MAN IN THE BOX.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1369, 4 March 1915, Page 4

MAN IN THE BOX.

A 6FT GERMAN SHIPPED AS LUGGAGE. ESCAPE FRUSTRATED.

An ordinary wooden box was being moved about on the rain-swept deck of a tender early on Saturday morning, when out of it fell a Gorman who was ait emitting to escape to the Fatherland, says the London Daily Alail of December 19. lie bad' “been knock about in the box for twontv-four hours, and in a few minutes more'he would have been shipped in tho steamer Batavier V., bound for Rotterdam. But the heavy packing ease slipped from the 1 grasp of the deck hands in the tender, and fell. The lid opened, and the crouching German came sprawling on to tho tender’s dock. The name of the fugitive was Otto Koctm. and he is stated to be a young officer of the German Navy. Arrested in the Dutch litter Potsdam when she put into Falmouth during a vo\age from (he United States in the early days of the war. ho .had been interned at Dorchester, and from then; he had come to Tilbury in tlte innocent-looking bo.x. C OCOA. BISCUITS. AND CHEESE.

The full story of this daring escapade, which was so nearly successful, reads like one of those romantic episodes scattered about the pages of Dumas. The packing case, roughly, was sft long. 3ft Vide, and 2t't 6in deep. Ivor;hit is a strongly-built young fellow standing more than 6ft high. Lying squeezed in the box. and bumped about as a heavy bit of luggage which need not be handled too gently, he musthave suffered untold discomfort. He had made ingenious preparations to minimise (lie hardships of the journey. He had padded the Ikjx with a rug. and also smuggled in a small stir pillow. Round the -icles, too. were roughly contrived loops, serving as support;-, which he could grasp to save himself from toe violent a bun.ipmg, if the box were being handled with particular 1, :-lc of ceremony.

]1 o had filled his pocket* with bananas, cnocotate, dates, biscuits, and cheese. and he had a. bottle of cold cocoa. Koehn lias made the statement that he bought the box at the cantoon of (i.o c-mip at Dorchester. It was an ordinary wooden packing ease, will) “V '■ s' i" , .isonoiis 1 ' stencilled on tin 'i■ mi; gone into the cauv e. .linen liucd. with f-uppiies. Boxes ot till- kind cue often used by students for pf'jitij; ‘ln lr book.-, end a request i» purcli'se one would excite no ■Hispid'..*. FROV J'hi’rilKSTKK TO TILBURY. Tin* box ;■■ tioai* to have a t*ranted no attention on its 'iirney from Jlorc 1 e-ier to Tilbury. No one i-coal!,:- having noticed it. Bui there is no doubt as to liow it arrived at Tilbury, For a week or so past batches of Gormans and An .nans interned in roncentvalion oatrips have liven exchanged for British subjects released from Germany or Austria. Only those not- of lighting age can got home to the Fatherland in this way. the prisoners relea-sod Bung confined to voting men under 17 and men over 55. They have been despatched by (be boats of the Batavier line, which >ail nightly from Tilbury for Rotterdam. They are brought from concentration camps under military escort and remain in charge of their guards, until they are placed on board the steamer. On Friday evening such a parly of deportees, numbering 58. arrived at. Tilbury, front DoKhesier. They brought their personal luggige-a largo collection of trunks, bags, and oilier iumedimenta of travelling, and there is no doubt that the packing case in with: Koehn lay concealed came as part of tills luggage. In addit ; >:i to the ob persons despatched to Tilbury a vuv.l h.nu 1 . ?d other prisoners at j3orchc.sur were transferred Hie same Tty to another concentration camp. There was. therefore, a grout amount of luggage to transport, and this packing case, labelled for Hamburg, the ultimate destination of the Tiibum party, would ve lily pas* with the rest. The Bata vier V. loaded cargo at the company's wharf near London Bridge, and then went down the river to pick up her passengers. She did not arrive off Tilbury until past one o'clock on Saturday morning. The passengers and their luggage wore taken to her in a tender. The men from Horelnisjer were still under the guard of their military escort, and Government officials wore present to bc-u----tinise and interrogate all the passengers. No unauthorised person is allowed to approach the gangway, and the strictest watch is maintained to prevent anyone slipping on board unobserved. TUB FINAL 13LT1P,

It was after all the passengers had gone on board the Batavjer V., and when only tho luggage remained to be transhipped, that the aceidcnt occurred which rcvoalud tho plot. The night was dark and stormy, with a lashing rain. The deck of tho tender was slippery, and one of the men lifting the case slipped and let it fall. When it struck the deck (he lid ‘sprang’ and the fugitive was disclosed. Koelin was momenta rilv dazed and shinned, ir addition to being cold, cramped, and hungry. Sailor? in the tender

lifted him to bis feel. Ihl In- wu« immedin-P-ly placed under guard. A nip fit' hot coffee was brought to idm and this revived him. In broken English ho gave Ids interrogators information as to who he was and where he had come from, and insisted that he had concealed himself in tin- Ixix unaided. An e\e-wit ness of the discovery says: ‘‘lie Wits a tall clean-shaven young fellow, and from his speech and appearance ir was easy to see than he was well to do and well ediieated. His clothes were good and he had a substantial sun) of money. He looked e o comical when he came sprawling out on the wet deck that for the moment 1 could not help laughing ”