Morning journal and courier., 1886-10-01
MILITARY SPIES.
Remarkable People who Have Exer.
cised influence in France.
Paris Letter to the London Truth

Remarkable People who Have Exer.
cised Influence I'm France.
Paris Letter to the London Truth
AS France is large country and military
forts are rarely picturesque objects, do not
see that English or other artists should deem
it grievance to be forbidden to sketch near
them. "Sketching passports" from the Min
istry of War, such Mr.. Hamerton propos-
es, will not be issued, because it would be
impossible to refuse them to anyone without
exposing him to the odium attached to spy.
cannot myself conceive the use of forbid
bing artists or any other class of persons to
draw forts or their environs; but military
men think otherwise and I suppose they
know better than I do. The Germans are
far more severe than the French in with
holding from civilians opportunities to do
plans of their strongholds, and the rigor of
the Austrians and Piedmontese in such mat
ters is almost proverbia1. But Italians and
Germans can put a guard on their lips,
whereas nothing which Frenchman knows
can long remain a secret. There is no coun-
try in which the task of a military or other
sort of spy is easy as in France; and I
suspect that the weak sides of the military
defenses of France are better understood in
all their details at Berlin than here. A fair
secret service agent of Prince Bismarck was
the Mary Anne Clark of the French war Of
fee when General De Cissey was at its head
She advanced and delayed the promotion of
others, and judged what commissariat and
ammunition contracts were to be signed or
rejected. During the empire there was q
Berlin doctor who, under the pretext of hav.
ing discovered remedy for the malady of
which the late Emperor eventually died,
used to see him every morning, and got so
nornnl6talv rounH him thot T ha1iovo bo
from him how unprepared France was to go
to war. just before the beginning of the
end he was arrested on charge of swindling
and was clapped into Mazas; but as he was
a connection of the Abbe Bauer (the EN-
press spiritual director until he relapsed
to Judaism), Cremieux, on the morrow of
the 4th of September, let him out of prison
What since happened to him 1 know not,
but [ had personal opportunities of seeing to
what extent he was initiated by the head of
the State himself into State secrets.
I remember once having been bothered by
lady calling herself a Lorrainer but of
Oriental race, and married to a colonel whose
surname was borrowed from the Old Testa-
ment, to speak to Gambetta on his behalf
l asked her what should say if natural
opportunity arose for saying it. She told
me in confidential tone that her husband,
who was then in the etat major, had rem
dered great services in the military espion-
age department for six years before the war
and at its opening He spoke German like
Teuton and had gone, under an intinity of
disguises, through the garrisons of Germa-
ny. He had been drayman, q dealer in
hops, dealer in old clothes, a peddler,
Snowman, horse dealer and the violoncel-
list in an itinerant band. One day turned,
in talking to Gambetta, the conversation on
this subject and gave him the lady's mes
sage. He answered: ''I am aware that he
was spy. But his espionage was, as it
turned out, more useful to the Germans than
to MS. However, 1 am about to tell you
something which will take your breath away.
The fort of Frouard, as you know, is one of
the most important along the eastern from
tier. Well, when it was being built, it was
found that the contractor a German and
an agent for the Germanization of Lorraine.
What do you think obtained for him the
contract under the shelter Of French dunn
my? The colonel about whom we have been
speaking" The best of the story is that at
a subsequent trial of some German officials,
who were accused of selling to the French
government military documents belonging to
the Berlin etat major. to which they had ac-
cess, one of the most severe charges made
against them was that they corresponded
with the colonel bearing the patriarehal
name.