Drafted Man Hides Two Years In Cave

1920
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Surrenders in Uniform He Wore on Visit to Family -- Wife Carried Food

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio, May 20. -- After nearly two years of hiding in the caves in Hocking valley, near Adelphi, Ohio, in the fear that he would face a firing squad if discovered, Carl Amerine, 24, a deserter from the 84th Division, gave himself up to military authorities at Camp Sherman, near here.

Amerine, attired in the uniform he wore when he left Camp Sherman, and unkempt from long months spent in the hills, expressed relief to military authorities that his worry was over.

Amerine, who is 24 and who had been drafted in 1918, left the camp in August of that year to pay a visit to his wife and infant baby near Adelphi, he said. He overstayed his leave.

His wife, fearing he would be shot as a deserter, persuaded him to go into the hills, Amerine told the officers. There he lived in the caves until a day or two ago, when a friend of the family learned of his whereabouts and persuaded Amerine's wife to give her consent to his surrender.

During the time he was in hiding Amerine was furnished food by his wife, who sent it to him or took it to him in person daily.

Amerine is awaiting trial at the camp.

--The Saturday Blade, Chicago, May 22, 1920, page 4.