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Show ALIENS AT FORT DOUGLAS FOILED li TUNNEL PLOT Commandant, Aware of the German War Prisoners' Purpose, Balks Plan at Wholesale Escape. MEN BURROW WAY UNDER BARRACKS Teutons Compelled to Fill Up Channel Designed to Aid Them in Break for Liberty. t Digging of an underground tunnel through which alien enemies confined in the Third war prison camp at Port Douglas Doug-las were seeking to barrow their way out of the prison camp was brought to an abrupt end yesterday when Colonel George L. Byram, prison commandant, lined up all the alien enemy war prisoners, pris-oners, told them that his officer had been watching their every move since they dug the first shovelful of earth, then forced them to fill up their own tunnel. The civilian prisoners, who alone were involved in the tunnel plot' to escape from the prison camp, started two tunnels tun-nels underneath, the floor of an unused set of barracks , in the alien enemy section sec-tion of the prison camp. When but four feet under ground in the first the diggers encountered a mass of boulders that forced them to abandon this hole. They started a second tunnel and had driven this to a depth of about eight feet when the colonel decided they had proceeded far enough and put a stop to it. The plotters worked only at night, but their work was discovered the night it was started and. without an inkling being be-ing given to the prisoners that their work was suspected, , officers ' and guards watched the progress of the work nightly night-ly until yesterday, when they were called up, their plot exposed to them nd they were forced to fill up the holes. Admonition Is Given. The prison commajidant has put no one in confinement for the attempted escape, nor has he inflicted any special discipline upon any of the civilian contingent, but he had a heart-to-heart talk with them yesterday morning in which he laid stress upon the fact that there are men outside of the camp who are Just as clover and watchful as anybody inside, and he emphasized the futility of any attempts at-tempts to escape from the rrison. The prison officers have not been able to positively identify the ringleaders in the plot to tunnel out of the prison, but six alien enemies of tho I. W. W. type are suspected of being the ringleaders. Owing to lack of positive proof to place the blame on any particular ones for concocting con-cocting the plot, all of the seventy-five alien enemies in the alien enemy section of tire camp will be disciplined. The commandant of the prison has Issued an order depriving them of all special privileges privi-leges which have been granted them heretofore here-tofore and they will be kept under rtrlct-er rtrlct-er regulations as to their movements. "I am sure thev are convinced," said the colonel, "that we are on the Job and are not asleep, so I feel certain there will be no repetition of the attempt to escape. es-cape. Should there be we will deal with it accordingly." To the credit of the sailors who constitute con-stitute the majority of the prisoners of war held In tho camp at Fort Douglas. Colonel Byram states that they were In no way involved in the plot to escape and had no knowledge of the affair. The men ! who wero seeking to burrow out of the prison are In a separate section of the camp, which is separated from that portion por-tion occupied by the sailors by a barbed wire fence. Began Week Ago. According to information given out at prison headquarters yesterday, the plotters plot-ters began their tunneling work about a week ago. They have boen working with a piece of broken spade and a tin bucket, using the broken spade to dig and the bucket to convey the earth out of the tunnel. The plotters managed to smuggle smug-gle these crude instruments into an unused un-used barracks at the south side of the prison compound. At night the men detailed de-tailed for the work would crawl under t-ho floor of the empty barracks and dls. The earth from the hole was spread about over the ground under the house. It happened that the plotters chose a harmcks under which to work that was raised a little above the ground, and when the sentry on duty the first night made his rounds he discovered the men at work. The matter was immediately reported to the commanding officer, who gave instructions to Jet them proceed nn-der nn-der watch. Without a move that would let the plotters know their work had been discovered, guards watched their progress prog-ress nightly. After the niggers left each r.lght the guard would Inspect the hole to determine Just what progress had been made and report to the commanding of.lcer. ' The first hole had been driven about four feet when the diggers encountered a mass of bould's. such as the earth around the fort Is filled with, and their work came to a stop. They started another an-other tunnel near hy In nn effort to get around tne boulders. This tunnel was driven ait eight feet. Another mass of boulders was encountered. This was discovered yesterdav morning wnen an inspection of the tunnel was made after the diggers had quit. Colored Byram decided It was time to call a halt. Summoned by Colonel. About noon yesterday the colonel and his officers went into The alien enemy section of the camp and summoned aJl the civilian prisoner, before him. When he had tueiv. lined i.p he looked them o.'er. then, with a smile, remarked-"Pretty remarked-"Pretty hard digirlr.g In this ground, isn't if pull of hard boulders.'' If a tomb ;d burst aho-. e tl-.e r head9 the effect upon the prisoners co-jld not have I (Continued on Pi Three.) I FRISOERS II FORT il HHHEL PLOT (Continued from Page One.) been more star til ng. Some of the men looked at each other in blank amazement, then hung their heads in sheepish chagrin. Without further ado the colonel informed in-formed trie men that their every move had been watched and noted from the Lime they dug the. lirt shovelful of earth. Sumo one of the prisoners remarked I hat mere must have been a stool pigeon among tho crowd. "There didn't need to bo a stool niytjon," the colonel assured them, and :isked the prisoners to follow him. lie marched the crowd to a certain position just south ot the barracks under which i hey had been digging. "Sow look under that barracks,'' said the colonel. The men looked. "I'll bo !" was the exclamation that came from their lips as they gazed at the mouth of the tunnei and the scattered earth that could ue seen as plain as day. "It's no use for you to try that scheme," ad monished the colonel with a smile. "You see your work was as open anil plain as daylight. You have discovered discov-ered that the ground is rilled with big botdders. so it is no use to try it. You would have to dig at least -U'U feet to get outside tho fence and through that surt of earth. I tell you it is a hopeless task, and besides you would take a. chance on bullets when you got out." Make Free Admission. The prisoners admitted they had ex -peeled to Lake a chance on tho bullets, uut hadn't expected to encounter the sort of rocky earth they did. Tne colonel as'ied I ne in now they expected to get away even though they got outside the lence. lie called attention to the fact that they lied already seen tho efficiency of the secret service of the United States through landing in prison, and assured them that even did they get out they couldn't hope lo escape the vigilant eye oi' the secret service. The colonel pointed out to them that they couldn't expect to go to Canada, for they would get into trouble promptly there, and that it was a long, hard and tedious route to Mexico, without one ' hance in a hundred for any one of them to make it. "You are getting good treatment here," observed tiie colonel, "have plenty to eat, i a good place to sleep, are being well cared for and no dangers or worries to combat, so why hunt trouble by trying to get out to trouble?" In Aery sheepish and penitent mien the prisoners admitted the logic of the colonel's argument and confessed that they had had their lesson. "1 am not worried about their making another attempt of this sort," was the observation oi the colonel afterward. The civilian alien enemies con lined in tho section from which the attempt was I made to tunnel out include about sev-lenty-five men gathered from all parts of I t lie v est as dangerous enemies to tho tl'nited States government. Most of j them were picked up for activities in tho i lino of spies along the Mexican border I from Texas to Lower California. Others I were gathered in from various points in I California and some from the middle r west. Some were formerly connected with the German consular service in various parts of the country and others were plain spies, in whose possession was found valuable military and other information. infor-mation. Tin; names of the men classed as alien : enemy war prisoners and who are In this j section of the prison camp have been held secret by the military authorities, ; and I ho names of those involved in the j plot to tunnel nut have not been given tout by the prison authorities for military reason.-;. |