Futility Closet

In 1917 a pair of Allied officers combined a homemade Ouija board, audacity, and imagination to hoax their way out of a remote prison camp in the mountains of Turkey. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the remarkable escape of Harry Jones and Cedric Hill, which one observer called “the most colossal fake of modern times.” We'll also consider a cactus' role in World War II and puzzle over a cigar-smoking butler. Intro: A 1962 writer to the London Times contends that all thrushes "sooner or later sing the tune of the first subject of Mozart's G minor Symphony." The U.S. Senate maintains a tradition of hiding candy in a desk on the chamber floor. Sources for our feature on the Yozgad escape: E.H. Jones, The Road to En-dor, 1919. Tony Craven Walker's En-dor Unveiled (2014) (PDF) is a valuable source of background information, with descriptions of Harry Jones' early life; the siege of Kut-el-Amara, where he was captured; his punishing trek across Syria; the prison camp; and his l