The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-05-31
Women Make Good Spies.

There is one branch of military dut-
for which women show especial apti
1 tude-that of secret service. They max
: excellent spies. More patient and perse
vering than men, they are exceedingl,
skillful at surprising secrets. and sine
the days Of Delilah many Samsons hav
2 been shorn of their strength through tn
wiles OF deceitful women. Still, it L
scarcely fair to class all secret servie,
agents as spies. The exigencies of mill
: tary service require that generals shall
| be furnished with informa ton as to tht
enemy, and the man or woman who risk.
life in order TO serve his own country
and cause is quite on another plane from
the Judas who sells his own people for the
enemy's gold. Nina Diaz betraying hel
mother TO a convict prison, with the pos.
sible fate of La Cente in reserve, is ar
object of execration; Belle Boyd fordine
the Potomac in heavy storm Of wind and
rain at midnight to carry the news of a
premeditated attack to her brother in
Stuart's cavalry stirs hearts with admira-
ton for her unselfsh courage
Strict International law regards only one
who serves against his own sovereign as
guilty Of crime, but the military usage
prescribes that anyone found in disguise
and furnishing secret information to the
hanging. whatever his country or occu-
patton.
Secret service was carried 10 the utmost
perfection during the war Of the rebell-
! ion, and the government of the United
States spent over 81. 000, 900 for that pur-
pose. Vet there were few traitors on Ell
Their side. Many of the spies were women
and it is often said that sex gave them
! no protection. There was for many
| months OF the war a report that a woman
"a member of a prominent family of Bal
timore-one closely identified with seces-
sion-was one of the most efficient spies
in the employment of the United States
| Thus was explained the fact that secrets
carefully guarded leake out, and well laid
plans went agely. Nobody ever knew her
name and it was finally said that she had
been hanged by the confederates- a ru-
NOR which lacked confirmation. How
ever, the confederates boosted with pride
that they had never maltreated a woman,
and that even woman spies were gently
dealt with. For example. the wife of
leading citizen OF Richmond was detected
in sending information to the enemy and
was arrested in consequence, but nothing
was done to her by way of punishment be-
yond keeping her under surveillance in a
religious institution for several months.
The Arrest was one which created de-
cided sensation in Richmond society, as
the woman was well known and, although
northern woman, had not profeSsed 10
be unionist. At the time of her arrest
she was visiting the family of a prominent
Presbyterian minister, then absent on a
confidential mission from the confederate
government to Europe. She was the In
innate friend of his wife, and none of the
household suspecting her, the subject Of
his mission was freely discussed In her
presence. The intercepted dispatches con-
tanned together with other matters, infor-
nation designed to lead TO the capture
Of the blockade runner on board of which
the minister in question was expected to
take passage for home. But despite her
treachery, the fact of her northern birth
kept her from being lealt with as a troll
tor by the authorities.
Miss Van Lew was a native Of Connect
icut, an open and outspoken unionist,
who made no secret Of her adherence of
secession and her sympathy for the federal
soldiers imprisoned in Richmond. Howev-
er the people might hate her, they respect
ed her honesty. and as she was never
caught in the act as a spy she was never
arrested on mere suspicion.
Recently the government at Washing
ton has received information to the eff
feet that several Spanish spies, women
in the pay of Blanco, are in New York
and Washington, but the informa ton has
not been precise enough to do more than
put the secret service force on guard |
Nina Diaz is reported to be among the |
number of these women, who are reported
to be mostly Cubans The Spanish prefer |
u, - NlA -srl.
The story goes that Weyler, Disguised |
at the failure of his secret service in /
Cuba, declared the matter to be the lack |
of women spies. What we want" he
said, lis some Cuban women in love with
Spanish officers. Is it possible that none
of you cavalleros are sufficiently attract
i've to secure them?"
This was the beginning of Nina Diaz's
Infamous career as a spy. A traitor
through and through, when she and her
lover were arrested by the insurgents
She gave him up to death, claiming that
he had sought to bride her to betray her
friends, and so gave her own life at the
expense of his When the Cubans discov-
cred Der treachery, upon another occa-
sion, she escaped to Havana and thence
to New York The Cubans were fore
Of her coming, and she found her
hands tied. They refused absolutely to
trust her. So she went home baffIed and
angry, and now, it Is said, she is back
again in disguise, although nobody seems
to know exactly what that disguise is.
When she visited New York the last
lime this country was not at war with
Spain, therefore her designs against and
-reachery to the Cubans were no offense
against the laws of the Unuited States.
Now. however, under the changed condl-
ions she is criminal, and comes at
he risk Of her life. Still, as the United
States does not war upon women, IL is
more than probable that II caught her
will be Imprisonment rather
han death.
To the credit of the Cuban women II
should be remembered that TO offset these
ew traitors there are scores of women
serving their own people against the Span
ards Indeed, correspondents declare that
very Cuban woman is, SO far as she is
tble, secret service agent for the In
urgents. Their success in discovering
md their ingenuity In transmitting lnfor-
nation is prime cause of the inhumani-
y of the Spanish officials toward them
III. No fatigue is too severe. no hardship
lor danger too great 20 be undergone in
he service of their beloved Cuba
The great obstacle to the successful en-
'oyment OF women as spies is that with
are exceptions women will betray any
ne else for the sake of a lover. Nav.
nore-in a transport of Jealousy a woman |
nay betray the man whom she loves 10 !
and death. II she IS in love
n the side which she is serving. and her
over keeps her in a good humor. she Is
valuable; otherwise disastrous expert