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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1918)
THE 8EMN WEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE NEBRASKA. ii. -. i i ii i Outwitting the Hun By LIEUTENANT PAT O'BRIEN vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvwvvvvvv FROM THE WINDOW OF A TRAIN RUNNING 35 MILES AN HOUR, O'BRIEN MAKES LEAP FOR LIBERTY. Synopsis. Pnt O'Brien, n resident of Momcnro, III., nftor seeing service In the American flying corps on tho Mexican border In 1010, Joins the British Itoyal Flying corps In Cunndn, and after n brief train ing period In sent to France. lie Is assigned to a squadron In active serrlce on the front. He engages In several hot fights with German flyers, from which he emerges victorious. Finally, In a fight with four German flyers, O'Brien Is shot down. He falls 8,000 feet and, escaping death by a miracle, awakes to find himself a prisoner In a German hospital, with a bullet hole In Ids mouth. After a few days lu tho hospital, ho Is sent to a prison camp at Courtrul. CHAPTER V. Continued. One man and I think he wns tho smallest enter In tho camp won it on throe successive days, but It was well for him that his luck deserted 1dm on tho fourth day, for ho probably would havo been handled rather roughly by tho rest of tho crowd, who were grow ing auspicious. But wo handled the drawing ourselves and know thero wus nothing crooked about it, so ho wus nparerl. Wo were allowed to buy pears, nnd bebig small nnd very hard, they wcro used as the stakes in many a game. Bat tho Interest in theso little games was as keen ns if tho stakes had been plies of money instead of two or thrco half-starved pears. No man was ever o reckless, however, in all the betting na to wager his own rations. By the most scheming nnd sacrific ing I ever did In my life I managed to hoard two pieces of bread (grudgingly spared nt tho time from my dally ra tions), but I wns preparing for tho day when I should escape If I ever should. It wns not a sacrlflco easily made either, but Instead of eating bread I ate' pears until I Anally got ono plcco 0f broad ahead; and when I could forco myself to stick to tho pear diet again, I saved tho other pleco from that diy's allowance, nnd in days to come I hid cnuso to credit myself fully Cor the foresight. Wfesnovor a now prisoner enmo In mnd Ms Qcrmun hosts had satisfied thcmscivcB ns to his llfo history and taken down all tho details that Is nil be would glvo them ho wns Immedi ately surrounded by his fellow prison ers, who were eager for any bit of aewa or information ho could possibly give them, and as u rulo ho was glad to toll us, because, if ho had been In tho hands of tho Huns for any length of tlmo, ho had seen very fow English officers. Tho conditions of this prison wero bod enough when a mun was in nor mally good health, but it was barbar ous to subject a wounded soldier- to tho hardships nnd discomforts of tho place. However, tills was tho fato of poor private wo discovered thero one day In terrific pain, Buffering from shrapnel In his stomach and back. All f us officers asked to havo him sent to a hospital, but tho doctors curtly refused, saying it was against orders. So tho poor crcnturo wont on suffering from day to day nnd wns still thero when I left another victim of Ger man cruelty, At ono tlmo In this prison camp thoro wero a French marine, a French flying (Plllcer, two Belgian soldlors, and of tho United Kingdom ono from Canada, two from England, three from Irelnnd, n couple from Scotland, ouo from Wulcs, man from South Africa, ono from Algeria, nnd n Now Zealander, tho latter being from my own squadron, n mna whom I thought had been killed, and he was equally surprised when brought into the prlspn to And mo there. In addition thero wero a Old uatnan and myself from the U. S. A. v It was qulto a cosmopolitan group, and bb one typical Irishman suld, Suro, and we havo every nation that's worth mentioning, including the darn Germans with ub whites." Of courso this wbb not translated to the Ger mans, nor was It even spoken in their earing, or wo probably would not Mve had qulto so cosmopolitan a bunch, Each man In tho prison was ready to uphold his native country in any argu ment that could possibly be started, and It goes without Buying that I never took a back seut in any of them with my praise for America, with tho Canu Alun and Chinaman chiming In on my side. But they were friendly nrgu stents; wo wero all In tho sumo bout and that was no placo for quarreling. Every other morning, the weather Allowing, wo wero taken to a largo swimming pool and wero allowed to Wits a bath, Thero were two pools, pba for tho German officers and ono far the men. Although wo wero off! cere, we had to use tho pool occupied hy the men. While wo were in swim salng a Gcrmnn guard with a rlflo serosa his knees sat at each corner of the pool and watched us closely as wo dressed and undressed. English iatorpretera accompanied us on all of these trips, so at no tlmo could wo talk without their kuowlng what was folng on. Whenever we were taken out of the prison for any purpose they always Kaded w through the most crowd Ma evidently to give tho pi Uixi rt that they were ii ii. CopyrUht. IBIS, by Pat Alva O'Brien lots of prisoners. The German sol diers wo passed on these occasions mndo no effort to hldo their smiles and sneers. Tho Belgian pcoplo wero apparent ly very curious to see us, nnd they used to turn out in large numbers whenever tho word wns passed thnt wc wero out. At times the German guhrds would strlko the women and children who crowded too close to us. One day I smiled nnd spoke to n pretty girl, and when sho replied, a German mndo u run for her. Luckily sho stepped Into tho houso beforo ho reached her, or I nm afrnld my salu tation woHld have resulted seriously for her and I would huvo been power less to havo assisted her. Whenever wo passed a Belgian homo or other building which had been wrecked by bombs by our airmen our guards made us stop a moment or two while they passed sneering remarks among themselves. Ono of tho most Interesting souve nirs I have of my Imprisonment nt Courtral Is n photograph of a group of us taken In tho prison courtyard. Tho plcturo was mado by ono of tho gunrds, who sold copies of It to thoso of us who wero ublo to pay his price ono mark apiece. As wo faced tho cumcra I supposo wo all tried to look our happiest, but tho majority of us, I am afraid, wero too sick nt heart to ralso n smile, even for this occasion. Ono of our Hun guards Ib shown in tho plcturo seated nt tho table. I am stundlng directly behind him, nttlrcd In my fly ing tunic, which they allowed mo to wear all tho tlmo I wns in prison, as Is tho usual custom with prisoners of war. Threo of tho British officers shown in tho plcturo, in tho fore ground, uro clad in "shorts." Through nil my subsequent adven turcs I waB ablo to retain n print of thla Interesting plcturo, nnd although when I gazo at It now it ouly serves to increase my gratification nt my ultl mato escape, It Alls mo with regret to think that; my fellow prisoners wero not so fortunate All of them by this time aro undoubtedly eating their hearts up lu tho prison camps of In terior Germany. Poor fellows I Dcsplto tho ncanty fnro n,nd tho re strictions wo wcro under In this prison, wo did munngo on ono occasion to ar- rnugo u regulnr banquet Tho plan ning which was necessary helped to Pubs tho tlmo. At this tlmo thero wcro eight of us. We decided thnt tho principal thing wo needed to make tho nffulr a suc cess was potatoes, and I conceived a plan to get them. Every other nfter noon they took us for a walk In tho country, nnd It occurred to mo that it would bo n comparatively simple matter for us to protend to bo tlrdd and sit down when wo came to the Arst potato patch. it wonted out nicely, when wo enmo to tho first potato patch that afternoon, wo told our gunrds that wo wanted to rest a bit nnd wo wcro allowed to sit down. In tho courso of tho next Avo minutes each of us mnnnged to get n potato or two. Bo- lug, Irish, I got six. Whan wo got back to the prison, I munnged to steal n handkerchief full oil sugar, which, with somo apples that wo wero allowed to purchase, wo cus lly converted into u sort of Jam. Wo now had potatoes nnd Jam, but no brcud. It happened that tho Hun who had chnrgo of tho potatoes was a grout musician. It was not very dldlcult to prevail upon him to piny us somo music, and while he went out to got his zither I went into tho bread pantry und stolo u loaf of bread. Most of us hud saved soinu butter from tho day beforo, nnd wo used It to fry our potatoes. By bribing ono of tho guards, ho bought some eggs for us. They cost 25 cents apiece, but wo wcro determined to muko this banquet a success, no matter what it cost. Tho cooking was done by tho prison cook, whom, of courso, wo hud to bribe. When tho meal was ready to servo It consisted of Bcrumbled eggs, fried potatoes, bread and Jam, and a pltchci of beer which wo wero allowed to buy. Thnt was the 20th of August. Had I known that it was to bo the last real meal that I was to eat for many weeks, I might have enjoyed it even more than I did, but it was certainly very good. Wo had cooked enough for eight, but Ho we were still eating, another m1 us. He was an English officer had Jaet hew brought lo m I i I.. 5 stretcher. For seven days, ho told us, ho had lain In n shell hole, wounded, and he wns nlmost famished, mid we were mighty glud to share our ban quct with hltn. Wc called on each mnn for n speech, and one might have thought that wo were at n first-class club meeting. A few days ufter that our party was broken up and some of the men, I sup pose, I shnll never sec again. One of the souvenirs of my adven ture Is a check given me during this "banquet" by Lieut. James Henry Dickson of the Tenth Iloyal Irish Fu sllccrs, a fellow prisoner. It was for 20 francs and wns made payable to the order of "Mr. Put O'Brien, 2nd Lieut." Poor Jim forgot to scratch out the "London" and substitute 'Courtrnl" on the dnto line, but its value ns n souvenir Is Just as great. When he gave It to me he had no Idea that I would liavo ah opportunity so soon afterward to cash It In person, although I am quite sure that what ever flnnnclul reverses I mny be des tlned to meet, my want will never be grcnt enough to induce me to realize on thnt check. Thero was one subject thnt was talked about In this prison whenever conversation lngged, and I supposo it Is the same in other prisons too. What were tho chances of escape. Every man seemed to have a differ ent Idea nnd ono way, I suppose, wns about ns Impracticable as another. Nono of us ever expected to get a chance to put our Ideas into execution. but it was Interesting speculation, nnd anyway one can never tell what op portuultles might present themselves. Ono suggestion wns that wc disguise ourselves as women. "O'Brien would stand a better chnnco disguised as a iiorsol" declared another, referring to the fact that my height (I am six feet two inches) would mnko mo moro con Bplcuous as a woman than ns a mnn. Another suggested that wo steal a German Gothu a typo of airplane used for loug-dlstnnco bombing. It is these machines which aro used for bombing London. They aro manned by three men, ono sitting in front with n muchino gun, the pilot sitting behind hltn and nn observer sitting in tho rear with another mnchlno gun. Wo ilg ured that, at a pinch, perhaps, seven or eight of us could mnko our escape In a singlo mnchlne. They have two motors of very high liorso power, fly very high and mnko wonderful speed But wo had no chnnco to put this Idea to tho test I worked out another plan by which I thought I might havo a chunco If I could over get into ono of tho German airdromes. I would conceal myself In ono of tho hangars, wait until ono of tho German machines started out, and as ho taxied along tho ground I would rush out, shout at tho top of my voice nnd point excitedly at his wheels. This, I llgurcd, would cnuso tho pilot to stop and get out to sco what wns wrong. By Unit tlmo I would bo up to him, and as ho stooped over to Inspect the ma chine, I could knock him senseless, Jump Into tho machlno and bo over tho lines beforo tho Huns could mnko up their minds Just what had happened. It wns a flno dream, but my chance was not to coino that way. From s Photograph Taken In the Courtyard of tho Officers.' Prison at Courtral, Mhlch Leutenant O'Brien Preserved Throughout His Perilous Journey. O'Brien la Shown Standing Behind the German Guard, Who Sits at the Table In the Center of the Group. TIiwk werb dozens of other way which we considered. One mnn would bo for endeavoring to make his way right through the lines. Another thought the safest plan would be to swim somo river that crossed the lines. The idea of making one's way to Hollaad, n neutral country, occurred to everyone, but tho one great obstacle in that direction, wo nil realized, was the great barrier of barbed and elec trically charged wlro which guards ev ery foot of tho frontier between Bel- glum and Holland, und which is closely watched by the German sentries. This Carrier was a three-fold affair. It consisted Arst of a barbed wire wall six feet high. Six feet beyond thnt wns a nine-foot wall of wire power fully charged with electricity. To touch it inennt electrocution: Beyond thnt, nt u distance of six feet, was another wall of barbed wlro six feet high. Beyond the barrier lay nolland and llbei'y, but how to get there wns n proMum which none of us could solve and fow of us ever expected to hnvo a clianco to try. Mine enmo sooner thnn I expected. CHAPTER VI. A Leap for Liberty. 1 had been in prison nt Courtrnl nearly three weeks when, on the morn ing of September 0th, I and six other officers were told that we wero to be transferred to n prison cump in Ger many. One of tho grmrds told mo during tho dny that wo were destined for a re prisal camp in Strassburg. They were sending us there to keep our airmen from bombing the plnce. He explained that tho English car ried German ofllcers on hospital ships for a similar purpose and he excused tho German prnctlco of torpedoing these vessels on the scoro that they also carried munitions I When I pointed out to him thnt France would liurdly bo sending munitions to Eng land, he lost Interest In the nrgument. Somo days beforo, I hud mude up my mind that it would bo a very good thing to get hold of a mnp of Germany, which I knew was In the possession of ono of tho German Interpreters, be cause I realized that Jf ever tho op portunity came to make my escape, such a mnp might be of the greatest assistance to me. With the idea of stealing this map, accordingly, a lieutenant and I got in front of this interpreter's window one day and engaged in n very hot argu ment as to whether Heidelberg was on the Khlno or not, nnd we argued back and forth bo vigorously that tho Ger man enmo out of his room, mnp in hand, to settle It. After tho matter was entirely settled to our satisfac tion, he went back into his room nnd I watched whero ho put the map. When, therefore, I learned thnt I was on my way to Germany, I realized that it was more Important than ever for mo to get that map, and with the help of ray friend, wo got the Interpreter out of his room on somo pretext or another, and while ho was gono I con Ascuted tho mnp from tho book In which ho kept It and concealed it In my sock undernenth my legging. As I had anticipated, It inter proved of tho utmost vuluo to me. I got it none too 6oon, for half an hour later wo were on our way to Ghent Our party consisted of five British officers and ono French officer. At Ghent, where wo hud to wnlt for several liours for another train to take us direct to tho prison camp In Ger many, two other prisoners were added to our party. In tho interval we wcro locked In a room at a hotel, a guard sitting nt tho door with a rifle on his knee. It would havo dono my heart good for tho rest if my llfo If I cmiirt h-tvo .hiwi nwiy then nnd fooled that Hun ho wns so cocksure. Later we were marched to the train thnt was to convey us to Germnny. It consisted of somo twelve coaches, eleven of these containing troops going home on leave, and the twelfth re served for us. Wo were placed In a fourth-class compartment with old, linrd, wooden seats, n filthy floor nnd no lights save n cnndlc placd thero by n guard. There wero clghr ef us prisoners nnd four guard. As we sat in tho conch we cre nn object of curiosity to Vie crowd who gathered at the station. "Hope you have a nice trip I" ono of them ehoutcd sarcastically. "Drop me a line when you get to Berlin, will you?" shouted another In broken English. "When shall wc see you again?" asked a third. "Remember me to your friends, will you? You'll And plenty where you're going 1" shouted another. Tho German ofllcers mnde no effort to repress the crowd, in'fnct, they I Confiscated the Map. Joined In the general laughter which followed every sully. I culled to a German officer who was passing our window. "You're nn officer, nren't you?" I asked, respectfully enough. "Yes, what of It?" he rejoined. "Well, in England," I suld, "we let your officers who are prisoners ride first class. Can't you fix It so that we can be slmllnrly treated, or least be transferred to second-class compart ment?" ' "If I had my wny," he replied, "you'd ride with tho hogs!" Then he turned to the crowd and told them of my request and how he had nnswered me, urid they all laughed hilariously. This got me pretty hot. "That would bo a d sight better than riding with tho Germans 1" I yelled ufter him, but if he consid ered that a good Joke, ho didn't pass it on to the crowd. Somo months lutcr when I had the honor of telling my stpry to King George, ho thought this incident was ono of the best Jokes ho had ever heard. I don't believe ho ever laughed harder In his life. Beforo our train pulled out our guards had to present their arms for inspection and their rifles wero loaded in our presence to let us know that they meant business. From tho moment tho train started on its way to Germany, the thought kept coming to my head that unless I could muko my escape before we renched thnt reprlsul cump I might as well mnko up my mind, as far as I was concerned, the war was over. It occurred to me that if tho eight of us In that cur could Jump at a given signal and selzo thoso four Hun guurds by surprise, we'd havo a splendid chnnco of besting them nnd Jumping oft tho train when It flrst slowed down, but when I passed the Idea on to ray comrades they turned It down. Even If tho plan worked out ns gloriously as I hud pictured, they pointed out, the fnct thut so ninny of us hud es- enped would nlmost Inevitably result In our recapture. Tho Huns would- have scoured Belgium till they had got us and then we would nil be shot Perhaps they were right. Nevertheless, I wns determined that, no rantter what tho others decided to do, I was going to make one bid for freedom, come what might. As wo pnssed through vllluge after village in Belgium and I realized thnt wo were getting neurcr nnd neurer to thut dreaded reprisal cump, I con cluded that my one and only chance of getting freo before wo reached it was through the window! I would have to go through that window while tho train wns going full-speed, because If I waited until It hud slowed up or stopped entirely, It would bo n simple matter for the guards to overtake or shoot me. I opened tho window. The guard who sat opposite me so .close that his feet touched ralno and the stock of his gun which he held between his knees occasionally struck my foot mado no objection, Imagining no doubt thut I found tho car too warm or thut j tho smoke, with which tho compurt ment was Ailed, anuoyed me. I As I opened tho window, tho nolso I tho train wus mnklnc ub it thundered ' along grew louder. It seemed to eny "You're a fool If you do ; you re a fool If you don't you're a fool If you do you're a fool IX you don't" nd I said to inKclf "tho hoes have It" n closed down the window again. As soon ns the window wan clow-.. the noise of the train naturally nn1' sided and Its epoed Bmed to dimin ish, and my plan appealed to n stronger than ever. I knew the guard in front of tne didn't understand n word ot English, nnd so, In n quiet tone of voice, I cow Aded to the English officer who eat next me whnt I had planned to do. "For God's sake, Put, chuck It I" ho urged. "Don'tbealunntlc! This rail road Is double-trucked and rock-bal-lusted nnd the other track Is on your side. You stand every chnncc In tit world of knocking your brnlnB out against the rails, or hitting a brldgo or a whistling post, nnd if you escapo thoso you will probably bo hit by an other trnln on tho other track. Yon hnven't one chunce In a thousand to make It 1" There was n good denl of logic Id what he suld, but I figured that once I wns In that reprisal camp I might never have even ono chance In a thou sand to escape, and the idea of re maining n prisoner of war Indefinitely went ugnlnst my grain. I resolved to tuke my chunce now at tho risk of breaking my neck. The car was full of Mnoke. I looked across ut the guard. He was rather an old man, going home on leave, and he seemed to be dreaming of whnt wnB in store for him rather than paying" any particular attention to me. Onco In a while I hud smiled nt him, nnd I figured thnt lie hudn't th& slightest idea of what was going through my mind all the timo we had been traveling. J began to cough as though ray throat was badly irritated by the smoko and then I opened the window again. This time the guard looked up and showed his disapproval, but did not say any thing. It wns then 4 o'clock In tho morn ing and would soon be light I knew I had to do it right then, or never, as there would be no chance to escape in the daytime. I hnd on a trench coat that I had used as a flying coat and wore my knapsack, which I had constructed out of a gas bng brought Into Courtral by a British prisoner. In this I had two pieces of bread, a piece of sau sage and a pair of flying mittens. All of them had to go with me through the window. The train was now going at a rate of between thirty and thirty-five miles an hour, and agnln It seemed to admonish me as it rattled along over the ties. 'You're n fool If you do you're a fool If you don't You're a fool If you don't you're a fool If you do. You're a fool if you don't." I waited no longer. Standing upon the bench ns if to put the bag on tho ruck nndtnking hold of the ruck with my left hand und a strap that hung from the top of tho car with my right I pulled myself up, shoved my feet and legs out of the window and let go. There was a prayer on my Hps as I went out, and I expected a bullet be tween my shoulders, but It was all over in on instant. I landed on my left side and face. burying my face In the rock ballast cutting It open and closing my left eye, skinning my hands nnd shins and straining my ankle. For a few mo ments I was completely knocked out and if they shot at mo through thq window, in the flrst moments after my escape, I had no wny of knowing. Of course, If they could havo stopped the train right then, they could easily have recaptured me, but at the speed li was going nnd In tho confusion which must have followed my escape, they; probably didn't Btop within half of a mile from the spot whero I lay. I came to within a few minutes and when I examined myself and found no bones broken, I didn't stop to worry about my cuts and bruises, but Jumped up with the Idea of putting ns great a distance between me und thut truck as possible before duyllght came. Still be ing dazed, I forgot nil about tho barbed wire fence along the right of way and ran full tilt Into It. Right there I lost ono of my two precious pieces of bread. which fell out of my knapsack, but I could not stop to look for it then. Tho one tiling that was uppermost In my mind was that for the moment I was free, und it wus up to me now to make tho most of my liberty. Traveling at night and hiding by day, subsisting on raw vege tables 6tolen from gardens, O'Brien crawls through Ger many and Luxemburg toward Belgium. Some of the terrible hardships that he endured and the perils that he encountered are described In the next In stallment. , (TO BE CONTINUED.) Spanish Cedar Sawdust Somo curious uses ore found for tho better kinds of sawdust One of theso pertains to tho Spanish cedar Miwdust, which is of extreme light ness. It is employed for packing cheap chemicals contnlned In glass and ship ped for long distances. In this rela tion thero must bo, taken Into consid eration the question of weight and freight charges, and so Spanish cedar sawdust enters tho equation. Vibrations Ear Can Detect Tho ordlnury human ear cun detect n tono whoso vibration rute is at least 25,000 vibrations a second, while tho whistle will produce 50,080 a second. This upper limit varies with the age of the individual to such an extent thnt If tho upper limit nt sixteen years of age were 50,000 vibrations, at Blxty years of age it would be about 25,000 a second.
