Newspaper Page Text
SIX
THE MAUI NEWS, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 1917.
How Newspaper Laid
Bare Big German Plot
Amazing Story Of Uncovering And Defeat
Of Teuton Spy System As Told By Editor
Of Rhode Island Daily Proof Furnished
To President Which Led To Bernstorff s
Recal 1 Spies Proved Easy To Papers Sluths
New York, How the Providence
Journal met guile with guile, and spy
with spy, how it had its man in Bern
storff's own household and Its two
wireless stations "listening in" on, the
German Sayville "line" to Berlin how
In fact, this one New England newspa
per for almost three years kept the
United States government informed of
the German-Austrian plots In America
has at last been revealed.
John R. Rat horn, In a speech made
at the convention of the Canadian
Press association in Toronto, and re
ported in the Editor and Publisher
from the Toronto Star, weaves a story
of plot and counter-plot as remarkable
as any that have come from the pen of
E. Phillips Oppenhelm. And Mr.
Rathom says that he has a safe full
of doctuments yet unused which he
will pull out if the situation ever again
requires it.
The story bristles with dramatic lit
tle scenes almost unbelievable in hum
drum America. There is Bernstorff's
confidential secretary at the last mo
ment at Halhfax revealing himself as
an American. There is the pretty ste
nographer who sat on the packing box
with Captain von Papen and made
him write the 'evidence of his own
guilt.
And through it all runs the trail of
the "green blubber," which is Mr.
Rathom's word for the strange "air
holes" in Greman brains which make
them overlook the most obvious
things. We see the "green blubber"
when Van Home, the spy, dressed
up like a workman and then rode in
a Pullman. Follows, too, the incident
of the foolish little street car fight
that cost Doctor Albert his famous
portfolio of treacherous secrets.''
It's a Great Story '
It's a great story, and greater still
in its hints of what it might be. Here
It is:
"The Providence Journal," begins
the Editor and Publisher, happened
upon its course of exposure through
having had for ten years before the
war what other papers described as a
'bug' on wireless telegraphy. The pa
per had otaintained two powerful wire
less pla&ts at Point Judith and at
BlocJc Island. When war broke out
1Jif had decided to 'listen in' on the
' messages crossing the Atlantic. For
five months they kept record of these
messages, and then they set out to
find the codes and make revelations.
Of the material they secured they used
only a fractional part.
"One of the newspaper's stenogra
phers was sent and secured an ap
pointment in the Austrian consulate
in New York. Other of its wrokerg
were constantly engaged in shadowing
Captain Boy-Ed, Captain von Papen,
former Austrian Ambassador Dumba,
the German Ambassador Bernstoff
and other German and Autsrian offi
cials. The two wireless plants un
ceasingly listened in, two shifts of
operators, at work day and night, on
Sayville and Nantucket, the two wire
less stations which were being used
mostly by the Germans to keep in
touch with Berlin, from where they
received Instructions for every detail
of thelj- plotting policy.
"For the United States government
the Brooklyn navy yard had had in
structions to keep a close watch on
the Sayville and Nantucket stations,
but nothing suspicipus was ever re
ported until Mr. Rathom took some
of the messages which he had received
from his operators to the state depart
ment. It was then learned that the
navy yard operators had been in the
pay of German agents in America, and
had been told not to hear too much.
Ingenious Codes Used
"The codes used by the German
were of the most ingenious nature.
Many of them pretended to be stock
quotations, and some were even done
up as funeral directions. In some
cases, however, the codes showed evi
dences of the green blubber, referred
to by the speaker, as on one occasion
when Mr. Rathom was able to go to
President Wilson and show him copies
of eight separate messages sent by
the wireless plant within nine days,
all relating that "little Emily" had
died of such and such an illness, in
a certain part of a room, had been
buried in a certain cemetery beside
such and such a previously deceased
relative. In every one of these mes
sages the illness, the part of the room
the name of the relative, the ceme
tery, and so on, varied, and a clear
code was detected in each of the mes
sages.
Green Blubber In Brain .
"The first revalation which Mr.
Rathom told illustrated the German
capacity for blundering. It was the
story of Werner Home the man who
was responsible for the attempt to
blow up the Vanceboro bridge. Home
had been detected as a German spy by
one of the Journal reporters in New
York. In an effort to disguise himself
Home allowed his beard to grow for
three days, put on an old suit which he
purchased for three dollars (even this
detail was reported) and packed his
personal effe.ls in an old carpet bag.
Having carried out these elaborate
precautions he took passage for the
point where the "job" was to be done,
on one of the finest and most luxurious
trains in the United States. As is
well known now, he was caught when
asked later by Mr. Rathom why he
had been foolish enough to travel
first-class in such shabby dreBs, Hor-
officer and a gentleman and always
traveled in the best style.
Passport Fraud Outlined
"Another German scheme In which
the Journal reporters outwitted the
Teutons occurred soon after in New
York also. A fraudulent passport bu
reau operated by German officials, was
discovered doing a land-office busi
ness in an office building on Broadway.
The Journal faking as a public ac
countant on the one side and a manu
facturers' agent on the other sand
wiched the passport forgers between
them. Every word that passed in
this office was recorded by means of
the instruments used for the that
purpose, and reported to the Provid
ence Jouranl. When sufficient evir
dence was gathered the United States
secret service was notified and the
three forgers were taken away. As
soon as they had been removed three
of the Journal employees were allowed
to take charge of the office to receive
the patrons. It was not long after
that Von Papen and the German mili
tary attache at Tokyo came in with a
list of names of men for whom they
desired passports. The names at the
top of the list was that of Werner
Horse.
Journal Man Bernstorff's Secretary
A friend of mine,' said Mr. Rath
om, 'thinking himself very friendly,
but in a thing which I objected to,
went to Paris and while there bought
a lot of war relics. Among them was
one of the first, iron crosses that had
been given by the German emperor to
a major of a German regiment, who
died on the field and whose cross had
been taken from him and taken to
Paris. It was sold to my friend, with
statements as to whom tt had belong
ed, and my friend sent it to me. I
sent it to Bernstorff with a letter, say
ing that mark of honorable distinction
of a man who had done his duty for
his country belongs to his family. I
gave the name of the man and the
name of the family, and begged him to
take care of the cross so that it could
be sent back after the war or at some
time to the mans' people.
Tears Note to Pieces
' 'The ambassador tore the note to
pieces, threw the note in the face of
the man I sent, and threw the cross
on the floor, saying that, after having
been defiled by the hands of American
dogs, that cross was of no use to any
body in Germany. I knew my man
was telling the truth, because the man
I had in there reported the incident
to me exactly the way he did. In
cidentally I might say that the individ
ual to whom I refer was in the Ger
man embassy 17 months as one of the
ambassador's secretaries, and the am
bassador had no knowledge that he
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was not what he pretended to be until
the , Frederlk VII left New York for
Halifax. He said to my man, "You
had better get aboard or you will lose
your boat," and he replied: "I am
safer on this side." Mr. Bernstorff
had no idea of that man's identity or
whom, he was serving until he lelt
New York. And he wrote a letter
from Halifax to a friend in New York
which he attempted to get sent back,
but which was intercepted, telling
some of his friends what he thought
of this individual.
When Huerta Met Boy Ed.
" ' The famous Huerta caso, the at
tempt of the German government to
embroil us with Mexico, an attempt
that the recent Zlinmerminn letter
proved beyond any doubt to be true,
was already proved by us a long time
berofe. Early in the war my man in
the embassy I say my man; you
must pardon me for that; I mean our
man, because I am not the Providence
Journal was ordered by Captain Boy
Ed to go to New York and get a suite
of six quiet rooms in a hotel where
Boy-Ed and his people could meet
Huerta. Naturally enough, my man,
being loyal, could do nothing else than
select the rooms we selected for him,
so he went to the Manhattan hotel
and got a suite of rooms which he
rigged up with the apparatus I spoke
of; and, to make- assurance doubly
sure. I got another man to act as
chauffeur on the auto that brought
Huerta. .
" 'They had their conference, and
at the conclusion of that conference
every word that was uttered uttered
through an interpreter, because Boy
Ed did not speak Spanish was sent
down to the department of state the
next morning. They had the entire
facts before them and knew every
thing, and for several months later,
when Boy-Ed and Bernstorff were
frothing at the mouth and uttering
denials, the state department had the
very words that were uttered.
Romance Among Spies
" 'Another incident,' he continued,
'that is of great interest came when
one of our valued and keenest stenog
raphers in our own office, a girl that
came to us seven years ago from about
twenty miles outside of Providence,
was given a position in the office of
the Autsrian consul general hi New
York city. She had never bden in
New York before, but she was ahead
of a number of people in competition,
and the man choosing the stenograph
er they wanted (a capable girl able to
do his work and to keep her mouth
shut) had been Informed that she was
the party to choose by other friends
of ours. One day about five or six
weeks after she got there she informed
us that a great packing case was be
ing filled up with propaganda docu
ments and with bills of expense in
connection with explosions in muni
tion plants and other vital and valua
ble things, and was to be shipped off
the following week right straight to
England on a Swedish ship and from
there to Germany.
Von Papen Flirt
"The only thing we could possibly
do was to Identify the package. One
day when they were about to close
the package up this girl, under in
structions and I may say incidentally
she is now back at work getting her
$16 a week sat on this box eating
her lunch. Nearly everybody else
had gone, but Von Papen, rather de
bonair and fond of ladies, wandered
in and sat on the packing box and ask
ed if he could share her lunch with
her. She said certainly, and while
they were sharing the sandwiches he
made some sentimental advances and
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she in rather a dreamy way took out
a large red pencil and drew two big
red hearts on this packing case. It
was Captain Von Papan himself who
put an arrow through them. And,
ladies and gentlemen, when the ship
Austrlas II reached Falmouth they
picked that package out of the hold
from about a hundred and fifty others
and identified it by the two big red
hearts. And yet they say there are
no brilliant people but the Germans.'
"Another incident, the loss of a port
folio belonging to Dr. Heinrich Albert,
an Austrian official, which contained
papers relating to Ambassador Dum
ba's effort to incite labor troubles in
the United States, created quite a stir
among the diplomats, Mr. Rathom
told of how a Journal reporter got the
papers as the result of which Dumba
was sent back to Austria by the presi
dent " 'One of the Journal reporters had
been shadowing Doctor Albert in New
York, but for months nothing seemed
wrong. One day he went Into a leath
er goods store, where he ordered a
portfolio and gave the saleman In
struction to put his initials on it. The
reporter, as soon as Albert had gone
out, walked up to the salesman and
ordered another portfolo of the same
kind, but with no initials, saying he
would rather first see how the other
gentleman's initials looked. When he
came back and saw the Initials he said
he didn't like them and departed to
go to another shop and have the same
initials put on his portfolio. His
work was becoming less tiresome and
less fruitless than it had been.
" 'A day or two later Albert, carry
ing the new portfolio, was followed
from the front of his apartments by
the Journal man. Albert . boarded an
elevated train. He placed his bag
containing papers on the seat beside
him. Suddenly he was stirred by a
fight in the front of the car. As he
stood up to see what the trouble was,
as did nearly everybody else in the
car, the portfolios were changed. This
happened on a Saturday morning.
Albert, in a statement later, said that
he discovered the trick the same day,
but we know for a fact that he did not
discover the difference until Monday
morning. Needless to say, the men
who were fighting on the street car
were also in the employ of the Jour
nal.' "It was through the Journal, Mr.
Rathom said, that a great quantity of
important papers were secured from
Wolf von Igel. These papers reveal
ed the Casement plot for the Irish up
rising. When the papers were taken
Mr. Rathom said, in Illustrating his
point that there is a certain amount
of stupidity in all German diplomatists
Von Bernstorff made application to
the state department to have them re
turned. He was told that any paper
he could identify would be returned
to him, and then realized how he had
committed himself in asking that the
papers be returned.
Asked Journal Suppression
"Three days before Bernstorff was
ordered to return to Germany, Mr.
Rathom declared, he demanded that
the American government suppress
the Providence Journal.
" 'Every statements that we have
made in regard to German plots in the
United States has been proven to be
positively true,' declared Mr. Rathom.
'For the first nine or ten months no
one believed what we were saying.
We were shouting against the wind.
The dismissal of Doctor Dumba was
the first result of our months of effort.
" 'We have not printed one-fiftieth
of what we secured, but we were very
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glad, when events turned, to turn the
key on the safe in which it is deposit
ed and forget the balance, because the
work we tried to do has been accom
plished.' "
Honolulu Wholesale Produce
Market Quotations
ISSUED BY THE TERRITORIAL
MARKETING DIVISION.
Wholesale only.
Week ending, July 20, 1917. -BUTTER
AND EGGS.
Island butter, lb. cartons 40
Eggs, select, doz 64
Eggs, No. 1. doz 62
Eggs, Duck, doz 45
POULTRY.
Young roosters, lb 40 to ,45
Hens, lb 30 to .33
Turkeys, lb .45
Ducks, Muse, lb 30 to .32
Ducks, Pekln lb 30 to '.32
Ducks, Haw. doz 6.75
VEGETABLES AND PRODUCE.
Beans, string, green .04
eBans, string, wax green 05
Deans, Lima in pod 03
Beans, Maui red 12.00
Beans, Calico, cwt 11.00
Beans, small white None
Peas, dry Is. cwt None
Beets, doz. bunches 30
Carrots, doz. bunches 40
Cabbage, cwt 03
Corn, sweet 100 ears None
Corn, Haw. sm. yel 72 to .75
Corn, Haw. lg. yel None
Rice, Jap. seed, cwt 6.60
Rice, Haw. seed, cwt 7.00
Peanuts, lg. lb .lu to .12
Peanuts, sm. lb 08 to .10
Green, peppers, bell 06
Green peppers, chili 05
Potatoes, Is. 1 2.75 to 3.00
Potatoes, sweet, cwt. '. 1.50
Potatoes, sweet red cwt 1.75
Taro, cwt 1.00 to 1.60
Taro, bunch 15
Tomatoes 04
Green peas, lb None
Cucumbers, doz 50 to .60
Pumpkins, lb 02
FRUITS.
Bananas, Chinese, bu 10 to .30
Bananas, Cooking bu 1.00 to 1.25
Figs, 100 90
Grapes, Isabella, lb 05 to .07
Limes, 100 75 to 1.00
Pineapples, cwt 1.50
Papaias, lb 01 Vi to .02
Strawberries None
LIVE8TOCK. ,
Beef, cattle, and sheep are not
bought at live weight They are
slaughtered and paid for on a dressed
weight basis.
Hogs, up to 150 lb 14 to 16
Hogs, up 150 and over 10 to .14
DRE8SED MEATS.
Beef, lb 13tt to .14
Veal, lb 14
Mutton, lb 19
Pork, lb 20 to .23
HIDES, Wet 8alted.
Steer, No. 1. lb 20
Steer, No. 2. lb 18
Steer, hair slip 18
Kips, lb 20 to .22
Goat, white 20 to .30
FEED.
The following are nrlcea on feed. f.
o. b. Honolulu:
Corn, sm. yel. ton None
Corn, lg. yel. ton 81.50 to 85.00
Corn, cracked, ton .... 83.00 to 86.00
Bran ton 43.0 to 46.00
Barley, ton 52.00 to 66.00
Scratch food ton 85.00 to 87.50
Oats, ton 58.00 to 60.00
Wheat ton 85.00 to 100.00
Middling ton 57.50 to 65.00
Hay, wheat 35.00 to 40.00
Hay, Alfalfa 38.00
VISTING TEACH ER8
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Cars pass the door.
3320 Waialae Road. Phone 7161
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We solicit a trial order.
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HONOLULU, T. H.
1 " Ti'Jj
Jli
LODGE MAUI, NO. 984, A. F. A. M.
RtntPil mantiniri will be held at
Masonic Hall, Kahulul, on the first
Saturday night of each montn at t:sv
P. M.
Vlsitlnw brethren are cordially in
vited to attend.
H. K. DUNCAN, R. W. M.
W. A. ROBBINS. Secretary.
ALOHA LODGE NO. S KNIGHTS
OF PYTHIA8.
Regular meetings will be held at
the Knights of Pythias Hall, Wallu-
ku, on the second and fourth Friday
of each month.
All visiting members are cordially
Invited to attend.
A. C. RATTRAY, C. C.
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ne repilod that he was a German
I.
,(
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