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Show YANK AVIATOR MAKES MIRACULOUS i ESCAPE FROM GERMAN PRISON CAMP Tennessee Boy Swims the Rhine to Swiss Soil After Days of Tramping Tramp-ing Through Enemy Country Seventy Americans in Concerted Con-certed Effort to Escape From Prison Three Get Through Swiss Give Them Kindly Welcome. Somewhere In France. Seventy Americans In the German prison camp at Vlllingcn, Germany, made a desperate desper-ate nnd concerted attempt to escape on the night of Sunday. October t. So fur three men have crossed the border. The first Is Lieutenant Avlutor George Wright Puryear of Memphis, Tenn. Puryenr swam ucross the Rhine to Swiss soil early in the morning of October 31. Two days later Harold Willis of Roston, a former Lafayette escndrllle flyer who was captured nt Verdun In August, 1917, and Naval Lieutenant Edouard Isaacs of Torts-mouth, Torts-mouth, Va., escaped Into Switzerland. Only a few days previously, on October Oc-tober 9, the first American soldier to escape from a German prison camp Into Switzerland arrived at Red Cross headquarters In Berne. He was Frnnk Sovickl of Shenandoah, Pa., a Polish-American Polish-American who enlisted a few days nf-ter nf-ter America declared war. Puryenr was the first American officer to escape es-cape from Germany. On June 28, while patrolling near Vllle Neuve ur Fere, about four kilometers kilo-meters southwest of Fere en Tarde-aols. Tarde-aols. Puryear engaged an enemy machine ma-chine in combnt. The fight carried hlra unawares Into the German lines. Puryenr shot down his adversary, mortally wounding the observer of the German machine. Seeing one of his adversaries wns bndly wounded, nnd believing himself in nllled territory, Puryear descended, Intending to remove re-move one or both of the aviators as prisoners to an American hospital. Such descents In allied territory to aid a badly wounded adversary have been a part of the knightly code of the air. Captured by Germans. Upon landing and before he could burn his machine Puryear was captured cap-tured by German troops, who were In hiding. The German pilot of the machine ma-chine whom he had descended to enrry to a hospital Insisted that he be shot at once for "shooting at a wounded man" the observer of the German plane. After his capture Puryear wns taken tak-en to a hospital which wns also un Intelligence examining post. lie wns kept there for three hours. From the hospltnl Puryeur was taken to a cas-tle, cas-tle, where he wns again examined by an Intelligence officer. Next day he wns marched, again alone, ten kilometers behind the lines to another Intelligence post, where he was once more examined. On the following fol-lowing dny, with fifteen captured Americans of the Twenty-sixth division divi-sion and about 200 French soldiers, he wns taken to Laon. At each stop Intelligence officers examined ex-amined him. On August 2 Lieutenant Puryear was tnkeo to Rastatt prison camp. On August 5 he escaped with Andre Con-renu, Con-renu, a French aviator. August 6 and 7 they spent In the woods. At 5 a. m. on the morning of August 8, however, how-ever, they rnn plump into a German sentinel. They were taken under guard to Kehl, where they were given a good meal. Two guards accompanied accompa-nied them back to Restntt, where Puryear Pur-year was Imprisoned five days. Lnter, when he wns transferred to VUllngen, Puryenr served nine more days of the fourteen-day sentence Imposed on him for trying to escupe. Makes Break for Liberty. On August l.'l Puryear was transferred trans-ferred to Karlsruhe, the concentration camp for nil prisoners, where he stayed until August 19. He was then taken to Lnndshut on a closely guarded guard-ed train, together with a number of Royal Flying corps aviators. At Karlsruhe the Rrltlsh and American aviators were separated. The Ameri cans were placed In a camp which had been used as a quarantine camp and where they were vaccinated against typhus, cholera and smallpox. Puryear was kept at Landshut from August 21 to September 11. During his stay he applied for a transfer to j Vlllingen, where a number of Amerl- j can pilots were confined. He was removed re-moved there on September 13. After nine duys in Jail at Vlllingen Puryear Pur-year was released. Six days later, on the night of Sunday, October 0, Puryenr Pur-yenr made his second and successful attempt to escape. Puryear had planned to escape with one other companion. Aviator Willis, however, asked him to postpone his attempt for several days, as a dozen J Americans had been planning to es-! es-! cape for some time nnd It was fenred I that If Puryear failed the general brenkout might be nipped In the bud. Puryear nnd his companion agreed and preparations were made for the escape. Ladders were made ready, windows win-dows nnd bars cut out, and one American made It possible to short-circuit short-circuit the string of powerful electric lights which surrounded the prison camp and which burned all night to prevent escapes. The Jail delivery wr.s planned for Sunday night, and the Americans agreed to break out at sev-! sev-! eral places, so as to keep tin guards i busy. At 10:30 Sunday night the guards ! turned out the lights In the prison i camp. This was the signnl for all the ! men to make their final preparations. ', At 10:45 the lights outside the prison ' camp were short-circuited by one of I the Americans. From three sides of the barracks the American aviators and prisoners made their dash for liberty. lib-erty. Fired on by Guards. Immediately the German guards blew their whistles and cocked their guns. Surrounding the barracks was a low barbell wire fence, and beyond that a deep ditch with barbed wire entanglements In It. Still further was a ten-foot fence with hooks facing Inward along the top. Outside this fence were the guards with lilies awnltlng. Puryear, Isaacs. Willis and their companions had to run this gantlet, gant-let, after getting through the barred windows of the burrucks. The penalty of being caught In the wire was dcatli. Only a few days before be-fore In tha geuernl breakout a Russian Rus-sian had been caught In the wire and Instantly killed. Puryeur climbed over all obstacles and put his ludder up against the fence. As he leuped over the fence firing begun. His companion com-panion had his foot on the lower round of the ladder as Puryenr went over. Once outside the barracks Puryear found himself between two guards. Roth shouted at him to halt. Strictly according to orders they shouted three times to him to stop. Six shots were fired lu all point blank at Puryear. The guards, however, how-ever, were old men und their aim was bad. At the time they fired one guard was 20 feet off and the other DO feet away, ."lust us the second volley was fired nt him Puryear stumbled nnd fell In a ditch. He believes ho would have been wounded or killed by these shots If he had not fullen. As had been previously orrnnged, Puryeur waited at a prearranged point for his companion. When the latter did not arrive after 1.1 minutes' wult-Ing. wult-Ing. Puryenr went alone. While he walled Puryear heard the guards fire several score rounds. He hud now recovered re-covered his strength and niinle good progress. That night he went 15 kibv met ers. Puryenr carefully guarded his Red : "LO, THE POOR INDIAN," : RICH AND PATRIOTIC "I.o, the Poor Indian" is no J more poor. Instead he Is pa- 2 triolic. The five civilized J tribes subscribed for .$2,000,000 J In fourth Liberty bonds, Gnbe Parker, superintendent of the e J tribes, announced. The five J 0 tribes Chocttiws, Chlckasaws, J Seininoles, Cherokees nnd 2 Creeks have now Invested a some $9,52:5,070 in Liberty bonds J and War Savings stamps. Cross supplies. From the food boxes sent him from Berne he was able to build himself up physically so that he was able to live on the raw potatoes, po-tatoes, carrots and turnips which he dug out of the fields while aklng his way toward the frontier. The next day Puryear spent In the forest poring over his map until be hud memorized every detail of It. Just before day broke he met two men going go-ing to work. He avoided them, but later was unuble to avoid a lone civil Ian who passed him, but who said nothing. The next night Puryear took up his long Journey toward Wnidshut, 05 kilometers kilo-meters nwny. The third day It rained heavily nil day. and Puryear picked out a smal-' barn and climbed through a window and thence went up to the loft. The owner or the barn an? his hired hands moved farm mnchluery about lu the stubK below, but did not come upstairs. Thnt night the rain lessened and Puryear continued his Journey. In the darkness he took the wrong road, a mountain road which finally ended in a trail and then ceased altogether. alto-gether. For three hours he stumbled about on a mountain top In sleet and snow, tearing bis hands and face on. brambles and making but little prog-, ress lu the brush und cutover timber.' Finally be struck another road which he followed until daylight. With the dawn he again took refuge in iln woods. All that duy he spent poring over his maps, endeavoring to locate himself. him-self. Ry nightfall, however, he had decided upon his course. That night he struck a tributary of the Rhine and followed It to where It crossed the. main road leading to Wuldshut. When he struck the main road Puryear found a sign reading: "Wuldshut Thirty Kilometers." On the night ot Wednesday, October 0, Puryeur got within n few miles of Wuldshut. In order to be sure of bis directions ho climbed to the top of a mountain nearby from which he could see trllv unities entering the Rhine. Furyea-. nlso was supplied with a view of Wuldshut Wuld-shut which he carefully compared with the town below. Puryeur planned to cross the Rhino nt the point where the current strikes the north i-hore und then rebounds to i ho Fouth bunk. He figured upon h. ,r g cnrrled by the current across to the Swiss shore. For six hours he curefully watched the shore for the appearance of sentries, but no one having passed the spot ho bad chosen ho decided to make the attempt to swim across. Cold Plunge In Rhine. lie crawled to the river edge, tool; off all his clothes except his shlrM und underwear and trousers nnd dipped dip-ped Into the Icy stream. The strong current Immediately swept him downstream down-stream at a terrific rate. Dangerous whirlpools and currents abound In this vicinity. After half an hour's alternate swimming swim-ming and Moating the Icy water began to affect the young aviator. "I thought It was about all over with me," said Puryeur. "I became dizzy and fought hard to be able to distinguish the shore 1 bad left from the Swiss side. About thirty feet from the bunk my hand In swimming touched rock, but before I could pull myself up the strong current wrenched me buck Into the deep wilier again. i "I was fust becoming weaker nnd weaker, 'the bunks wen' rocky und st. -ell and I could not get a hand hold anywhere. I feared that I would be 1 lost at the last moment. Finally 1 I grasped a projecting rock and hung on i to It until I recovered my strength in 1 part. Then I climbed up and out et the water and fell down csluiustod. Fi r several minutes I lay there weal; and trembling with tin- cold and fear. "I bud been carried far below ! Wuldshut. Along the shore ran a railroad nnd I knocked ut the first crossing keeper's cabin. The latter when he learned (lint 1 was an Amerl-inn. Amerl-inn. greeted me wiirmly, took oIT ley wet clothes, chafed my trembling legs mill gave nie a Hi I It' glass of brandy. Then, us It was time for breakfast, tho crossing keeper routed his children out of lied and tin1 two kids and myself nle hot milk and bread from the sumo bowl. "Enter I wns taken to a military post where the Swiss ollicers kindly gave me dry clothing. At Zurich Swlns ollicers paid my hotel bills and gave me a civilian's outfit from head to foot. 1 cannot thank the SwImh authorities au-thorities und civilians loo much for their Mildnesses to me. At Klii-lnfol-ib r tin' Swiss frontier olllcer cmiiii-liii-d nie und then telephoned to the Aiiiciieun embassy at Renin, " |