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THE YALE EXPOSITOR, THURSDAY, JULY 18. 1918. DOLSHEVIKI ARMY DRIVEN OUT OF WEST SIBERIA 66 OUTWITTING TM35 HUM 99 By LIEUTENANT PAT O'BRIEN Copyright, 1918, by Pat Alva O'Brien DISPATCH STATES THE BOLSHE VIKI HAVE BEEN OVERTHROWN FROM TOBOLSK TO 8EMIPALATIN8K. PREFACE There Is a common idea that the age f miracles Is past. Perhaps It Is, but If so, the charge must have come about within the past feW weeks aftei; I es caped into Holland. For If anything is certain in this life it is this : this book never would have been written but for the succession of miracles set forth la these pages. Miracles, luck, coincidence, Provi dence it doesn't matter much what you call it certainly played an impor tant part in the series of hair-breadth escapes in which I figured during my short but eventful appearance in the great drama now being enacted across the seas. Without it, all my efforts and sufferings would have been quite un availing. ' No one realizes this better than I do and I want to(repeat it right here be cause elsewhere in these pages I may appear occasionally to overlook or minimize it: without the help of Provi dence I would not be here today But this same Providence which brought me home safely, despite "all the dangers which beset me, may work similar miracles for others, and it Is in the hope of encouraging other poor devils who may find themselves in situ ations as hopeless apparently as mine oftentimes were that this book Is writ ten. When this cruel war is over which I trust may be sooner than I expect it to be I hope I shall huve an. oppor tunity to revisit the scenes of my ad ventures and to thank in person In an adequate manner every one who ex tended a helping hand to me when I was a wretched fugitive. All of them took great risks in befriending an es caped prisoner and they did It without the slightest hope of reward. At the same time I hope I shall have a chance to pay ray compliments to those who endeavored to take advantage of my distress. In the meanwhile, however, I can only express my thanks in this ineffec tive manner, trusting that In some mysterious way a copy of this book may fnll into the hands of every one who befriended me. I hope particular ly that every good Hollander who played the part of the Good Samari tan to me so bountifully after my es cape from Belgium will see these pages and feel that I am absolutely sincere when I say that words cannot begin to express my sense of gratitude to the Dutch people. It is needless for me to say how deeply I feel for my fellow-prisoners In Germany who were less fortunate than I. Poor, poor fellows they are the real victims of the war. I hope that every one of thera may . soon be re stored to that freedom whose value I never fully realized until after I had had to fight so hard to regain it. PAT O'BRIEN. Momence, 111., January 14, 1918. CHAPTER I. The Folly of Despair. Less than nine months ago eighteen facers of the Itoyal flying corps, which had been training in Canada, left for England on the Meganlc. If any of them was over twenty-five years of age, he had successfully con- - -it WtfWi .. WO A- v. Lieut Pat O'Brien In the Uniform of the Royal Flying Corps. cealed the fiiet, because they don't ac cept older n.on for tho 11. F. C. Nine of the f-qnsdrnn were British subjects; tho other nine wero Ameri cans, who, tired of waiting for their own country to take her plnco with the allies, had Joined the Britlh colors In Canada. I was one of tho In tier. We were going to Kng'aud to earn ) our "wings" a qualification which must be won before a member of the ii. F. C. is allowed to hunt the Huns on the western front. . This was In May, 1917. By August 1, most of us were full fledged pilots, actively engaged at vari ous parts of the line in dally conflict with the enemy. ' ' By December 15, every man Jack of us who had met the enemy in France, with one exception, had appeared on the casualty list. The exception was II. K. Boysen, an American, who at last report was fighting on the Italian front still unscathed. Whether his good fortune has stood him up to this time I don't know, but if it has I would be very much surprised. Of the others, five were killed in ac tionthree Americans, one Canadian, and one Englishman. Three more were in all probability killed in action al though officially they are listed merely as "missing." One of these was an American, one a Canadian, and the third a Scotchman. Three more, two of 'them Americans, were seriously wounded. Another, a Canadian, is a prisoner in Germany, I know nothing of the others. What happened to me is narrated in these pages. I wish, instead, I could tell the story of each of my brave com rades, for not one of them was downed, I am sure,, without upholding the best traditions of the R. F. C. Unfortunate ly, however, of the eighteen who sailed on the Meganlc last May, I happened to be the first to fall into the hands of the Huns, and what befell my comrades after that, with one ex ception, I know only second hand. The exception was the case of poor, brave Paul Raney my closest chum whose last battle I witnessed from my German prison but that is a story I shall tell In its proper place. In one way, however, I think the story of my own "big adventure" and my miraculous escape may, perhaps, 6ervea purpose as useful as that of the heroic fate of my less fortunate comrades. Their story, it Is true, might inspire others to deeds of heroism, but mine, I hope, will convey the equally valuable lesson of tho folly of despair. Many were tho times In the course of my struggles when it seemed abso lutely useless to continue. In a hostile country, where discovery meant death, wounded, sick, famished, friendless, hundreds of miles from tho nearest neutral territory the frontier of which was so closely guarded that even if I got there it seemed too much to hope that I could ever get through, what was the use of enduring further agony? And yet here I am, in the land of liberty although In a somewhat ob scure corner of It the little town of Momence, 111., where I was born not very much the worse for wear after all I've been through, and, as I write these words not eight, months have passed since my seventeen comrades and I sailed from Canada on the Meganlc. Can It be possible that I was spared to convey a message of hope to others who are destined for similar trials? I am afraid there will be many of them. Years ago I heard of the epitaph which is said to have been found on a child's grave : "If I was so soon to be done for What, O Lord, was I ever bepun for?" The way It has come to me since I returned from Europe is : r "IfO Lord, I was to be done for. What were my sufferings e'er begun for?" Ferhaps the answer lies In the sug gestion I have made. At any rate. If this record of my ad ventures should prove instrumental In sustaining others who need encourage ment, I shall feel that my sufferings were not in vain. - It is hardlyvllkely that anyone will quite duplicate my experiences, but I haven't the slightest doubt that many will have to go through trials equally nerve-racking and suffer disappoint ments just as disheartening. It would be very far from the mark to imagine that the optimism which I am preaching now so glibly sustained me through all my troubles. On the contrary, I am free to confess that I frequently gave . way to despair and often, for hours at a time, felt so de Jectedi and discouraged that I really didn't care, what happened to me. In deed, I rather hoped that something would happen to put an end to my misery, . .,.,. . - But despite all my despondency and hopelessness, tho worst never hap pened, and I can't help thinking that my salvation must have been designed to show the way to others. CHAPTER II. I Decame a Fighting Scout. I started flying In Chicago in 1912. I was then eighteen years old, but I had had n hunkering for the air ever since I can remember. As a youngster I followed the ex ploits of the Wrights with the greatest interest, although I must confess I sometimes hoped that they wouldn't really conquer the air until I had had a whack at it myself. I got more trje .- r . , . ,L" - & n i lw -.-aJZ xcs-.-MS' Vr-j. f-w fil rtt, jM tL Vs. 1 1 " r---i I p&j&ts 1 1 i ? 1 ' . a " - $ff O'Brien Standing Beside the First Machine In Which He Saw Active Service. whacks than I was looking for later on. Needless to say, my parents were very much opposed to my risking my life at what was undoubtedly at fnat time one of the most hazardous "pas times" a young fellow could select, and every time I had a smashup or some other mishap I was ordered never to go near an aviation field again. So I went out to California. There another fellow and I built our own machine, which we flew In various parts of the state. In the early part of 1910, when trou ble was brewing in Mexico, I Joined the American flying corps. I was sent to San Diego, where the army flying school Is located, and spent about eight months there, but as I was anxious to get into active service and there didn't seem much chance of America ever getting Into the war, I resigned and, crossing over to Canada, Joined the Royal Flying corps at Victoria, B. C , I was sent to Camp Borden, Toronto, first to receive instruction nud later to Instruct. While a cadet I made the first loop ever made by a cadet In Can ada, and after I had performed the stunt I half expected to be kicked out of the service for it. Apparently, how ever, they considered the source and let it go at that. Later on I had the satisfaction of Introducing the loop as part of the regular course of in struction for cadets in the It. F. C, and I want to say right here that Camp Borden has turned out some of tho best fliers that have ever gone to France. In May, 1917, I and seventeen other Canadian fliers left for England on the Meganlc, where we were to qualify for service in France. Our squadron consisted of nine Americans, C. C. Robinson, H. A. Mil ler, F. S. McClurg, A. A. Allen, E. B. Garnet, II. K. Boysen, H. A. Sraeeton and A. A. Taylor, and myself, and nine Britishers, Paul II. Raney, J. R. Tark, C. Nelmes, C. R. Moore, T. L. Atkin son, F. C. Conry, A. Mulr, E. A. L. F. Smith and A. C. Jones. Within n few weeks after our ar rival in England all of us had won our "wings" the insignia worn on the left breast by every pilot on the west ern front 'We were all sent to a place in France known as the Pool Tllots Mess. Here men gather from all the training squadrons In Canada and England and await nssignmeuts to the particular squadron of which they are to become members. . The Pool Pilots Mess Is situated a few miles back of the lines. When ever a pilot Is shot down or killed the Pool Pilots Mess is notified to send an other to take Ms place. There are so many casualties every day la fhe R. F. C. at one point of tho front or another that the demand for new pilots is quite active, but when a fellow is itching to get Into the fight as badly as I and my friends were I must confess that we got a little im patient, although we realized that every time a new man was called it meant that some one else had, in nil probability, been killed, wounded or captured. One , morning an order came In for a scout pilot and one of my friends was assigned. I can tell you the rest of us were as envious of him as if it were the last chance any of us were ever going to have to get to the front. As it was, however, hardly more than three hours had elapsed before an other wire was received at the mess and I was ordered to follow my friend. I afterward learned that as soon as he arrived at the squadron he prevailed upon the commanding offi cer of the squadron to wire for me. At the Tool Pilots' Mess It was the custom of the officers to wear "shorts" breeches that are about eight Inches long, like the boy scouts wear, leav ing a space of about eight inches of open country between the top of the puttees and the end of the shorts. The Australians wore them In Salonlkl and at the Dardanelles. ; When the order came In for me, I had these "shorts" on, and I didn't have time to change Into other clothes. Indeed, I was in such a sweat to get to the front that If I had been In my pajamas I think I would have gone that way. As it was, It was raining and I threw an overcoat over me, Jumped into the machine, and we made record time to the airdrome to wliich I had been ordered to report. As I alighted from the automobile my overcoat blew open and displayed my manly form attired in "shorts" in stead of in the regulation flying brcpches, and the sight aroused con siderable commotion in camp. "Must be a Yankee 1" I overheard one officer say to another as I ap proached. "No one but a Yankee would have the cheek to show up that way, you know I" , But they laughed good-natnrcdly as I came up to them, and welcomed me to the squadron, and I was soon very much at home. My squadron was one of four sta tioned at an airdrome about eighteen miles back of the Ypres line. There were IS pilots in our squadron, which was n scout squadron, scout machines carrying but one man. A scout, sometimes called a fighting scout, has no bomb dropping or recon nolterlng to do. His duty is Just to fight, or, as the order was given to me, "You aro expected to pick fights and not wait until they come to youl" - When bomb droppers go out over the lines in the daytime a scout squad ron usually convoys them. The bomb droppers fly at about twelve thousand feet, and scouts a thousand feet or 6o above them. If at any time they should be at tacked, it Is the duty of the scouts to dive down and carry on the fight, the orders of the bomb drorpers being to go on dropping bombs and not to fight 1 unless they have to. There is seldom a time that machines go out over the lines on this work In the daytime that they are not attacked at some time or other, and so the scouts usually have plenty of work to do. In addition to these attacks, however, the squadron Is Invariably under constant bombard ment from the ground, but that doesn't worry us very much, as we know pret ty well how to avoid being hit from that quarter. On my first flight, after joining the squadron, I was taken out over the lines to get a look at things, map out my location in case I was ever lost, locate the forests, lakes and other landmarks and get the general lay of the land. One thing that was impressed upon me very emphatically was the location of the hospitals, so that in case I was ever wounded and had the strength to pick my landing I could land as near as possible to a hospital. All these things a new pilot goes through dur ing the first two or three days after Joining a squadron. Our regular routine was two flights a day, each of two hours' duration. After doing our regular patrol, it was our privilege to go off on our own hook If we wished, before going back to the squadron. I soon found out that my squadron was some hot squadron, our flyers be ing almost always assigned to special duty work, such as shooting up trenches at a height of fifty feet from the ground. I received my baptism Into this kind of work the third time I went out over the lines, and I would recommend It to rfnyone who is hankering for excite ment. You are not only apt to be at tacked by hostile aircraft from above, but you are swept by machine-gun fire from below. I have seen some of our machines come back frbm this work sometimes so riddled with bullets that I wondered how they ever held to gether. Before we started out on one of these Jobs, we were mighty careful to see that our motors were in perfect condition, because they told us tho "war bread was bad In Germany." One morning, shortly after I Joined the squadron, three of us started over the line of our own accord. We soon observed four enemy machines, two seaters, coming toward us. This type of machine is used by the Huns for artillery work and bomb dropping, nnd we knew they were on mischief bent. Each machine had a machine gun in front, worked by the pilot, nnd the ob server also had a gun with which he could spray all around. When we first noticed the Huns, our machines were about six miles back of the German lines and we were lying high up In the sky, keeping the sun behind us, so that the enemy could not see us. We picked out three of the machines nnd dove down on them. I went right by the roan I picked for myself and his observer in the rear seat kept pumping at me to beat the band. Not one of my shots took effect as I went right down under him, but I turned and gave him another burst of bullets, and down he went In a spinning nose dive, one of his wings going one way and one another. As I saw him crash to the ground I knew that I had got my first hostile aircraft. One of my com rades was equally successful, but the other two German machines got away. We chased them back until things got too hot for us by reason of the appear ance of other. German machines, and then we called it a day. . This experience whetted my appetite for more of the same kind, and I did not have long to wait. It may be well to explain here Just what a spinning nose bend is. A few years ago the spinning nose dive was considered one of the most dangerous things a pilot could attempt, and many men were killed getting into this spin and not knowing how to come out of it. In fact, lots of pilots thought that when once you got Into a spinning nose dive there was no way of coming out of It. It is now used, however,- In actual flying. The machines that are used In France are controlled In two ways, both by hands and feet, the feet working the yoke or rudder bar which controls the rudder; that steers the machine. The lateral controls fore and aft, which cause the ma chine to rise or lower, are controlled by a contrivance called a "Joy stick." If, when flying In the air, a pilot should release his hold on this stick, it will gradually come toward the pilot. In that position the machine will begin to climb. So if a pilot Is shot and loses control of this "Joy stick,' his machine begins-to ascend, nnd climbs until the r angle formed be comes too great for It to continue or the motor to pull the plane; for a fraction of a second It stops, and the motor then being the heaviest, It causes the nose of tho machine to fall forward, pitching down at a terrific rate of speed and spinning at the same time. If the motor is still run ning, It naturally Increases the speed much more than It would If the mo tor were shut off, and there Is great danger that the wings will double up, causing the machine to break apart. Although spins are made with the motor on, you are dropping like a ball being dropped out of the sky and the velocity Increases with the power of the motor. This spinning nose dive has been frequently used In "stunt" flying la recent years, but is now put to prac tical use by pilots in getting away from hostile machines, for when a man Is spinning it is almost impos sible to hit him, and the man making the attack invariably thinks his en emy is going down to certain death in the spin. This is all right when a man is over his own territory, because he can right his machine and come out of it; but if it happens over German territory, the Huns would only follow him down, and when he came out of the spin they would be above him, having all the advantage, and would shoot him down with ease. It is a good way of getting -down into a cloud, and is used very often by both sides, but It requires skill and cour age by the pilot making it If he ever expects to come out alive. A spin being made by a pilot intentionally looks exactly like a spin that is made by a machine actually being shot down, so one never knows whether It Is forced or Intentional until the pilot either rights his machine and comes out of it, or crashes to the ground. Another dive similar to this one Is known as Just the plain dive. As sume, for Instance, that a pilot flying at a height of several thousand feet is shot, loses control of his machine, and the nose of the plane starts 'down with the motor full on. He is going at a tremendous speed and in many Instances is going so straight and swiftly that the speed is too great for the machine, because it was never constructed . to withstand the enor mous pressure forced against the wings, and they consequently crumple up. If, too, In an attempt to straighten the machine, the elevators should be come affected, as often happens In trying to bring a machine out of a dive, the 6traln is again too great on the wings, and there Is the same dis astrous result. Oftentimes, when tho patrol tank is punctured by a tracer bullet from another machine in the air, the plane that is hit catches on fire and either gets into a spin or a straight dive and heads for the earth, hundreds of miles an hour, a mass of flame, looking like a brilliant comet in the sky. ' The spinning nose dive Is used to greater advantage by the Germans than by our own pilots for the reason that when a fight gets too hot for the German, he will put his machine in a spin, and as the chances are nine out of ten that we are fighting over German territory, he simply spins down out of our range, straightens out before he reaches the ground, and gets on home to his airdrome. It Is useless to follow him down inside the German lines, for you would in all probability be shot down before you can attain sufficient altitude to cross the line again. It often happens that a pilot will be chasing another machine when suddenly he sees it start to spin. Per haps they are fifteen or eighteen thou sand feet in the air, and the hostile machine spins down for thousands of feet. He thinks he has hit the other machine and .goes home happy that he has brought down another Hun. He reports the occurrence to the squadron telling how he shot down his enemy; but when the rest of the squadron come In with their report, or some artillery observation balloon sends .in a report, it develops that when a few hundred feet from the ground the supposed dead man in the spin has come out of the .spin and gone merrily on his way for his air drome ... In a desperate battle with four Hun flyers, O'Brien Is sent crashing to earth behind the German lines from a height of 8,000 feet. The next install ment tells of his miraculous es cape from death and of his re gaining consciousness to find himself a prisoner of war. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Why They Are Lonely. The people who are lonely in this world are those who are always look ing for something to come to them; they hope for pleasant adventures; they exact much from their friends and from their family and they are never satisfied. But the happy men and women are those who never think tV demand for themselves who give and give and give again, and find Joy whenever they find opportunity to give Joy. Exchange. Strange Contradiction. "De man dat don't seede bright aide o' life, said Uncle Eben, "Is generally de same feller dat'fl afraid of tla shadow." CZECHO-SLOVAK CONTROL TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILROAD Japan's Reported Decision Refusing te Intervene in Siberia Is Authori tatively Denied Says Word From Tokio. London Virtually all western Si beria is in control of Czecho slovaks, according to a Reuter dispatch from Peking, dated July 10. The dispatch states the Bolshevik! have been over thrown in thewhole region from To bolsk, east of the Urals, to Semipal atinsk, 750 miles to the southeast, near the Chinese frontier. The trans-Siberian railway is under Czecho-Slovak control from Tcheliab sinsk, in the Ural mountains, at the junction of the branches of the road which lead to south and north Russia to Krasnoyarsk, 1,300 miles ' to the east. The report confirms earlier dis patches to the effect the Bolshevik! at Irkutsk have been defeated by Czecho slovaks. General Muravieff, commander of the BolshevikI forces operating against Czecho-Slovaks, has killed himself, ac cording to an official Russian wireless dispatch received here. The dispatch, which denounces General Muravieff as a traitor, reads: "He Issued a false and treacherous order to his troops and sought to direct an offensive against the soviet gov ernment of Russia. He ordered his men to advance against Moscow and at the same time attacked the town of Simbirsk, in the Volga region. "Soviet troops, however, declined to obey hi3 orders and remained faith ful to the Soviets' authority. Finding the troops would not follow him in be traying the revolution, Traitor Mura vieff shot himself. Austrians Still Rubbing Their Eyes. London Far from being a "flash in the pan," the Franco-Italian drive in Albania is hourly growing in scope and military importance. The Aus trians, still rubbing their eyes, as it were, from the rude awakening they received a few days ago after many months of veritable rest-cure In this almost-forgotten theatre of war, are in full retreat on a wide front on both sides of Berat, clever encirclement of which by French and Italian forces formed the beginning of the offensive. Both Rome and Paris were able to announce fresh successs. The French took the crest of Kosnitza and occu pied all villages in Tomorica valley above Dobreny. Italians captured the heights of Cafa and Flumaka, with 250 prisoners. The Austrian retreat is assuming the nature of a rout. The Vienna war office admits the withdraw al to a "new defense line," a phrase which usually covers a multitude of unspoken admissions. Japanese Ambassador Meets Wilson. Washington. Viscount Ishil, Ja panese ambassador, has been Invited to an interview with President Wil son. Urgent representations have been made to this government in be half of Czecho-Slovak troops In Rus sia, who are declared to be threaten ed with extermination. It was surmised in diplomatls quarters President Wilson requested Ambassador Ishil to acquaint his government with the fact the United States favors the principle of mili tary assistance to Russia, and to ob tain the Japanese government's views of the immediate military action practicable by Japan, the number of troops which might be engaged in an expedition, the distance It might penetrate, extent of Chinese co-op eration and what collaboration by the American government is desirable. BolshevikI Threatens Allies Paris. The Bolshevist government at Moscow, according to reliable dis patches, is threatening to conclude an alliance with Germany and mobilize Russia's man-power against the En tente. As a result of the assassination of the German ambassador to Rwsla, Count von Mlrbach, Germany, It Is reported, will demand passage for her troops by way of Petrograd to the Murman coast, the inhabitants , of which the BolshevikI are denouncing as friendly to the Allies. Japan's Attitude . Unchanged. London Japan's reported decision refusing to Intervene in Siberia is au thoritatively denied, according to ad vices from Tokio under date of July 2. It is added the attitude of .Japan Is unchanged. BolshevikI Seek Peace With Finland. London The Bolshevik government of Russia has agreed to enter into peace negotiations with Finland, which had expressed, through the German government, a desire to ar range a peace treaty with Russia,