The sun., 1919-04-13
SCENE a TYPICAL GERMAN PRISON CAMP so NJ
Tells of Depth Bomb Barrage He Went Through as
Captive on U-Boat Fiendish Treatment by Prison
Guards, Suferings Way to Safety

and scolded the guard who had done 1t,
he records. He got no more blows
within sight of that house. How he
managed to keep going the full dis
lance he does not understand; he says
he refused to die.
At the camp he was cursed; his
wounds were dressed after a fashion
by a sophomore from a medical col
lege, who swathed him in paper BAN
dages so that he could not move arms
or legs, and he was left in a bunk in
cell at the mercy of the lice for three
days and nights. which, he says, were
the worst OF the entire experience.
His other hurts healed rapidly. thanks
to his good condition. but the scars
from the vermin he will always bear.
When he was able to be up he was
court-martialed, and made bold front.
denouncing the Germans for the treat
ment he had received, and artfully
saying that to his mind 1t proved the
inhabitants of southern Germany no
better than the Prussians. He got off
with two weeks solitary confinement
and was told that two Of his guards
were to be court-ma rtialed-probably
tured.
Prepares for Another Dash.
| AS soon as they turned him loose in
the prison camp he began systematic
exercise to condition himself for
fresh attempt TO escape. In tlae camp
at the time of his arrival were $50
Russian prisoners and forty Ameri-
/ rT-t.
ditions were about on a par-both OF
the worst imaginable. The prisoners
! depended upon home and Red Cross
parcels, and some OF these were opened
/ and food or clothing stolen by the
! Germans, though the majority came
through intact.
I'VE found the stupidity of the Ger
mans beyond belief. Anything that
| had happened once they We're pre-
| pared for. Or anything that they had
heard about might be likely to happen
J again. But something original would
catch them utterly unprepared. Sew
eral times we hid contraband under
| their very noses. but il was not dis
! covered because that particular thing
bad never been tried before
The American plans for escape we're
! distinctly original There We're two,
! one Lieut. lsaacss own, the other
| worked out 10y Sub-Lieut. Willis, a
! young American captured from Lthe
! Lafayette EsCadrlle, who was the
Lieutenant's particular side partner
in the venture, and finally reached
| Switzerland with him.
! 'ln the four years of the war over
, fifty prisoners had escaped from Vii
! llngen camp, practically all by means
Of tunnels. OF these only one crossed
( safely to Switzerland. and his COM
/ panion's body vas found near the
/ frontier riddled with bullets | believe
! they said forty bullet wounds were
counted in the corpse. This could
hardly be called cheering news
/ Lieut.. IsaaCs rejected the tunnel
method because il took several months,
and as the German papers were boast
ing that the U-boats were sinking
! 10000 tons of allied shipping a day he
! felt Obliged to hurry with his informa-
! ton. His plan. which is a trifie hard
/ to explain without the full context
and his good and clear diagram of the
/ prison yard, involved making wooden
/ ladder with the battens used to mark
! the tennis court. climbing to the roof
! of shed and thence jumping over the
. fence and the wire to freedom. Six
officers were to make the attempt
, with him. In order to put out the
electric lights by short circuitng the
! Lieutenant made a chain of wire which
! could be thrown over tho naked light
! ing wires at the moment of the at
tempt
Guards Easy to Brittle.
Maps and Compasses were bought
| from the Russians for food and money.
| Tools of different kinds were obtained
from the German sentries. Strange as
| IL may seem | never tried to bride a
guard in vain. 1t was our experience
that any one in Germany could he
| brihcd, provided you negotiated with
, him when he Was alone. fl TWO were
together nothing could lo done with
them. bit of coffee or tea or a tin
! OF meat would buy IA guard to do al
most anything, and for cake OF soap
one might expect the impossible. We
used to say at the camp. Give me a
bar of soap and | will buy the Kaiscr's
dauChter.'"
When all was ready and n night
agreed upon change of the weather
decided the party To postpone the at
tempt The withdrawal of two Of the
officers on tho ground that the plan
was too risky caused u second post
ponement, and before the night now
fixed the Germans put up a new
twenty foot fence of barbed wire all
along the selected end of the yard.
There must be some truth in the
epigram. He who hesitates is lost"
Then Lieut.. Willis's plans were tried.
He cleverly duplicated the word of
honor cards which the prisoners gave,
pledging themselves against escape.
before starting on their permitted
walks in the country outside the en-
closure. Instead OF II will not make
any attempt to escape" he wrote, IT
will now make an attempt to escape"
and they "camounaSed' their sigma
lures