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About Vernonia eagle. (Vernonia, Or.) 1922-1974 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 1929)
19* / FOUR ■ um 9 . THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, ISIS VERNONIA EAGLE, VERNONIA, OREGON I. .■ . . . ______ 11 ' ______ 1_____________ — THE FLOWER SHOW With the announcement this week by the Gar den club of Vernonia, their classifications of floral exhibits for the annual flower show, which is to be held this year in the Legion hall August 31, Ver- nonians will recognize that a tradition is being established here which is reacting as a benefit to the community. Made up mostly of members who were intense ly interested in the growing of flowers for their own pleasure and to add to the beauty of their homes, this organization has extended its activities to the beautification of the community—and their method can only be by example. It is not and never will be within their power to dictate to any resident concerning the improve ment of the place in which he or she lives, but with each member of the Garden club improving her own home—and these homes of the members are located in all sections of this community—the example thus set will spread to their next-door neighbors and thus keep going until the whole of Vernonia will be a beauty spot of green lawns, at tractive shrubs and flowers. This flower show, which will have been the second held by the club in two years, has rules which prohibit no one from displaying flowers, only segregating amateur growers and dealers, with all encouraged to display blooms in order to make the show the best possible. The Vernonia Eagle and other business houses were the recipients this week of bouquets of flowers from members of the Garden club, who started three weeks ago to give bouquets to every business establishment here. This is but a part of the work of the members of the club to encourage the growing of flowers in this community and thus improve the town. NEED CLEAN UP DAY Hundreds of visitors will be in our city Oct ober 3, attending the met ting of the Lower Colum bia Associated Chambers of Commerce. Tours will be conducted through the city, to the big mill and to the new golf course. Let all cooperate with the local Chamber of Commerce by making their pre mises as attractive as possible, so that the city will be presented at its best. A clean up day should be sponsored soon, to dispose of the rubbish which has gathered during the past year. In the present campaign for improv ing the sanitary conditions of Vernonia, a general clean up plays an important part, and especially this time of the year, the waste and rubbish on dif ferent premises is a great fire hazard. ' • ount. 'set s get up a show tor Christmas. u play.” Show, play, thealer—that was an idea for me. "t'ertuhil.v I will,” 1 replied. “I often got up shows lu the navy. We will have ¡i theater iiere ut Motullil that will beat the best th Berlin. But you must leave everything to tue. 1 will direct everything.” •'All right," they said. yl got p- emission from the com mandant to produce the allow. lu fait, lie waved quite enthusiastic about It. Xot only would It give I the prl oners something to du, but It would also provide amusement for the Jailers Idle on the Island was mighty boresome to all of them. In a little while the prison camp was humming with preparations for the gri nd spectacle 1 was going 1» stage. ’I'lils was the cover un der which my fellows am' 1 pre pared all of our equlpmmt for our escape. It deluded lie-* guards, and also tooled the prisoners whom we couldn't take with us. When we wanted material, always ap parently Innocent things, we asked for it and sold It was for the show. When we built anything. It was for the show. We even built n wireless set out of things supposed to lie for our grosses slmuspielhaus. We made bombs out of tin cans and guncot ton that Imd already been procured. The bombs Imd fuses that could be lighted from a cigarette. One of my men worked on n farm In the interior of the island, and got a lot of dynamite and blasting pow der u ■ d in blowing up stumps. We stole a couple of pistols from the camp arsenal. We made a fake contrivance which looked like a perfect Lewis or Maxim machine gun. Imt It worked well enough and it looked even more formidable. Cadet von Zartowsky took oddsand ends mid made n sextant that after ward took us fifty nautical miles oil out course, pretty fair, consider lug llie circumstances. We Imd no great trouble In hiding away it ciiL idenible supply of food in Hie air chambers of the motor b it <>f course, I not only talked i t elaborate plans for the supposed theatrical events that I was itlrecthi". hut 1 also Imd the prisoners prepare a lot ot bona-ti<Ie stage props, more even lliun could be used. These were made up by the rest of the fellows who were not In our plot Most of the ac tual material reeded for our es cape and subsequent raiding cruise had to be fixed up stealtlrly by the boys who were to make the dash for freedom with me. Of all the people 1 met in New Zealand, there was but one for Whom I bad a complete contempt. Be was a fellow named Hansen, a German by birth aud a naturalized New Zealander. in spite of Ids naturalization, he had been in terned He happened to notice that tiie motor expert, while supposedly working on the engine of the Pearl, the colonel's boat, hud carried something suspicious aboard. Aux lous to curry favor with the com nmndant, he reported that we were acting suspiciously. The coinman dunt was contemptuous of a rat like that in the first place, and then ha vns utterly Infatuated with our theater. He said that whatever we were doing could only be in prep aration for our show. Neverthe less. he tried to investigate, but found nothing to confirm what the squealer had told him. After weeks of hard labor, we were ready. At night we cut the wires connecting the island with the mainland and set a barracks afire. That created the diversion we needed. Everybody, guards and all. flocked to put the blaze out. 1 was among the foremost, and at tracted all attention to myself. 1 seemed to have a passion for fight ing fires. My boys were with me. When the excitement was at its highest we stole away singly and boarded the motor boat. The en gine purred, and we were away In the darkness. We were safe from pursuit for nwhlle. anyway. There was no other boat at the Island, and Mo- tttlhl could not communicate with the mainland. It was only when the wires were repaired or when the mainland was due to get Its next report that the chase after us could begin When our escape did become known on the mainland on the night of I leeember 13, 1917, every kind of craft available went out to look for us. Private owners iv i . i . .1« ...... r....... u. i....... took up scouting formula sport ..Boats chaiwd one another and.shot at one gm'lher. and one steamer went on the rocks, Finally, a false rumor spread tliat we hurl capsized and drowned, 'and the weary pur suers were glad to accept It as true and return home. We had our dltlieultles In finding our way In the night through the Taurakl gulf on which Auckland lies, but ut an hour or so past midnight we saw sweeping shafts of light Tire authorities at Auckland were looking for us with a searchlight, a ridiculous pro cedure, but one calculated to Im press the population. We steered by the searchlight beams now, and picked our way along easily enough Of course. It would take a sep arate volume to record all of the details of our work of preparation and our fieul escape. 1 am only giving yon s description of the high spins. But, by the way. 1 almost forgot to fell you how we were dressed. We all Imd New Zealand uniforms. Mine was the most In terestlng of the lot and provided material for Australian humorists and cartoonists for many weeks As the commander ot a man o'-war. even of a twelve-foot wooden one. with the tinwarllke name ot Pearl. I absolutely hud to have a sword One of my boys, just an hour be- fore our escape, slipped into the “You’XQ escaped prisoners, eh? Our coys are doing their bit in France, and at home they can’t even guard prisoners.” The Moa was a fine cruft but as flat as a match box. Intended for coastwise trade, she had no keel and drew only three feet of water, but she bail huge masts. A storm blew up, and we scudiled before the wind. The Moe's cuptuln rushed up bristling with excite ment. His boat, he protested, was not adapted for sailing on the high see, much less through a storm. We were risking our Ilves, he ex postulated. We should take down sail. “We are sailing for our lives, by Joe,” I responded, and kept all can vas up. The skipper stayed on deck nil night and poured out oil to quiet the waves. We went on our watches undisturbed. Ordinarily, we would have been . somewhat wor ried, but the storm was taking us along swiftly—away from pursuit. The waves began to break over our stern, mid the Moil bobbed up nnd down. She had a deekload of lum per Overboard with it. We started to work mid were ably assisted by a breaker that crashed over us and In an Instant swept most of thq lumber lute the sea We were tow Ing the motor bout we had taken from the commandant at Motullil wardrobe of the prison camp com A wave swamped her, and she tore mandant. Not only did he take loose from the towline and sank Colonel Turner’s best dress uni We steered to the Kermadec. is form. blit lie also swiped bls sword lands, mi unluhabited group where and scabbard. (lie New Zealand government keeps We lay off an Isolated bay of Red Mercury island, northwest of a cache of provisions for castaway the Bay of Plenty, for two days, sailors. Curtis Island, one of the during which we Imd a couple of group, came In sight on December narrow escapes from searching 21. It appeared 111 u cloud of smoke, boats. A government cutter had al a land of volcanoes and geysers. most sighted us when she damaged Presently we spied the sheet-iron her propeller on the rocks and Imd shed where the provisions were Klrcheiss nnd four men to limp buck home. The third day stored we put out to sea, and as we landed on the lnferno-llke const and bounced about on the waves I In due time returned, their bout loaded deep with provisions. The swore in the cadets as regular mid shipmen of the Imperial navy and New Zealand government was kind promoted Vice Corporal von Egidy enough Io provide many useful to the rank of naval Junior lieu tilings for shipwrecked sailors and tenant. As commander of a war sometimes for escaped prisoners of vessel, even though she was only war. There were tools, oars, sails, the colonel's motor boat, I Imd tlie fishing tackle, blankets, bacon, but authority to do this. Then each ter laid, canned beef—In short, We had intended to helped the other cut bls hair short everything. leave our prisoners on Curtis Is in naval fashion. Two sailing vessels came by. We land. but that den of sterfin and decided to seize them both, sink sulphur fumes seemed unlit for any one, and keep the other. We went one. So we decided to take them after the first one, hub a sudden ashore with a supply of provisions, puff of wind carried her along al mid send a wireless message to a great rate, and we could not summon aid for them. “Smoke to the north, behind Is catch her. This was very unfor tunate, for she reported our cap land." sang the lookout ture of the second boat, which she Two men wcie still on the Island. witnessed. Bombs poised, machine I pent hastily for them. The Mon gun pointing, and German flag raised, we swiftly approached the Moa. She hove to. My hoys and 1 clambered on deck. With Colonel Turner’s sword In my hand, I or dered the captain and crew herded below. the_captaln, nn excellent old In the election of H. E. McGraw to an import ant office in state Legion circles, the Grand Voi- ture rewards a Legionnaire who has faithfully served his post since the local organization receiv ed its charter. A good soldier, citizen, and Legionnaire, Ellis, as he is known to his friends, has received the whole hearted support fiom his post and the Co lumbia county voiture, and with hard work and captalizing his wonderful personality, it is predict ed by friends that before many years, H. E. Mc Graw will be department commander of the Ame rican Legion. PUBLICITY AND LONGVIEW Longview stages another celebration, and at their first annual Rolleo, October 9, 10, drew crowds estimated at over 20,000. Students wishing for a complete course in publicity could well afford to »tudy for a few weeks at the publicity bureau under Chairman Ab bott, and would probably derive greater results than from a university. Longview lets the world know, does things big, and gets results. Your Car No Worry mania, was one of the best fellows I have ever met. He, too, felt him self a prisoner here on tills lonely island mid soon liecame our third man at cards, which we played to while away the hours during the long evenings. A drawbridge that had been smashed by a hurricane was being repaired, mid we prisoners had ac cess to the waterside for a while. In the yard stood a row of empty tar burrels. One of the barrels fell over, and I happened to no tice that It was picked up by a small coastwise schooner tliut often lay nt dock further down the shore. 1 threw In another barrel. It flout ed. The boat picked It. up. My pTnn was made. ‘ 1 could arrange one of those barrels so that I could float In it I would pick the time when the little schooner was at shore. Then 1 would get into the barrel mid roll myself off the dock. The boat ffould pick the barrel up. It might seem a bit heavy, but they would think It had tar tn It The barrel once aboard, Its ltd would open and a man armed with a knife would step out, like a Jack in the-box. Thus I would have a boat. I would pick up Klrcheiss, wlio would be waiting, and we would go sailing and perbaps get to some neutrul island. Major I.eeming bad been so kind to me that I did not want to ern- baiTiiss him by escaping under his command. He, expecting an addi tion to tils family, was to take a furlough. I would do my jall-break- ing while lie was away. But soon after Major I.eeming went on bls furlough Klrcheiss and I were or dered back to the prison camp at Motullil. Of course, there was a new commandunt ut Motullil now, a Major Schofield. Most of the prisoners there received us with en thusiasm. Even the treacherous Polish doc tor brought me a bottle of cham pagne, Imping that 1 would not locution our former business trans action In which he was to get a per centage of that $25,000. Presently several fellows came to me mid asked If 1 did not think something could be undertaken. They hud already contrived to get a few pistols and build a folding canvas boat. We could not very well go to sea in that But If we could contrive to station our selves at some other part of the island, we could wait until a sail ing ship came along, put out In our flimsy little craft, and attack her. We consulted with the former gov ernor of German Samoa, Doctor Schultz-Ewarth by name, who was a prisoner nt Motulhl. He with his personal servant, a giant fel low, formerly a German baker, was allowed to wander where he pleased on the Island. It was his man who hit upon the dea of hiding In 'tbs Interior of the Island by building a cave In the side of a dry river bed tliat he had discovered, the cave to be disguised that search ers would not notice it. We could easily get out of the camp and Into other parts of the Island, and. at the same time, give tlie Impres sion that we had escaped over a cliff to the shore and been picked up by n boat. We could keep to our retreat until the search had died down, nnd then we could watch for a passing snllslilp nnd attack Please turn to page 5 . . . health experts are continuously stressing the import ance of giving children pasteurized milk. Perhaps you have never thought of it but at every health clinic or gathering the milk question, which is of the utmost im To Own a Car In Good Condition Leads To Many Happy Hours can be assured of dependable performance. No worries, your car is ready to take you to the trails. Our machine and repair shop is equipped to handle work of any nature on your car— And we do the work after your car is turned over to us for repairs. Automobile accessories and supplies—To get the proper attention for your car let us service it for you. portance, usually ends with recommendations to parents to use pasteurized milk or cream, on account of safeguarding the health of especially the children. Nehalem Valley Ice & Creamery Co. A Home Industry Manufacturing Delicious Nehalia Ice Cream Ice Pasteurized Vernonia Brazing & Machine Works Ed. Salmonten, Mvr. Milk & Cream Phone 471 Pasteurized Milk to Pre serve Children’s Health. Phone Nehalem Valley Ice & Creamery Company EXPRESSES FAITH IN VERNONIA Satisfied and convinced that Vernonia is one of the best towns in the state, and has a bright future ahead, Charles T. Early expresses his faith not in words, but achievement, and a year or more ago constructed the most attractive filling station and will next week open to the public his new large fireproof brick garage and auto agency. Considering the Columbia river highway dan gerous, thousands of pleasure seekers who have in the past spent their week ends at Seaside andi other beaches along the coast have forsaken this trip in favor of safer highways, and are urging and using their influence for a shorter route to the beach, trailing through Banks, Buxton, Manning. Vernonia, and Mist, making a super shorter high way to Oregon’s most popular summer resorts. Then too, with the completion of the West Side Pacific highway extension which leaves Ver nonia only 17 miles from Raimer and the east ap proach of the Longview bridge, Mr. Early believes that hundreds of cars will pass through this city daily, many on their way to Washington cities and the Canadian border over Apiary cutoff and others taking the shorter route to the beach via Mist. raised sail mid ran before the wind. The steamer was tn sight now. She sailed toward us. We changed our course. She, too, changed her course. The skipper of the Moa recognized her as the New Zeulmid government's cable steamer tris, an auxiliary c t ter. She had cannon, and we had none. Our goose wus cooked. We still tried helplessly to run uway. She gained on us, and sig A naled us to stop. We kept on flush, a distant roar, a hissing In the air, a splash lu front of us She fas firlug on us. “Heave to,” 1 commanded, and we were prisoners once again. The Iris was manned by a non descript crowd that put pistols to our bucks ns we came aboard, ami seurclied us to the soles of our shoes. Then these gentry robbed us of our personal possessions They were wildly Jubilant over their victory. 1 gathered from them tliat the ship that had escaped us iiuvlug brought the news of out capture of the Moa to Auckland the authorities there had surmised that we must he bended for the cache of supplies at Curtis Island When we arrived at Auckland, the New Zealanders had their own lit tie victory to celebrate. Sight seers lu all sorts of boats came out to lime a l<><>k ns the Iris with the Moa In tow steamed Into bar bor, the victor of the Buttle of the Kermadecs. We were Jailed nt Mount Eden the local prison ot Aucklund, as n punishment for our flight. For a calaboose. It was not bad. Aftei twenty one days there, we were ills triliuted among various prison cmu(>s. Klrcheiss mid I went to Elver island near Lyttelton on the south Island of New Zealand. Even the yard of our prison In Fort Jer- vols was a veritable cage. It was screened not only around, hut also across the top with lines of barbed wire. The commander of the camp, Major I.eeming of Tas Has It Ever Occurred to You That letting our mechanics recondition your car you GRAND CHEM’NOT McGRAW iaTTgrowlfe/M Harry Kearns, Manager FINNEY OF THE FORCE
