White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1929-10-11
CHAPTER XVII
The Escape From New Zea.
land

land
The thought of every prisoner is
escaped That was what we thought
about, BY Joe. and what we dreamed
about. Occasionally, I'd wake up with
a start, dreaming we were still In our
small boat and about to be dashed
against that coral reef. Usually my
sleep was not troubled with such night.
mares. But often dreamed of get
ting away. capturing another ship, and
continuing our cruise. This did finally
come about, but not for many months.
No opportunity of escape presented
Itself during our stay at Suva, which
was not long. Kircheiss and I were
shipped from the Fits to little isle
Off the coast of the north island of
New Zealand, right near the entrance
to Auckland harbor. The other four
went to the island of Somes, where they
had hard time under bad camp
commander, Major Mathis. No
chance to escape came their way, but
with Kircheiss and me 1t was different.
We had highly exciting time, and
thus were spared the mental and phys
ical stagnation that is the lot of the
average prisoner Of war.
The public of New Zealand was In.
famed against US. When we arrived
there was great cutlery and demand
that we be shot. This amazed us, but
we discovered the reason few days
later. You see the inhabitants Of
these islands thought that we had sunk
the big New Zealand passenger steam.
er Wairuna, with all on board. AS a
matter of fact, we knew nothing of
the Wairuna and hadn't even heard Of
her. Later. 1t developed that she had
been captured by our fast auxiliary
cruiser Wolf, sister ship of the Moewe,
and her crew taken aboard as prison
ers. The rage of the public was such
that the authorities had to hide us
away in their naval barracks at the
Davenport torpedo yard, and then
transfer US secretly to prison camp
on the island Of Motuihi, nearby.
Meanwhile, the popuIace clamored for
US to be turned over to them 80 they
could lynch Us.
The little island Of Motuihi, beau.
tiful strip of land, had long been the
internment place of many Germans
who had been captured when the Brit
ish seized our possessions in Samoa
and in other parts of the South Seas.
They were all civilians. from ten to
seventy years OF age, traders, planta-
ton owners, and officials. They greet.
ed us with pride and affection, but
more particularly with anxiety. They
said we were sure to be shot.
laughed at this. "By Joe, who wants
to kill us? On what grounds could
mere prisoners OF war be shot down
in captivity" asked. ~
But things looked little less rosy
when, forty-eight hours later, we were
taken by boat to Auckland and then
whisked by automobile. under cover of
night, through valley and forest to
freight train pulled up in a wild, re-
mote place. They locked us up in q
freight car, where there were two beds.
They told US 1t was to protect US
against the public. The train pulled
out and, after an all-nlght journey.
stopped near the outskirts of the city
of Wellington, the capital of the Is
lands that comprise New Zealand.
Here they put US into another auto
mobile and rushed US to the Danish
barracks in Wellington, an old jail.
a relic of the terrible days when New
Zealand was convict settlement. A
native keeper who led us along cor.
ridor tugged at my coat and pointed
into cell. There were my boys,
Leudenann, Krauss. Parmien, and
Erdmann. They were In chains. We
were all to stand trial together. We
spoke to one another for minute.
and then kircheiss and were led to
our cells.
On the following day Kircheiss and
| were taken aboard an old cruiser In
the harbor and ushered into the sa-
loon, where there were about dozen
men who wore black coats and four
cornered caps with tassels. Our four
boys were standing In corner. was
boiling mad.
whats this?" said. us justice
becoming ridiculous7 Why are we put
In Jail like this and some of my boys
In chains7 Is that for prisoners of
war; And what man OF you Is able
to Judge of our warfare? You are ci-
villains. Are we to be Judged by Ct.
villains? will answer only to naval
men,"
Just then Sir Hall Thompson, Brit
ish naval commander In New Zealand
waters, came down the stairway. ]
| turned to him.
(To BE CoNTINUED)