THE FULTON COUNTY NEWS, McCONNELLSBURO, PA.
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"Outwitting the Hun"
By LIEUTENANT PAT O'BRIEN
Copyright. 1018. by Pit Aire O'Brlan
FROM THE WINDOW OF A TRAIN RUNNING 35 MILES AN
HOUR, 3RIEN MAKES LEAP FOR LIBERTY.
Synopsis. Pat O'Brien, a resident of Momenee, 111., after seeing
k,t, i the American flying corps on tlio Mexican border In 1010,
loins the British Itoyul Flying corps In Cunnrin. and after a brief train
j ' IM.r0(l Is sent to France. He Is assigned to a squadron In active
i'.rvlcc on the front. He engages In several hot fights with Germun
(Ivors from which he emerges victorious. Finally, in a fight with four
German flyers, O'Brien Is shot down. He fulls 8,000 feet and, escaping
death by a miracle, awakes to find himself a prisoner In a German
hospital, with a bullet hole In his mouth. After a few dayi In the
hospital! he Is sent to a prison camp at Courtral.
CHAPTER V. Continued.
One ninn-snd I think he was the
West i'"tor 111 th0 cun,P won lt on
three siifci-BHlTo days, but lt was-well
for him that his luck deserted him on
!ihe fourth day, for ho probably would
We been handled rather roughly by
!tbe rest of the crowd, who were grow
'm suspicious. Hut we handled the
drawing ourselves and knew there was
jnothlng crooked about It, so he was
.'e,i- .. ... t ,i
4 We were allowed 10 uuy enrn,
'being small and very hard, they were
W os the stakes In many a game.
But the Interest In these little games
m as keen as If the stakes had been
piles of money Instead of two or three
half-starved pears. .No man was ever
m reckless, however, In all the betting
'us to wager his own rations.
By the most scheming and sacrific
ing I ever did in my life I managed to
! hoard two pieces of bread (grudgingly
fspnmi nt the time from my dally ra
jtlons), but I was preparing for the day
when I should escape If I ever should,
lit was not a sacrifice easily made
j cither, but Instend of eating bread I
ate pears until I finally got one piece
1 df bread ahead; nnd when I could
; force myself to stick to the pear diet
-aznln, I saved the other piece from
I that day's allowance, and In days to
'come I hiiii cause to credit myself fully
? for the foresight.
Whenever a new prisoner came In
ami his German hosts had satisfied
themselves as to his life history and
taken down nil the details that Is all
( . .1.1 ..l.m Iwt ti'.ia Im, I, mil.
lit? WIM1MI Lilt' IIH-III ,1.. nun
ately surrounded by his fellow prison
cm. who were easier for any bit of
news or information he could possibly
Rive them, and as a rule he was glad
to tell us, because, If he had been In
the bails of the Huns for any length
of time, he had seen very few English
officers.
The conditions of this prison were
bad enough when a man was In nor
mally good health, but lt was barbar
ous to subject a wounded soldier to
the hardships nnd discomforts of the
place. However, this was the fate of
a poor private we discovered there one
lay la terrific pain, suffering from
shrapnel In his stomach and back. All
of us ollicers asked to have him sent
to a hospital, but the doctors curtly
refused, saying It was against orders.
So the poor creature went on suffering
from day to day and was still there
when I left another victim of Ger
man cruelty.
At one time In this prison camp there
were a Trench marine, n French Hying
officer, two llelglan soldiers, and of the
Vnltod Kingdom cne from Canada, two
frmn Kngland, three from Ireland, a
couple from Scotland, one from Wales,.
niiin from South Africa, one from
Algeria, nnd a New Zenlnnder, tho
latter being from tnv own squadron, a
man whom I thouht had been killed,
and he was enuiillv surprised when
'Wight Into tlfo prison to find me
here. In addition there were a Chi
naman nnd myself from the U. S. A.
It was quite h cosmopolitan group,
"nil ns one typical Irishman said,
"Sure, iiml we have every nation that's
rth mentioning, including the darn
ieriiiiniH with us whites." Of course
his wits not translated to the tier
inans, imr was It even spoken In their
hearing, or wo probably would uot
aivehud quite so cosmopolitan n bunch.
Each man In the prison was ready to
uphold his native country In any argu
ment that could possibly be started,
and It j!,i(.s without saying that I never
'ook a buck seat In any of them with
'' praise for America, with the Cnna
OUm ami Chlmimnn chiming In on my
s-'le. lint they wero friendly argu
ments; we W(,,.0 nj jl(5 Hlime i,oUt
"'id Unit was no place for quarreling.
Every other morning, the weather
allowing, we WP1.U tnUen to a large
" 'limning ,ol and were allowed to
'"lve a bath. There were two pools,
'e for the German oflii'crs and one
''f the men. Although wo were olll
fs, wo hud to use tlte pool occupied
X the men. Whii,. we Wero in swiin
,!hig a German guard with a rille
'cross bis knees nit at oacli corner of
he pool mid watched us closely as
H' dressed nnd undressed. English
"'terpivters accompanied us on all of
""'se trips, ( M0 tm couij We
ulk without their knowing what wns
S'dng on.
Whenever we were taken out of the
prison for ,nny purpose they always
I'iii-aded us through the most crowded
KTwts evidently to give the popu
n,S an Idea that they were getting
I'M of prisoners. The German sol-
we passed on these occasions
"""I1' no effort to hide their smiles
ml sneers.
. 'lmi ,5"lglnn people were apparent
' very rurlous to see us. and they
wlw l l''rU 0llt 1,1 ,ul's" null,,",S
"'"'Vet the word wns passed that
, " ere t. At times the German
ids Wod strike the women nnd
mr-o who crowded too close to us.
rl. By.,1 8",lkMl ,lml "l,oke ,0 n
h.rJ 8 '' nmJ wll,, "he replied, a
Z T nm,le for her. Luckily
r.lT'1 lnt0 house before he
- uer or
1 am afraid my sulu
tatlon would hnve resulted seriously
for her and I would have been power
less to have assisted her.
Whenever we pnssed a Belgian
home 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.
One of the most Interesting souve
nirs I huve of my imprisonment at
Courtral is a photograph of a group
of us taken In the prison courtyard.
The picture was innde by one of the
guards, who sold copies of It to those
of us who wero able to pay his
price one mark apiece.
As we faced the enmera, I suppose
we all tried to look our happiest, but
the majority of us, I am afraid, were
too sick at heart to raise a smile,
even for this occasion. One of our
Hun guards Is shown In the picture
seated at the table. I am standing
directly behind him, attired In my fly
Ing tunic, which they allowed me to
wenr all tho tlmo I was In prison, as
Is the usual custom with prisoners of
war. Three of the British officers
shown In the picture, In the fore
ground, are clad In "shorts."
Through all my subsequent adven
turcs I was able to retain a print of
this Interesting picture, and although
when I gaze at It now It only serves
to Increase my gratification at my ultl
mnte escape, lt fills met wlfh regret to
think that my fellow prisoners were
not so fortunate. All of them by this
tlmo are' undoubtedly eating their
hearts up In the prison camps of In
terlor Germr.ny. I'oor fellows I
Despite the scanty fare and the re
strictions we were under In this prison,
we did tonnage on one occasion to nr
range a regular banquet The plan
ning which wus necessary helped to
pass the time.
At this time there were eight of us,
We decided thut the principal thing
we needed to make the affair a sue
cess was potatoes, and I conceived a
plan to get them. Every other after
noon they took us for a walk In the
country, nnd lt occurred to me that
It would be a comparatively simple
mutter for us to pretend to be tired
and sit down when we came to the
first potato patch.
It worked out nicely. When we
came to the first potato patch that
afternoon, we told our guards that we
wanted to rest a bit and we were
allowed to sit down. In the course
of the next five minutes each of us
nianaired to get n potato or two. Bo
Ing Irish, I got sjx.
When we got back to the prison,
managed to steal a handkerchief full
of sugar, which, with some apples that
we were allowed to purchase, we eas
Ily converted Into a sort of Jam.
We now had potatoes nnd Jam, bat
no bread. It happened that the Hun
who had charge of the potatoes was
a ' great musician, ii was uoi vt-ijr
difficult to prevail upon him to play
us somo music, nnd while ho went out
to get his zither I went Into the bread
pantry nnd stole a loaf of Dread,
Most of us had saved some butter
from the day before, and we used It
to fry our potatoes. l!y bribing one
of the guards, he bought some eggs for
us. They cost 25 cents apiece, but we
were determined to make this banquet
a success, no matter what It cost.
The cooking was done by the prison
conk, whom, of course, we had to
bribe.
When the meal was ready to serve
It consisted of srrnmbled eggs, fried
potatoes, bread and Jam, and n pltchei
of beer which we were allowed to buy.
That watt the 2!th of August. Had
I known that It was to be tho last
real meal that I wns to eat for many
weeks. I might have enjoyed It even
more than I did, but It was certainly
very good.
We hud cooked enough for eight, but
while we wero still eating, another
Joined us. He wns an English officer
who had Just been brought In on a
stretcher. For seven days, he told us,
he had lain In a shell hole, wounded,
and he was almost fanilbhod, and we
were mighty glud to share our bnn
quet with him.
We called on each man for a speech,
and one might hnve thought that we
were nt a first-class club meeting. A
few days after that our party was
broken up und some of the men, I sup
pose, I shall never see again.
One of the souvenirs of my adven
ture is a chock given mo during this
"banquet" by Lieut. James Henry
Dickson of the Tenth Royal Irish Fu
slleers, a fellow prisoner. It wns for
'JO francs and wns made payable to
the order of "Mr. rat O'Brien, 2nd
Lieut." I'oor Jim forgot to scratch
out the "London" and substitute
"Courtral" on the duto line, but Its
value-as a souvenir Is Just as great.
When he gave lt to me he had no Idea
that I would have an opportunity so
soon afterward to cash It In person,
'although I nm quite sure that what
ever financial reverses I may be des
tlned to meet, my want will never be
grent enough to Induce me to realize
on that check.
There was ' one subject that was
talked about In this prison whenever
conversation lagged, and I suppose It
Is the same In other prisons too. What
wero the chances of escape.
Every man seemed to huve a differ
ent Idea and one way, I suppose, was
about as Impracticable as another.
None of us ever expected to get a
hance to put our Ideas Into execution,
but It was Interesting speculation, and
anyway one can never tell what op
portunities might present themselves.
One suggestion was that we disguise
ourselves as women. "O'Brien would
stand a better chance disguised as a
tiorse!" declared another, referring to
the fact that my height (I am six feet
two Inches) would make me more con
splcuous as n woman than as a man
Another suggested that we steal a
German Gothu a typo of airplane
used for long-distance bombing. It Is
these machines which are used for
bombing London. They are manned
by three men, one sitting In front with
a machine gun, the pilot sitting behind
him and un observer sitting In the rear
with another machine gun. We fig
ured thut, nt a pinch, perhaps, seven
or eight of us could make our escape
In a single machine. They have two
motors of very high horse power, fly
very high nnd make wonderful speed.
But we had no chance to put this Idea
to the test.
I worked out nnolher plan by which
thought I might have a chance If I
could ever get Into one of the German
airdromes. I would conceal myself In
one of the hanga.s, wait until one of
the Germun machines started out, nnd
ns he taxied along the ground I would
rush out, shout at the top of my voice
and point excitedly at his wheels. This,
I figured, would cause the pilot to stop
and get out to see what was wrong.
By that time I would be up to him, and
as he stooped over to Inspect the ma:
chine, I could knock him senseless,
Jump Into the machine and be over the
lines before the Huns could make up
their minds Just what hud happened.
It was a fine dream, but my
chance was not to come Uint way.
There were dozens of other ways
which we considered. One man would
be for endeavoring to make his way
right through the lines. Another
thought the safest plan would be to
swim some river that crossed tho lines,
The Idea of making one's way to
Holland, a neutral country, occurred
to everyone, but the one greut obstacle
In that direction, we all realized, wns
the grent barrier of barbed and elec
trically charged wire which guards ev
ery foot of the frontier between Bel-
glum and Holland, and which Is closely
watched by the German sentries.
This bnrrler was a three-fold affair,
It consisted first of a burbed wire wall
sir feet high. Sir feet beyond that
was a nine-foot wall of wtro power
fully charged with electricity. To
touch It meant electrocution. Beyond
that, nt a distance of sir feet, was
another wall of burbed wire sir feet
high.
Beyond the bnrrler lay Holland and
liberty, but how to get there wns a
problem which none of us could solve
and few of us ever expected to have
a chance to try.
Mine came sooner than I expected.
CHAPTER VI.
A Leap for Liberty.
I hnd been In prison at Courtral
nearly three weeks when, on the morn
ing of September 0th, I nnd sir other
officers were told that we were to be
transferred to a prison camp in Ger
many. One of tho gunrds told me during the
dny thnt we wero destined for a re
prisal camp In Strassburg. They were
sending us there to keep our airmen
from bombing the place.
Ho explained that the English car
ried German officers on hospital ships
for a similar purpose nnd he excused
From a Photograph Taken In the Courtyard of the Officers' Prison at Courtral,
Which Lieutenant O'Brien Preserved Throughout His Perilous Journey.
O'Brien Is 8hown Standing Behind the Qwn Guard, Whe Sits at the
Table In tle Center of the Group,
the German practice of torpedoing
these vessels on the score that they
nlso carried munitions 1 When I
pointed out to him thnt France would
hardly be sending munitions to Eng
land, he lost Interest In tho argument
Somo days before, I had made up my
mind that it would be a very good
thing to get hold of a map of Germany,
which I knew was In the possession of
one of the German Interpreters, be
cause I realized that If ever the op
portunity came to make my escnpe,
such a mop might be of the greatest
assistance to me.
With the Idea of stealing this mnp,
accordingly, a lieutenant nnd I got In
front of this Interpreter's window one
day and engnged In a very hot argu
ment ns to whether Heidelberg was on
the Ithlne or not, nnd we argued back
and forth so vigorously that the Ger
man came out of Ills room, map In
hand, to settle It After the mutter
wus entirely settled to our satisfac
tion, he went back Into his room nnd
I watched where he put the map,
When, therefore, I learned that I was
on my way to Germnny, I realized that
lt wus more Important than ever for
me to get that map, and with the help
of my friend, we got the Interpreter
out of his room on somo pretext or
another, nnd while he wns gone I con
flscnted the mnp from the book In
which he kept It and concealed It In
my sock underneath my legging. As
I bad anticipated, lt later proved of
the utmost vulue to me.
I not It none too soon, for half an
hour later we were on our way to
Ghent, Our party consisted of live
British officers nnd one French ofticer,
At Ghent, where we hnd to wait for
several hours for another train to take
us direct to the prison camp In Ger
mnny, two other prisoners were added
to our pnrty.
In the Interval we were locked In a
room at a hotel, a guard sitting at the
door with a rifle on his knee. It would
hnve done my heart good, for the rest
of my life If I could have gotten away
then nnd fooled that Hun ho wus so
cocksure.
Lnter we were marched to the train
thnt wns to convey us to Germany. It
consisted of some twelve coaches,
eleven of these containing troops going
home on lenve, and the twelfth re
served for us. We were placed In
fourth-class compartment with old,
hard, wooden scats, a filthy floor and
no lights save a candle placed there
by a guard. There were eight of ns
prisoners and four guards.
As we snt In the coach we were nn
object of curiosity to the crowd who
fathered nt the station.
"Hope you have a nice trip I" one of
them shouted sarcastically.
"Drop me a line when yon get to
Berlin, will you?" shouted another In
broken English.
"When shall we see you ognlnT
asked a third.
"Remember me to your friends, will
you? You'll find plenty where you're
colng!" shouted another.
The German officers mnde no effort
to repress the crowd, In fact, they
Joined In the general laughter which
followed every sally.
I called to a German officer who was
passing our window.
"You're an officer, aren't you?" 1
asked, rcspec'.fully enough.
"Yes, what of It?" he rejoined.
"Well, In Kngland," I sold, "we let
your officers who are prisoners ride
first cluss. Can't you fix lt so that we
can be similarly treated, or least be
transferred to second-class compart
ment?" "If I hnd my way," he replied, "you'd
ride with the hogs!"
Then he turned to tho crowd nnd
told them of my request nnd how he
had answered me, and they all laughed
hilariously.
This got mo pretty hot.
"That would bo a d sight
better thnn riding with tho Germans I"
I yelled after him, but If he consid
ered that a good Joke, he didn't pass
It on to the crowd.
Somo months later when I had the
honor of telling my story to King
George, he thought this incident was
one of the best Jokes he hnd 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 nnd their rifles were loaded
In our presence to let us know that
they meant business.
From the moment the train started
on Its way t Germany, the thought
kept coming to my head that unless I
could muke my escnpe before we
renched that reprisal camp I might as
well make up my mind, as far as I
was concerned, the war was over.
It occurred to me thnt If the eight
of us In thnt car could Jump at a given
slgnnl nnd seize those four Hun gunrds
by surprise, we'd have a splendid
chance of besting them and Jumping
off the train when it first slowed down,
but when I passed the Idea on to my
comrades they turned It down. Even
If the plan worked out as gloriously
as I had pictured, they pointed out,
the fact thnt so many of us had es
caped would almost Inevltubly result
In our recapture. The Huns would
huve scoured Belgium till they had
got us and then we would all be shot.
Perhaps they were right.
Nevertheless, I was determined that,
no matter whut the others decided to
do, I was going to make one bid for
freedom, come what might.
As we passed through village after
village In Belgium and I realized thnt
we were getting nenrer and nearer to
that dreaded reprisal camp, I con
cluded thut my one and only chance of
getting free before we reached lt was
through the window I I would hnve
to go through thut window while 'the
train was going full-speed, because If
waited until It had slowed up or
stopped entirely, lt would be a simple
matter for the guards to overtuke or
shoot me.
I opened the window. The guard
who snt opposite me so close that
his feet touched mine and the stock
of his gun which he held between his
knees occasionally struck my foot-
made no objection, Imagining no doubt
thut I found the car too warm or that
the smoke, with which the compart
ment was filled, annoyed me.
As I opened tho window, the noise
the train wus making ns It thundered
along grew louder. It seemed. to say:
"You're a fool If you do ; you're a fool
If you don't you're c fool If yod do
you're a fool If you dou t and I sulu
to myself "the noes have It," nnd
closed down the window again.
As soon ns the window was closed,
the noise of the train naturally sub
sided and Its speed seemed to dimin
ish, and my Plan nppeuled to me
stronger thnn ever.
I knew the guard In front of me
didn't understand a word of English,
nnd so, In a quiet tone of voice, I con
fided to the English officer who sat
next me what I hnd planned to do.
"For God's sake. Put, chuck lt !" he
ureed. "Don't be a lunatic! This rail
road Is double-tracked and rock-bal-
I Confiscated the Map.
lasted nnd the other track Is on your
side. You stand every chance In the
world of knocking your brains out
ngulnst the rails, or hitting n bridge or
n whistling post, and If you escape
those you will probably be hit by an
other truln on the other track. You
haven't one chance In s thousand to
mnke It!"
There wns n good denl of logic In
what ho said, but I figured thut once I
wns In that reprisal cump I might
never hnve even one chance In n thou
sand to escape, und tho Iden of re
maining n prisoner of war Indefinitely
went against my grain. I resolved to
take my chance now nt tho risk of
breuklng my neck.
The cur wis full of smoke. I looked
across at the guard. He was rather no
old man, going home on lenve, nnd he
seemed to be dreaming of what was In
storo for hlm rather than paying any
particular attention to me. Once In a
while I had smiled nt him, nnd I figured
thnt ho hadn't tho slightest Idea of
what was going through my mind all
the time we had been traveling.
I began to cough ns though my throat
wns badly Irritated by the smoke nnd
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 the morn
ing and would soon be light. I knew I
hnd to do It right then, or never, ns
there would bo no chance to escape In
tho daytime.
I hn on a trench coat that I had
used ns n flying coat and wore my
knapsack, which I had constructed
out of a gas bag brought Into Courtral
by a British prisoner. In this I hud
two pieces of bread, a piece of sau
sage nnd a 'pnlr of flying mittens. Alt
of them hud to go with me through tho
window.
The train wns now going nt a rnte of
between thirty nnd thirty-five miles nn
hour, nnd again It seemed to admonish
me os lt rattled' nlong over the tics.
"You're a 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. Stnndlng upon
the bench ns If to put tho bag on the
rack and taking hold of the rack with
my left hand nnd a strap that hung
from the top of the car with my right,
I pulled myself up, shoved my feet und
legs out of the window nnd let go.
There was a prayer on my lips ns I
went out, nnd I expected a bullet be
tween my shoulders, but It was all
over In au Instant
I landed on my left sldo and fac
burying my face In the rock ballast,
cutting It open and closing my left
eye, skinning my hands nnd shins and
straining my anklo. For a few mo
ments I was completely knocked out,
and If they shot at me through the
window, In the first moments after my
escape, I had no wny of knowing.
Of course, If they could have stopped
the train right then, they could easily
have recaptured me, but at the speed It
was going and In the confusion whica
"I Pulled Myself Up, 8hoved My Feet
Through the Window, and Let Go."
must have followed my escnpe, they
probably didn't stop within half of a
mile from the spot where I lay.
I came to within a few minutes end
when I examined myself nnd found no
bones broken, I didn't stop to worry
about my cuts and bruises, but Jumped
up with the Iden of putting as great
distance between mo nnd that track as
possible before daylight came. Still be
Ing dazed, I forgot all about the barbed
wire fence along the right of way and
ran full tilt Into It. Itlght there I lost
one of my two precious pieces of bread,
which fell out of my knnpsack, but 1
could not stop to look for It then,
The one thing that was uppermost In
my mind wns thnt for the moment 1
was free, nnd It wns up to me now to
make the most of my liberty.
Traveling at night and hiding
by day, subsisting on raw vege
tables stolen 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 UK CONTINUED.)
TRAIN MIND TO REMEMBER
By the Proper Exercise of Will One
Can Teach the Brain to Regis
ter Photographs.
A man who has a wonderful memory
snys In the American Magazine:
If you can train your right nrm to
deliver a good blow, you can train
vour memory to retnln facts. There
are Just ns many Habby-mlinled men
In the world ns there are flabby-bodied
ones. Both kinds of flabblness are due
to laziness, the one mental, tho other
physical.
Above nil, you must remember thnt
the brain Is n photographic machine
nnd you can make It tnke nn cnormotia
number of photographs. I don't con
tend that each man may eventnally
have ns good a memory as his neigh
bor's, but I nm firmly convinced thnt
DO men out of 100 can hnve better nnd
more serviceable memories thun they
now have.
Teach your brain to register photo
graphs of what you want It to retnln.
Re enthusiastic about It. Work nt It
every day whllo ynu are doing your
other work. It Isn't very hard. Most
men use about 30 per cent of their
nvallahlo energy when they're work
ing. Concentrate on whnt you are
doing. Let It sonk Into you. Absorb
It and always absorb It with tho con
viction that It Is going to stay nb
sorbed. There yon have my recipe for a
good memory: Determine to remem
ber, don't worry, nnd learn how not to
let your office worries nnd work go to
bed with you nt night nnd. nbnve nil
things, pet Into the open nnd give na
ture n chance. Kresh nlr nnd sun
shlno have as beneficial an effect on
the memory ns they do on the other
parts of your general makeup.
Flowers on Mountain Tops.
It Is known that upon many of the
summits of the high mountain ridges
of the Hawaiian Islands, In the re
gions of heavy rainfall, nre open bogs
which support n peculiar and Interest
ing flora. Many species form more or
less hemispherical tussocks which rise
above the general level of the bog. A
showy lobelia with numerous large
cream-colored flowers ns much ns
three And a half Inches long, peculiar
violets and a sundew are found there.
Mozart Always Composing.
After stating thnt wWIe composing
Mozart never went to the piano, Nlo
metschek remarks: "Ills Imagination
distinctly and vividly presented to him
the wholo work he hnd conceived."
Moznrt, ns he told his fnther, wns al
ways Immersed In music, went ubout
with It ull day, nnd liked to speculate,
study nnd reflect. rom his wife we
learn thnt bis mind was always In mo
Hon, that ho was coutluuully compos
ing. Vibrations Ear Can Detect
The ordinary human car can detect
a tone whose vibration rate Is at least
.5,000 vibrations a second, while the
whistle will produce 60,000 t second.
This upper limit vnrles with the age
of the individual to such an extent
that, If the upper limit at sixteen
years of age were 50,000 vibrations, at
sixty years of age It would be about
25.000 a second.
ALLIES SWEEP ON
US IN FLIGHT
Americans Win Village of Fi$
mette Across Vesle
OVER 17,000 PRISONERS
Main Paris-Amiens Railway Again
Free For The Use Of The Allies
In Their Tremendous
Drive.
London. Over a curving front of
more than 20 miles the British and
French troops are continuing to sweep
buck tho Oernmns eastward across
the plains of IMcardy from the region
north of the Somme, east of Morlun-
court, to the eastern bank of the Avre,
northwest of Montdldler.
As on the first day of the offensive,
material progress was made over the
entire bnttlefront. Many additional
villages were captured; the bag fit
prisoners was largely lncree.l, nu
merous guns and great quantities of
war stores were taken, anJ heavy
casualties were Inflicted on the enii;y
by tanks, armored motor cars, t.,e
cavalry and the Infuntry.
The losses sustained by the Anglo-
French forces are declared to be rela
tively small.
To the Allied forces there have
fallen 17,000 German prisoners and be
tween 200 and 300 gun, many of them
of heavy caliber, and Innumerable ma
chine guns, trench mortars and kin
dred small weapons.
To the north of the Hcardy theatre
the Germans also have given ground
on two Important sectors on the fam
ous Lys sullent, northwest of La
Bassee, and In the region southwest
of Ypres, on the equally famous bat
tleground north of Kemmel.
On the Lys sector territory over a
front of more than seven miles was
evacuated by the enemy, while to the
north of Kemmel the British advanced
their line over a front exceeding 1,000
yards.
These maneuvers on the part of the
Gormnns seemingly Indicate that they
either considered their ground Inse
cure in the fare of the heavy forces
General Halg Is known to have In both
regions to ward off any attempt to
reach the Channel ports, or that
Crown I'rlnce Kupprecht's army has
been materially decreased In strength
to rush reinforcements to the battle
zon where the German armies In the
south are bela? sorely hurassej.
Already having penetrated the
rieardy salient to a depth of nearly
13 miles In the center toward the vi
cinity of the Important railroad Junc
tion of Chaulnes, and at other points
nlong the Arch pushed forward be
tween five iftul seven miles, the north
ern and southern flanks of the battle
front, where the Germans had been
resisting desperately, gave way before
the pressure respectively of the Brit
ish and French.
On the north the British captured
Morlunrourt and pressed on eastward,
while on the south, northwest of Mont
dldior, l'lerrepont, Contoire and Ar
vlllers were taken by the French, who
drove In their wedge to a distance of
more than eight and one-halt miles.
The tanks, armorod cars nnd cavalry
are still working throughout the .en
tire region, while airplanes are soaring
far behind the linen, bombing trans
ports and troops movement and also
paying particular attention to the
bridges over the Somme by which the .
enemy is endeavoring to escape from
their advancing foes. All behind the
line the Germans are destrojlng am
munition depots as they quit their
positions.
With the new turn of events Montdi
dier Is in an uncomfortable position,
with the Allies hammering sway cross
fire at 'the Germans holding it, and
with the only railroad leading Into the
town also under their guns. A forced .
evacuation of the town seems not Im
probable. In fact, with further pres
sure eastward by the Allies between
the Somme and the Avre and with the
possibility of pressure northward
against the Germans from the line
running northeastward from Solssons,
It Is not outside the realm of pOhsi
bllity that the entire Montdldier
bulient will have to bo abandoned.
There has been little fighting of
great moment In Vesle River, except
In the nature of reciprocal artillery
Utluls. The Americans, however, have
made another crossing of tlio Vesle
and captured the vlllago of Fismette,
noitliwcft of Flsmes.
ITALIAN3 FLY OVER VIENNA.
Drop Manifestoes And Return Un.
molested.
Rome. A squadron of Italian air
planes, commanded by Captain Ga
briele d'Annunzlo. has flown over
Vienna and dropped manire.xtoea. The
planes were not mulct-led.
The olliclal communication Issued by
the War Office says:
"Enemy detachments twlre attache 1
the Col Del Rosso salient, but wero
repulsed.
"We have bombed the military es
tablishment at Tola. Near Tier.t two
hostile machines were brought down."
7,000,000 LETTERS FROM FRANCE.
And All Started Promptly For Their.
Destinations.
Washington. More than 7.000.000
letters from American soldiers In
Fiance have been received at Atlantic
ports flnce July 2!) and the ro.tofllce
Department announced that ve:y ont
Of them started for its destluatlua,
within 21 hours after Its ariivi'I. One'
ship brought S,8J3,000 letters and an
other 800.000 on August 2. anJ a sh;i
arriving Ausut S brought 2.O31.O0O.
' 4