THE GREASED CHUTE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 12, 5 September 1919, Page 8

THE GREASED CHUTE

OF AN ATTEMPTED BOLT FOR LIBERTY. The attempted escapes from German prisons with which Lieutenant Edgar H Crarlnnd, of Oriental Bay (late of the Royal Air Force) was connected were numerous. Chatting with a Dominion . reporter Lieutenant Garland recalled ono „.attempt at Cblogno which had great . possibilities. The prisoners wero dispos/■'ed"m a big fouivstory building, not very far from a public street in the city, now 60 well known by many New Zealander3. ~ Between ■ the • building ~ and tho 6treot (wall, however, was a big barbed-wiro en- . tanglement to check any attempt to got through on the ground' level. It this particular time the prisoners above the ground floor were left pretty well ,to their own devices, tho German commandant considering it inadvisable to allow his guards to stay within tho .building, fearing that they would fraternise with the prisoners, perhaps with awkward results. Left alone the wits of some of tho officers got to work on e.plan of escape. This was to take the form of a chute, which, at a convenient . time during the night, would be projected from a second floor window, and straddling the barbed-wire, would rest on the street wall, from whence its users could drop into the street, and get away. Tho chute was duly made out of floor-boards prized up and bolted together' into a long wooden channel, which was made smooth and then well greased. During the night the chute was hoisted into position, and Lieutenant Garland was ready to fuse the'olec-' trie wires all over tho building, so as ,to preclude any light being available during tho exit. All wero ready at their post for the fllido for freedom. To make the jump from the end of tho chute to tho sidewalk less risky, a mattress was first pushed down tho 6lide. The passage of this bulky object canght the attention of tho guard, and ho fired blindly in its direction. Unfortunately the man who was standing at tho window, and who was to be tho first to slido down, fancied that the guard had seen and fired at him. Ho rushed back into . the room, thero was something of a stampede, the guards came in and tho whole plot was discovered. Such a little tiling is chanco. Had the guard been dozing—as he. should have j ibeen at such a time—or had he been ' a few yards further away when the mattress was shot down, it is probable that a number jof tho prisoners would have escaped from the prison, but instead they had to get over the disappointment and plan other possiblo methods, of escape.