The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1918-08-29

ScCV1Ou IN tne Oay ufne went out anu
watched the machines and the shrap- |
nel bursting oil around; but the Ger
mans did not crowd ont there. for their |
own antiaircraft guns were hammer
Ing away to keep our planes MS high |
In the sky as possible. and shells were
likely to fall In the prison yard any
moment. OF course I watched these
battles at my own risk. Many nights
from my prison window ! watched
with peculiar interest the air raids
carried on, and II was n wonderful
sight with the German searchlights
playing on the sky. the flaming on
Ions" fred high and the burst OF the
antiaircrnft guns. but rather an un-
comfortable sensation when realized
that perhaps the very next minute a
bomb might be dropped on the building
In which was n prisoner. But per-
haps nll Of this was better than no
excitement Mt all. for prison life soon
became very monotonous.
One Of the hardest things I had to
endure throughout the two weeks
spent there was the sight Of the Hun
machines flying over Courtrai. know
ing that perhaps I never would have
another chance to fly. and used to sit
by the hour watching the German ma.
chimes maneuverlng over the prison,
as they had an airdrome not far away
and every afternoon the students--or
took them for students because their
flying was very poor-appearcd over
| the town. One certain Hun seemed to
find particular satisfaction In flying
right down over the prison nightly. for
my special discomfort and benefit, II
seemed. as II he knew an airman i'm
prisoned there was vainly longing to
try his wings again over their lines.
But l used to console myself by say.
Ing: "Never mind. old boy, there was
never a bird whose wings could not
be clipped II they get him just right
and your turn will come some day."
One night there was an exceptions
ally heavy mir raid going Oh. A mum
ber Of German officers came into my
room, and they all seemed very much
frightened. / jokingly remarked that
II would be fine II our airmen hit ths
Did prison-the percentage would bs
very satisfactory-One English ofiicel
and about ten German ones. The,
didn't seem to appreciate the joke
however, and. indeed, they were mp
parently too much alarmed at wha
was going on overhead to lnugh evei
Mt their own jokes. Although thes,
night raids seem to take all the starcl
out of the Germans while they ar
going on. the officers were usually n
brave rs lions the next day and spok
.ontemptuously Of the raid Of tn
! night before.
saw thousands Of soldiers In CouI
trai, and although they did not I'm
press me as having very good or abur
dant food. they were fairly we
clothed. I do not mean to imply this
! conditions pointed to an early end q
the war. On the contrary, from whl
I was able to observe on that poin
unless the Huns have an absolute Gro
failure they can, In my opinion. 60 o
for years The Idea Of our being abb
to win the war by starving them o,
, strikes me as ridiculous. This Is
, war that must be won by fighting. an
the sooner we realize that fact Il
sooner 1t will be over.
Rising hour In the prison was seve
o'clock. Breakfast came at eight. TIL
, consisted of cup Of coffee and nOtl
, ing else. II the prisoner had the for
sight to save some bread from the pr
vlous day. he had bread for breakfa
also. but that never happened In N
!, case. Sometimes we had two cups ,
> coffee. that IL, near-c0ffee.
/, For lunch they gave us boiled sugi
I beets or some other vegetable. al
\ once In while some kind Of pickle
!. meat. but that happened very seldoI
h We also received third Of loaf
. bread-war bread. This war bret
a wns as heavy as a brick. black al
A sour. 1t was supposed to last US fro
" noon one day to noon the next. +
cept for some soup. this was the who
|. lunch menu.
n Dinner came ut 8 80 p. m. when '
!. sometimes had little jam made o
= OF sugar beets. and preparati'
called ten, which you had to shake vi
orously or II settled In the bottom
. the cup. and then about all you HI
!, was hot water. This "tea" was a 81
!, blow to the Englishmen. II It hadI
!. been called tea they wouldn't have Il
so badly about It. perhaps. but 1t W
adding insult to injury to call tn
o stun 'tea," which with them Ii almC
u q national institution.
u Sometimes with this meal they ga
q us butter instead Of jam. and once
u while we had some kind Of cam
q meat.
u This comprised the usual run Of e
- ables for the day. can eat more tn
u that for breakfast In the days Il
n were to come learned that was
u fare considerably worse.
We were allowed to send out a
n | k.,,, <rx. h,.t %