OFFICER'S ESCAPE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16561, 9 June 1917, Page 2 (Supplement)

OFFICER'S ESCAPE.

A 200 MILES JOURNEY.

MAN-POWER CONTRASTS. A consideuable number of officers have recently escaped from Germany and have arrived in England. One of these, a captain taken prisoner in August, 1914, told an interesting story to a representative of the Times. The story was more than interesting, for it was informative and hopeful. Tho officer said:— .

On March' 20 all the British officers at Friedborg were moved from that camp. A party of 80 were sent to Clausthal, and other parties to unknown camps. Having made previous arrangements, I was looking for a chance to escape.

We made off across country on compass bearing; The first two nights were mostly through forest drifted deep with snow, and it ( was hard to make much progress. However, on the third night we stuck to roads and covered 28 milos. Each night we travelled from dark, till daylight. We slept all day, covering ourselves with hay, both for warmth and secrecy. Once a party of men came and removed hay from within a few feet of where wo lay hidden, but we were deep down, and they did not discover us.

Towns in Germany are ill-lighted, but not as dark as London. We travelled over 200 miles, and all that timo I suppose wo did not see more than a dozen men. Once a sportsman came within 1;

THE WRITING ON THE WALL. "in the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the piaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the pait of the hand that wrote. "-Daniel v., 5. ■ . Keynold's.

yards of us, but we just managed to creep away without being seen. A patrol once challenged us on the road, but we had already passed him, and he took no exception to the only words of German I knew. We soon left the road again, however, and nothing further occurred, '

Starting on our final journey, we were unlucky enough to be stopped by a forest guard. A belt of about 10 miles is patrolled by forest guards. The guard told us to halt, -which we did, as we were only half a mile from a village, and we were afraid of giving an alarm. He told us he Would shot if we did not march at once. Then ho started to bluff us, counting "Ein, Zwei," and fumbling in his pocket ' for an 'imaginary, revolver.. When ho came to count "Drei" it fell rather flat, ( and he then asked to see my papers. I liad a card ready, and I showed it to him. • , i.

The actual frontier at-this point is in a belt of forest, somewhat similar to the Forest. It was very difficult to keep an accurate route, but-here were no wire entanglements or live wires. ; The sole guard is the forest force, who are generally armed- with revolvers. One would think that, living in a prison ' camp, ono would be too soft to stand the sort of thing wo went through, but we arrived in perfectly good health. Tho whole period of the journey was bitterly cold, and our water bottles were frozen by day and night. Xhp most unpleasant period was the last three days, when it rained incessantly.

German National Service.

Asked as to the treatment of officers in prison camps, the captain said that a radical change was made in 1916. German officers who had been to England

FOOD FOR THOUGHT. ' The Friend: '•The Doctor told me they kept you alive far eight days on brandy and milk." The Sub.:" Just my luck! I was unconscious the whole timet" —London Opinion.

and Switzerland, and who understood English ways were put in charge of camps. He p.dded:—

Although there is a great dearth of food in Germany at the present time, the Germans are doing their best for British officers interned in Germany. The Germans are much behindhand with their ploughing, for the weather has been terribly severe. One thing is especially noticeable wherever you go in Germany, and that is the great use they have made of national service. Every man, woman, and child works from daylight to dark six days a week. Prisoners are well informed concerning the war, for all the Gorman papers now publish the British war communiques. At one time we were only allowed the Continental Times, but it was always treatd as a joke. The circulating of the British communiques is, perhaps, a means of " breaking the news gently" to the Germans.

Ono thing that strikes me very forcibly after two years and eight months is the waste of man-power in, England compared with Germany. I have told you what Germany is doing. Every one is working .for the war in some way or other. Here one cannot help being struck with the sight of commissionaires outside shops and theatres in London. It does not matter that they are over age. Germany has found that she can make use of every man who is, or rather has been, employed in jobs of that sort. The enormous reserve and appalling -of.man-power here .seems incredible!