A ROMANTIC ESCAPE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15002, 25 May 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

A ROMANTIC ESCAPE.

SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGE DUG. A correspondent in Constantinople sends the Pall Mall Gazette an interesting account of the escape from the fortress of Ycnssouvatcha, in Podgoritza, Montenegro, of M. Juvanoviteh, a former Foreign Minister, and his companions, who have.arrived safely in the Turkish capital.

For over four years Juvanoviteh aqd a number of other Ministers convicted of plotting against Prince (now King) Nicolas were confined in the prison. They were heavily chained, and suffered much pain.

Soon after their incarceration they set about planning a means of escape, and in the end they succeeded.

The plan consisted in digging a subterranean passage communicating with the outer world. The prisoners were confined in cells adjoining each other, and they had no difficulty in letting one another know, through the walls,, of the scheme and the progressive steps to be taken. They dug during the night-time, and the holes they skilfully covered with the mattresses that served them as beds.

For six months this went on. Then they were able to gather at night in one cell. It took them another two months to cut their heavy iron fetters, and then all was ready. They swore that they would take their own lives should they be detected.

They were not detected, however. They played their difficult role with such admirable skill that no suspicion whatever was raised. At the moment of escape one of their comrades succumbed. They buried him.

The sentinels on the Turco-Montenegrin frontier almost succeeded in capturing them. A terrible fight ensued, but the fugitives prevailed.

Juvanoviteh, who is staying at an hotel in Stamboul, is a man of culture and education. Ho speaks English fairly well. He is a graduate of the University of Agram.

The Turkish Government finds itself in a rather curious situation, as Montenegro is claiming the man. Tho correspondent is assured, however, that ho will not be extradited.