Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-12-05
A DIPLOMATIC TRICK.
AN INCIDENT THAT PROVED The CUM
MING OF BISMARCK.

The Roundabout Manner In which
He Secured the safe TraasmisSIon
of His OmcfaI correspondence 10
the Foreign Office
Stepping To the counter, Herr Won
Bismarck asked a grinniDg young shop
boy IN shirt sleeves, a blue linen apron,
not Of maiden freshness, and blessed
with pair Of large. red, greasy paws,
engaged IN weighing some Dutch cheese,
10 oblige him with a sheet Of writing
paper, some sealing wax and a pen 10
direct a letter.
On the boy producing the needfuI
with the traditional What else, sir?'
Bismarck said: my hands are rather
cold You had better do it for me-. :" And
he handed the boy a couple Of letters
wrapped III the sheet Of blush paper
forming an envelope, for in those days
made up envelopes were still unknown
III Germany. Evidently fiattered by the
request Of such an imposing looking
client, for Herr Won Bismarck stall hat
was almost touching the ceiling Of the
Equa!id little shop, the greasy handed
youth took the parcel, and, having
closed 1t skilIfully with some brown
scaling wax and Endorsed it with the
initials Of the firm, he rcturnedit to its
owner 10 write the address.
Sorry, my friend, TO give you more
trouble, " said the future chancellor in
his joyial way. but can't manage to
write with my gloves on, 50 just ad-
dress IL for me. " And he handed him q
penciled slip with the name Of Herr
Fritz PiePanbriuE o. some such name,
oil and colonial warchOuseman, No. 900
Friedrichs strasse, Berlin
Thank you, young nan: that'Il do
capitally," and paving for the paper,
etc, with Il small tip to the oily bog
with the stereotyped grin, ne pocketed
his letter, and We left the place to CON
Time our walk.
- dare say you are wondering why
treat my correspondents 10 such greasy,
evil smelling missives:" And hc,showed
me the chcesy finger marks of tho boy
Gu both sides Of tho improvised enyel-
Cpc. IN tell you q secret. and teach
yol a useful lesson for future times.
You may some Gay thank me for tho
hint" exclaimed Herr Won Bismarck
laughing heartily
You know we are blessed here in
Frankfort, as throughout all su0th Ger
many, with the Thurn and Tazis postal
administration, e mine Of wealth to
that fortunate family, but the most
w-etchedly managed concern under the
sun. As you may imagine. IL IS under
the thumb # Austria, hence slow and
the triumph 81 red tape, with a pro-
nOunced weakness for diving into other
peoples business and Swimming, Of
course, the correspondence Of all Ger
man and foreign ENJOYS, accredited to
the diet, with a preference for mine,
u L.
traitor
They have established regular
black ca inet in the urincely postoffice.
where specially trained imperial and
royal wiseacrcs Ucruse our prose with
critical eye, transmitting copies of ex-
tracts of all reasonable matter or
particularly interesting reports, to the
august Ballrlatz. where Gentand and
after him Kliudworth havo established
lynx eyed system 81 political espionage
(politischcs schnuhclu) extending all |
over Europe, and comprising 60 ipso all !
German courts and chanceIleries.
Not being particularly anxious TO |
crafty the morbid curiosity Of our Aus |
trian ally, have thought il advisable |
20 send important reports TO tho Berlin |
foreign office, as well - all my letters |
to the king. To Herr Won Mauteufel. |
and to my sister and some particular /
friends, under cover 70 some mercantile |
firm in Berlin, changing frequently and |
usually asking a counter Jumper in
cheesemonger' or Gilman shop 20 ad- 1
dress them for mc-and you can easily /
understand that rho imperial and royal
sniffeTs (schnutiisrJ don't manage -
guess the correspondent Of the Prussian
representative under greasy. III smell
ing cover. such as you have seen.
1T stands 10 reason that the smell Of
cheese or herring and the sCribbing
Of q shopboy must deceive sharper |
men than the Thuru and Taxis post
officials and the specially delegated
Austrian p1stofliCe clerks. The only pre-
caution l have 20 take j. TO 90 20 differ
ent shops IN quarters Of the town where
l am not known and TO vary the Berlin
address from time 10 time. Thus I'm
perfectly safe.
lie tour est joue. and l snap my fin
gers az the BlllpIatz- II IL simple
enough. - you have seen, yet it
wouldn't do 10 send everything through
that channel, as they would otherwise
get suspicious so / treat my Austrian
friends at least once Il week TO some of
my diplomatic prose - unimpOrtant
stuff and occasionally something L want
them 70 knOw-ur TO believe, " and he !
INDUCED IN boisterous laugh. Baron
dc MalCrtie IN Curnhiu Magazine.
4 gIo.e Sh-,