Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1919-04-01
taxicab driver.


escaped prisoner and they readil.
paid the chauffeur and invited me t
give some account of myself.
They treated me most cordially ant
were intensely interested in the brie
account l gave them Of my adven
lures. Word was sent to the consu
general and he Immediately sent 70
me. When I went in he shook hand
with me, greeting me very hearth,
and offering me chair.
He then sat down, screwed NOR
ocle on his eye and viewed me from
top to toe. I could see that only goo'
breeding kept him from laughing a
the spectacle presented. l could Sc
he wanted to laugh in the worst way.
4 "Go ahead and laugh" said. "You
can't offend me the way feel this
blessed day!" ard he needed no second
invitation. Incidentally it gave me a
chance to laugh at him, for l was
about as much amused as he was.
After he had laughed himself about
sick he got up and slapped me on the
back and invited me to tell him my
story.
Lieutenant" he said when had
concluded, you can have anything
you want. l think your experience
entities you to II"
swell, consul" I replied, II would
like a bath, shave, haircut and
some civilized clothes about as badly
as q man ever needed them. suppose,
but before that would like to get q
cable off to America to my mother
telling her that am safe and on my
way to England!"
The consul gave me the necessary
information and I had the satisfaction
Of knowing before left the office that
the cable, with its good tidings, was
on its way to America.
Then he sent for one Of the naval
men who had been interned there
since the beginning Of the war and
who was able to speak Dutch and
told him to take good care Of me.
After had been bathed and shaved
and had haircut I bought some new
| clothes and had somethingato eat, and
felt like new man.
As I walked through the streets Of
Rotterdam breathing the air of free
dom again and realizing that there
was no longer any danger Of being
captured and taken back to prison,
| It was wonderful sensation.
|. I don't believe there will ever be q
country that will appear In my eyes
quite as good as Holland did then. !
| had to be somewhat careful, however.
because Holland was full Of German
spies and 1 knew they would be keen
| to learn all they possibly could about
my escape and my adventures so that
| the authorities in Belgium could mete
out punishment to everyone who was
| in any respect to blame for 1t. AS was
in Rotterdam only one day, they
didn't have very much opportunity to
learn anything from me.
The naval officer who accompanied
me and acted as interpreter for me
introduced me to many other soldiers
and sailors who had escaped from Bel
GUM when the Germans took Ant.
werp, and as they had arrived In Hol-
land in uniform and under arms, the
laws of neutrality compelled their In
ternment and they had been there ever
since.
The life Of a man who is interned
In neutral county, learned, Is any
thing but satisfactory. lie gets one
month year to visit his home. II he
lives in England that is not so bad,
but If he happens to live farther
away, the time he has to spend with
his folks is very short, as the months
leave does not take into consideration
the time consumed in travelling to and
from Holland.
The possibility Of escape from Hol-
land Is always there, but the British
authorities have an agreement with
the Dutch government to send refu-
gees back immediately. In this re-
spect, therefore, the position of man
who Is interned Is worse than that
of a prisoner who, If he does succeed
in making his escape. is naturally re-
ceived with open arms In his native
land. Apart from this restraint, how
ever, internment, with all its draw
backs, Is thousand times, yes, mil
lion times, better than being prisoner
of war In Germany.
It seems to me that when the war
is over and the men who have been
imprisoned in Germany return home,
they should be given bigger and
greater reception than the most vic
torious army that ever marched into
city, for they will have suffered
and gone through more than the world
will ever be able to understand.
No doubt you will find in the Ger
man prison camps one or two faint.
hearted individuals with pronounced
yellow streak who voluntarily gave
up the struggle and gave up their lib
erty rather than risk their lives or
limbs. These sad cases, however, are,
I am sure, extremely few. Nine hun
dred and ninety-nine out Of thousand
of the men fighting in the allied lines
would rather be in the front trenches.
fighting every day. with all the horrors
and all the risks, than be prisoner
of war in Germany, for the men in
France have very keen realization
of what that means.
But to return to my day In Rotter-
dam.
After I was fixed up returned to
the consulate and arrangements were
made for my transportation to Eng.
land at once. Fortunately there was
boat leaving that very night and l
was allowed to take passage on It. I,
Just as we were leaving Rotterdam.
the boat L was on rammed our own
convoy, one Of the destroyers, and in.
tured 1t 20 badly that it had to put
back to port. It would have been q
strange climax to my adventure II the
Z disaster had resulted in the sinking
of my boat and had lost my life
while on my way to England after
having successfully outwitted the
Huns. But my luck was with me to
the last and while the accident re-
suited in some delay our boat was not
seriously damaged and made the trip
over Id schedule time and without fur