeavorinE to make his way
right through the lines. Another
thought the safest plan would be to
swim some river that crossed the
lines.
The idea of making ones way to
Holland, a neutral country, occurred
to everyone, but the one great OBJ
stacle in that direction, we all real
ized was the great barrier of barbed
and electrically-charge wire which
guards every foot of the frontier be-
tween Belgium and Holland and
which is closely watched by the Ger
man sentries.
This barrier was a three<fold af-
fair. 1t consisted first of a barbed
wire wall six feet high. Six feet be-
yond that was a nine-foot wall of
wire powerfully charged with elec-
tricity. To touch it meant electrocu
ton. Beyond that. at distance of
six feet, was another wall of barbed
wire six feet high.
Beyond the barrier lay Holland and
liberty, but how to get there was a
problem which none of us could solve
and a few of us expected to have a
chance to try.
Mine came sooner than I expected.
Ito De COntinued)