The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-12-18

->om the Huns, but few Know any thing of the agency by which many of these escapes were aided. It was the work of one of the most amazing secret societies in the world, so- ciety without a name, presided over bv a Scot Frederick Maxwell by name, and among it's members were hundreds of men an1 women. and even children, in the occupied regions = of France and Belgium In this series MT Maxwell tells for the first time the story of his great work-)
 TBy Frederick AiaxweH.l
 Copyright 1919 by trederick Max
 well.
 Our great organiza ton was found ed in Brussels shortly after the Ger man occupation. It was suggested at meeting of eight persons held in my house to consider the best means of getting out of the city two Brit ish soldiers who had been captured in the Mons retreat and had escaped on reaching Brussels
 At that time we thought it noth- ing short of marvellous to have two Allied soldiers hiding in Brussels, but before the war came to an end 1 have known as many as one thousand men to be in hiding at the same time, and that in spite of the fact that the Germans made systematic search and were offering large rewards for information regarding Allied soldiers hidden in the city. Many of these men changed into civilian clothes supplied by us, and walked freely about the city, dining n the restaur- ants, riding in T@mcars, and mixing with the German soldiers without be- ing found out
 The outcome of that meeting at my house was the decision to start society that I noU call the League of Friends of Allied Prisoners. but, as a matter of fact, we carried on our work without any name at all. The mem bershfp of the Brussels branch grew rapidly day by day until 1t was well over two thousand, and then we found it necessary to extend our operations far and wide.
 On armtstice day we had branches not only in every important French and Belgian town occupied by the Germans, but in Germany itself We found that nearly every member had friends in sympathy with our aims, and wherever these friends were they were asked to form local ass ociatiOnS in their own areas, and in less than six months of the Brussels meeting we had a long chain of friends of Allied prisoners stretching from the 
 line in France and Belgium to the Rhineland.
 Each day saw an improvement in our organizatio and within a year we had a well organized courier sys- tenn, by means Of which 1t was pos sible to pass information through the German lines, and to move large patches of escaped prisoners without being detected. The percentage of failures was very small indeed, in spite of the fact that the Germans Bissing had discovered that we were in existence.
 Under yoD Bissfng's Nose.
 Our principal depot in Brussels for receiving escaped prisoners was sit uated within a stone's throw of the house occupied by Won Bissing him self, and one of the jokes we had against the German authorities was that they pressed into their service as valet to the Governor General of Belgium an escaped British soldier, who was in hiding with us after his capture in the attempt to force a crossing of the Atsne in Septem Der, 1914. This man was a Scot named Sandy Low. He was an excenen- servant, because he had been e1n- ployed in that capacity at a London Club before he was called back to the colors 5n the outbreak of war The circumstances of his escape were:
 The Germans had been trying to impress the people Of Brussels by marching through the streets all the Allied prisoners they could lay hold of. The procession was not as long as the Germans wished 1t to be, so for better effect the men were re- grouped and marched round many times We had few trusty friends posted at different points of the route in the hope of being able to assist any of the men des ring to escape. I had observed Sandy Low, because Of his fine physique, and in a halt I managed to get near enough to speak to him.
 ''When you reach the corner" I . said, break from the ranks and dash into the first alley on the right. Friends will be there to meet VOL"
 Sandy answered not a word, but nodded his head to tell me he under stood. When the corner was reached the few guards who were In front never thought of looking behind un- til those coming at the rear were able to Keep an eye on the prisoners Sandy made the dash adw'sed, but a number of the other prisoners did likewise. and instead of one we found IS had to be escorted to the house where we sheltered them.
 The alarm was given almost at once. but not quick enough to pre- vent the escape of the prisoners, who were indoors before the Germans were on the move to stop further es- capes and track down the fugitives.
 When the escape was discovered and troops brought to the scene they opened fire with machine guns and rifles fndiscr' nninateIy, not seeming to care who got hit. Tn one case the machine gun team was drunk, and continued to spray the streets with bullets, killing many of their own comrades in doing so. Though, as I have said. the building to which we took these men was quite close to the house that sheltered Von Bissing, and 6iligent search was made by the Ger man patrols, they were. not discover ed,
 Patriotic Physicians
 When the Germans found that or