OUTWITTING
THE
A/LIEUTENANT
^ PAT D'BRIEN
O/VS^mTALVA O'mtl/t
“I’ll drop it over-declared one
of them, naming my airdrome, which
revealed to me that their Hying corps
is as efficient as other brunches of the
service in the matter of obtaining valu
able Information.
And right here I want to say that the
more I came to know «>f tin* enemy, the
more keenly I realized what a difficult
task we’re going to have to lick him.
In all my subsequent experiences, the
fact that there is a heap of fight left
in the Huns still was thoroughly
brought home to me. We shall win
the war eventually, if we don’t slow
up ten) soon, in the mistaken idea that
the Huns are ready to lie down.
The flying officers who questioned
me were extremely anxious to find out
all they could about the part America
Is going to play in the war. but they
evidently came to the conclusion that
America hadn't taken me very deeply
into her confidence, judging from tin*
information they got, or failed to get,
from me.
At any rate, they gave me up ns a
bad Job, and I was ordered to the offi
cers’ prison at Courtrai, Belgium.
CHAPTER V.
The Prison Camp at Courtrai.
From the Intelligence department I
was conveyed to the officers’ prison
camp at Courtrai in -un automobile. It
was about an hour’s ride. My escort
was one of the urns* famous flyers in
the world, barring none. He was later
killed in action, but I was told by an
English airman who witnessed Ids last,
combat, flint he fought a game battle
and died a hero’s death.
The prison, which had evidently
been a civil prison of some kind before
the war, was located right In the heart
of Courtrai. The first building we ap
proached was large and in front of
the archway, which formed the main
entrance, was a sentry box. Here we
were challenged by the sentry, who
knocked on the door; the guard turned
the key in the lock and 1 was admit
ted. We passed through the archway
and directly into a courtyard, on which
faced all of the prison buildings, the
windows, of course, being heavily
burred. After I had given my pedigree
-—my name, age, address, etc.— I was
shown to a cell with bars on the win
dows overlooking this courtyard. I
was promptly told that at night we
were to occupy these rooms, but I bud
already surveyed the surroundings,
taken account of the number of guards
and the locked door outside, and con
cluded that my chances of getting
away from some other place could be
no worse than in that particular cell.
As I lmd no hat, my helmet being the
only thing I had worn over the lines,
I was compelled either to go bare
headed or wear the red cap of the
Bavarian whom I had shot down on
that memorable day. It can be im
agined how I looked attired in a Brit
ish uniform and a bright red cap.
Wherever I wrb taken my outfit
nrousM cnii*f?4cral?lo curiosit^.niiong
the Belgians and German soldiers.
When I arrived at prison that day I
still wore this cap, and as I was taken
into the courtyard, my overcoat cover
ing my uniform, all that the British
officers, who happened to lie sunning
themselves In the courtyard, could see
was the red cap. They ufterwanls told
me they wondered who the “hug Hun”
was with the bandage on Ills mouth.
This cap I managed to keep with me,
hut was never allowed to wear It on
the walks we took. I either went Imre
headed or borrowed a cap from some
other prisoner.
At certain hours each day tin* pris
oners were allowed to mingle in tin*
courtyard, and on the flist occasion of
this kind I found that there were 11
officers Imprisoned there besides my
self.
They had here Interpreters who
could speak all languages. One of
them was a mere hoy who had been
horn In Jersey City, N. J.. and had
spent all his life In America until
tin* beginning of 1014. Then In* moved
with Ids folks to Germany, and when
he became of military age the Huns
forced him into the army. I think If
the truth were known he would much
rather have been lighting for America
than against her.
I found that most of tin* prisoners
remained at Court rai only two or
three days. From there they were in
variably taken to prisons in the Inte
rior of <formally.
Whether it was because 1 was an
American or because I was a dyer, I
don't know, hut this rule was not fol
lowed in my case. I remained there
two weeks.
I Miring this period Courtral was con
stantly bombed by our airmen. Not a
single day to- night passed without one
or more air raids. In the two weeks
1 was there I counted 1!1 of them. The
town suffered a great deal of damage.
Evidently our people were aware that
the Germans had a lot of troops con
centrated in this town and besides the
headquarters staff was stationed there.
Tl»e kaiser himself visited Courtral
while I was lu tin* prison, 1 was told by
one of the interpreters, hut he didn’t
call on me, and for obvious reasons 1
couldn’t call on him.
The courtyard was not a very popu
lar place during air raids. Several
times when our airmen raided that
section in the day time I went out and
watched tin* machines and the shrap
nel bursting all around; hut the Ger
mans did not crowd out there, for their
own antiaircraft guns were hammer
ing away to keep our planes as ft.igh
in tin* sky as possible, and shells were
likely to fall in the prison yard any
moment. Of course I watched these
battles at my own risk. Many nights
from rny prison window I watched
with peculiar interest the air raids
carried on. and it was a wonderful
sight with tin* German searchlights
*:*.ying on the sky, the “Hauling on
ions" tirocWiigh .ind.the hu^f. of tk"»
antiaircraft guns, hut ratheV an un
comfortable sensation when I realized
that perhaps the very next minute a
bomb might he dropped on the building
in which 1 was a prisoner. But per
haps all of this was better than no
excitement at all, for prison life soon
became very monotonous.
One of the hardest things I had to
endure throughout the two weeks I
spent there wa.t the sight of the Hun
machines flying over Courtrai. know
ing that perhaps I never would have
another chance t<> fly. and I used to sit
by tin* hour watching the Herman ma
chines maneuvering over tin* prison,
as they had an airdrome not far away
and every afternoon flu* students—or
I took them for students because their
flying was very poor—appeared over
the town. One certain Hun seemed to
find particular satisfaction in flying
right down over tin* prison nightly, for
my special discomfort and benefit, it
seemed, ns if In* knew an airman im
prisoned there was vainly bulging to
try Ills wings again over their lines.
But I used to console myself by say
4rig: “Never mind, old boy. there was
never a bird whose wings could not
be clipped if they get biin just right,
and your turn will come some day.”
One night there was an exception
ally heavy air raid going on. A num
ber of Herman oflieers crime Into my
room, and they all seemed very much
frightened. I Jokingly remarked that
it would he fine if our airmen hit the
old prison the percentage would he
very satisfactory -one Knglish officer
and about ten Herman ones. They
didn’t seem t«> appreciate the Joke,
however, and. indeed, they were ap
parently too much alarmed at what
was going on overhead t«* laugh even
at their own Jokes. Although these
night raids seem to take all the starch
out of the Hermans while they are
going on, the oflieers were usually as
brave as lions the next day and spoke
contemptuously of tin* raid of the
night before.
I saw thousands of soldiers in Cour
trai, and although they did not im
press me as having very good or abun
dant food, they were fairly well
elotleyl. do not mean to imply that
c«tndr«ion>“ p.r.m'eir-lo nil **.io*of
the war. On the contrary, from what
I was able t«* observe on that point,
unless the I Inns have an absolute crop
failure they can. in my opinion, go on
for years! The Idea of our being able
to win the war by starving them out
strikes me as ridiculous. This is a
war that must he won by fighting, and
the sooner we realize that fact tin*
sooner It will be over.
i'l -iiif. ii’Mji jii ini- ju ijmiii « \ rn
' o’clock. Breakfast came at eight. This
consisted of a cup of coffee and noth "
ing else. If tin* prisoner had the fore
sight to save some bread from the pre
vious day. he had bread for breakfast
also, but that never happened in my
case. Sometimes we bad two cups of
coffee, that is, near-coffee. It was
really chicory or some cereal prepara
tion. We had no milk or sugar.
For lunch they gave us boiled sugar
beets or some other vegetable, and
1 once in a while some kind of pickled
meat, but that happened very seldom.
We also received a third of a loaf of
bread- -war bread. This war bread
was as heavy as a brick, bluck and
sour. It was supposed t<» last us from
noon one day to noon the next. Ex
cept for some soup, this was the whole
lunch menu.
IHnner came at «r> :.H0 p. m., when we
sometimes had a little Jam made out
of sugar beets, and a preparation
calk'd tea, which you had to shake vig
orously or It settled in the bottom of
the cup. and then about all you bad
was hot water. This “tea” was a sad
blow to the Englishmen. If It hadn’t
been called tea they wouldn’t have felt
so badly about it, perhaps, but if was
adding insult to injury t«» call that
stuff “tea,” which with them is almost
a national institution.
Sometimes with this meal they gave
us butter instead of jam, and once In
a while we had some kind of canned
meat.
This comprised the usual run of eat
ables for the day—I can eat more than
that for breakfast! In the day^thut
were to come I learned that I was to
fare considerably worse.
Wo were allowed to send out and
buy a few things, hut as most of the
prisoners were without funds this was
but an empty privilege. Once I took
advantage of the privilege to send my
shoes to a Belgian shoemaker to he
half-soled. They charged me ”t>
marks—$f>!
Once In a while a Belgian Ladles’
Relief society visited the prison and
brought us handkerchiefs, American
soap—which sells at about $i.w «
bar in Belgium—toothbrushes anil
other little articles, all of which were
American made, but whether they
were supplied by the American re
lief committee or not 1 don’t know.
At any rate, these gifts were mighty
useful and were very much appre
ciated.
One day I offered u button off my
uniform to one of these Belgian ladles
as a souvenir, but a German guard
saw me and I was never ullowed to
go neur the visitors afterwards.
The sanitary conditions In this
prison camp were excellent as a gen
eral proposition. One night, however.
I discovered that I had been cap
tured by “cooties.”
This was u novel experience to me
and one that I would have been very
willing to have missed, because tn
the flying corps our airdromes are a
number of miles buck of the lines and
we have good billets and our acquaint
ance with such things as "cooties” and
other unwelcome visitors la very lim
ited.
When I discovered my condition, I
made u holler kpd roused the guard,
and right then lutot another example
pt German efltcle.Kj.
Thl,# guard aeedaA www*
perturbed libout my complaint Thau I i
myself, evidently fearing that he would
he blamed for my condition.
The commandant was summoned I
and I could see that he was very an- !
gry. Someone undoubtedly got a se
vere reprimand for it.
I was token out of my cell by a
guard with a rifle and conducted about
a quarter of a mile from the prison
to an old factory building which hud
been converted Into nn elaborate fumi
gating plant. There I was given a
pickle bath in some kind of solution,
and while 1 was absorbing it my
clothes, bed clothes and whatever else
had been in my cell was being put
through another fumigating process.
While I was waiting for my things
to dry—It took perhaps half nn hour—
I had a chance to observe about one
hundred other victims of “cooties"—
German soldiers who hud become in
fested In the trenches. We were all
nude, of course, hut apparently it was
not difficult for them to recognize me
ns a foreigner even without my uni
form on, for none of them made any
attempt to talk to me, although they
were very busy talking about me. I
could not understand what they were
saying, but I knew I was the butt of
most of their jokes and they made no
effort to conceal the fact that I was
the subject of conversation.
When I got hack to my cell I found
thut It had been thoroughly fundgated,
and from that time on I had no further
trouble with “Cooties" or other visi
tors of the same kind.
As we were not allowed to write
anything but prison cards, writing was
out of the question; and as we had no
reading matter to speak of, reading
"•as nil. We had nothing to do to
puss away the time, so consequently
! t urds became our only diversion, for
! we did, fortunately, have some of
these.
There wasn't very much money ns a
rule In circulation, and I think for once
In uiy life I held most of that, not due
to any particular ability on my part
in the game, but I happened to have
several hundred francs in my pockets
when shot down. Hut we held a lot
tery that was watched without quite
such intense interest as that. The
draw lug was always held t he day before
to learn who was the lucky man. There
was ns much speculation as to who
would win the prize as if it hi. I been
the finest treasure In the world. The
great prize was one-third of a loaf of
bread. Through some arrangement,
which I never quite figured out, it
happened thut among the eight or ten
uinui.i »iii» nnr iim if wuii nif, i in i «
was always one-third of a loaf of
bread over. There was just one way
fit getting that bread, and that was to
draw lots. Consequently that was what
started the lottery. 1 believe if n man
hud ever been Inclined to client he
would have been sorely tempted in tills
Instance, but the game was played ab
solutely square, and If a man bad been
caught cheating the chances are that
he would have been shunned by the
rest of the officers as long as he was
In prison. I was fortunate enough to
win the prize twice.
One man—and I think he was the
smallest eater In the camp—won It on
three successive days, but It was well
for him that Ills luck deserted lilm on
the fourth day, for lie probably would
have been handled rather roughly by
the rest of the crowd, who were grow
ing suspicious. Kut we handled the
drawing ourselves and knew there was
nothing crooked about it, so he was
spared.
We were allowed to buy pears, and
being small and very hard, they were
used ns the stakes In many a game.
But the interest in these little games
was as keen as if the stakes had been
piles of money Instead of two or three
half-starved pears. No man was ever
so reckless, however, in all the betting
us to wager ids own rations.
By the most scheming and sacrific
ing I ever did in my life 1 managed to
hoard two pieces of bread (grudgingly
spared ut the time from my dally ra
tions), but 1 was preparing for the day
when I should escape—If I ever should.
It was not a sacrifice easily made
either, but instead of eating bread 1
ate pears until I finally got one piece
of bread ahead; and when I could
force myself to stick to the pear diet
again, 1 saved the other piece from
that day’s allowance, and in days to
come I hud cause to credit myself fully
for the foresight.
Whenever a new prisoner came In
and his German hosts hail satisfied
themselves as to his life history and
taken down all the details—that is all
he would give them—he was immedi
ately surrounded by ids fellow prison
ers, who were eager for any bit of
news or Information lie could possibly
give them, und us a rule he was glad
to tell us, because, If he had been hi
the hands of the lluns for any length
of time, he had seen very few Kngllsh
UUIVXIB.
The conditions of this prison were
hud enough when a man was in nor
mally good health, hut It was barbar
ous to subject u wounded soldier to
the hardships and discomforts of the
place. However, this wus the fate of
a poor private we discovered there one
day In terrific pain, suffering from
shrupuel in his stomach and buck. All
of us officers asked to have him sent
to n hospital, but the doctors curtly
refused, saying it was against orders.
So the poor creature went on suffering
from day to duy and was still there
when I left—another victim of ticr
mun cruelty.
At one time In this prison camp there
were a French marine, a French flying
officer, two Belgian soldiers, and of the !
United Kingdom one from Canada, two
from Knglund, three from Ireland, u
couple from Scotland, one from Wales,
a man from South Africa, one from
Algeria, and a New Zeulander, the
latter being from my own squadron, a
mac. whom I thought bajl tigen killed,
ulid lie wVs Hum
brought Into the prison to find me
there. In addition there were a Chi
naman and myself from the IJ. S. A.
It was guile a cosmopolitan group,
nnd ns one typical Irishman said.
"Sure, nnd \ve have every nation that's
worth mentioning, including tin* darn
Germans with us whites." Of course
this was not translated to the Ger
mans, nor was It even spoken in their
hearing, or we probably would not
have had quite so cosmopolitan a burn h.
Kach man in the prison huh ready to
uphold his native country in any argu
ment that could possibly he started,
nnd It goes without saying that I never )
took a hack seat In any of them with I
my praise for America, with the Cana
dian and Chinaman chiming in on my
side. But they were friendly argu
ments; we were all In the same boat
nnd that was no place for quarreling.
Kvery other morning, the weather
allowing, we were taken to a large
swimming pool and were allowed to
have a hath. There were two pools
one for the German officers and one
for the men. Although we wen* offi
cers, we had to use the pool occupied
by the men. While we were in swim
ming a German guard with a rifle
across ids knees sat at each corner of
the pool and watched us closely as
we dressed and undressed. Kngllsh
interpreters accompanied us on all of
these trips, so at no time could we
talk without thetr knowing what was
going on.
Whenever we were taken out of tin*
prison for uny purpose they always
paraded us through the most crowded
streets—evidently to give the popu
lace an Idea that they were getting
lots of prisoners. The German sol
diers we passed on these occasions
made no effort to hide their smiles
and sneers.
The Belgian people were apparent
ly very curious to see us, and they
used to turn out In large numbers
whenever the word was passed that
we were out. At times the German
guards would strike the women and
children who crowded too close to us
One day I smiled and spoke to a
pretty girl, and when she replied, a
German made a run for her. I.m kilv
she Stepped into the house before he
reached her, or I am afraid my salu
tation would have resulted seriously
for her and 1 would June been power
b -s_io have assisp'f] her.
(To he Continued)
-+—
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wide wheels on rear (8 inches
wide), solid Duval tires; built
for hauling fuel. Has platform
top, hickory stakes. Practi
cally new. Runs a few times
as a jitney from Seward to
Bear Lake. Have had load 15
to 20 people. Was bought last
winter before the advance in
automobiles. I can and will
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quires me to go Outside. Can
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ard.
INDEPENDENT FUEL CO
Seward
CORDOVA
MACHINE WORKS
E. R. GARNES. Prop
Residence Shop
Phono 101-S. Phone 182
Machine Woi a of all Kinds.
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AUTOMOBILES
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Office and Shop: City Dock
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Out of Town Jobs Given Strict
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—
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Cordova.
DENTISTRY
Hours 8 a. m. to S p. m.
Special Attention to
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PHONE 200
WM. A. HESSE
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BOX 1J CORDOVA, ALASKA.
DR. W. H. CHASE
PHYSICIAN and SURGEON
Office over Cordova Drug Store*
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Alaskan Hotel
DR. W. W. COUNCIL
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
Office and Residence: Cordova
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Ing-.
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Room 1.
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WILLLAM PALLISTER, MD,
Specialist In the treatment of
diseases and deformities of the
eye. ear, nose and threat; glasses
fitted.
JUNEAU GENERAL HOSPITAL
FRANK A. METCALF
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Juneau Alaska
FRANK H. FOSTER
Attorney at Law
Room 1 Alaskan Hotel
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r!ilLiifciili,..lain, ' ' ' :‘:-'1' -lit ii • •■» m -■ ^
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Leave Cordova, Second Street Depot, on Mon
days, Thursdays and Saturdays
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and Fridays
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Tin1 above schedule subject to change without
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Dining Car in Connection with all Regular
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Freight received and delivered ut Cordova
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Tickets on sale at Second Street Depot office
one hour before departure of trains.
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R. K. BROWN, Jr., Ticket Agent
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